A History of Paleoecological Research on Sea Otters and Pinnipeds of the Eastern Pacifi c Rim
نویسنده
چکیده
Today it is not unusual to pick up the latest issue of an archaeology journal such as American Antiquity, or Journal of Archaeological Science, or the like, and to fi nd in the table of contents an article on a topic in zooarchaeology. It is more diffi cult to fi nd a piece on the zooarchaeology of marine mammals. It is equally diffi cult to fi nd an article on some prehistoric aspect of marine mammals based on zooarchaeological remains in a natural history journal such as Marine Mammal Science or Oecologia. These informal observations prompt some musings. Has the history of zooarchaeological research on North Pacifi c pinnipeds and sea otters (Enhydra lutris) been unique, or has it been but a portion of the much larger history of zooarchaeology in general? Have trends in analysis of pinniped and sea otter remains tracked analytical trends in zooarchaeology in general? In this chapter, I provide some initial answers to these questions. In par tic u lar, I report and comment on the history of paleoecological research on pinniped and sea otter remains recovered from archaeological sites along the northeastern Pacifi c coast. I conclude with some observations on potentially signifi cant research topics that have as yet been little explored.
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