Colonized as early as 13,500 years ago, the Northern Channel Islands of California offer some of the earliest evidence of human habitation along the west coast of North America. The Chumash people who lived on these islands are considered to be among the most socially and politically complex hunter-gatherers in the world. This book provides a powerful and innovative synthesis of the cultural and environmental history of the chain of islands. Douglas J. Kennett shows that the trends in cultural elaboration were, in part, set into motion by a series of dramatic environmental events that were the catalyst for the unprecedented social and political complexity observed historically.
Douglas J. Kennett is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon.
"The most important study to come out of the Chumash area, and one of the best examples of research on culture change in contemporary archaeology."—L. Mark Raab, coeditor of Prehistoric California
"A contribution that is remarkable in its scope, quality, and importance."—Terry L. Jones, coeditor of Catalysts to Complexity
"The most comprehensive effort yet made to apply the theoretical framework of behavioral ecology to a problem in human prehistory. The result is not only an excellent demonstration of the power of the approach but a major contribution to the pre-European history of California."—James O'Connell, University of Utah
310 pp.6 x 9Illus: 22 b/w photographs, 23 line illustrations, 15 maps, 20 tables
9780520243026$85.00|£71.00Hardcover
Apr 2005