Trans-Holocene marine mammal exploitation on San Clemente Island, California: A tragedy of the commons revisited

Occupied from ca. 7040 B.C. to A.D. 1400, the Eel Point Site (CA-SCLI-43) o n San Clemente Island, California represents one of the longest sequences o f near-continuous marine resource exploitation on the west coast of North A merica. Faunal remains suggest transitions from heavy exploitation of fur s eals and sea lions during the early Holocene, to increased hunting of cetac eans at mid-Holocene, to a focus on sea otters and fish during the late Hol ocene. These trends are consistent with patterns of overexploitation and ec onomic intensification on the California and Oregon mainland, but they also suggest watercraft-based hunting earlier on the island than elsewhere. Fur seal and sea lion bones mainly represent females and juveniles, indicating that exploitation of island rookeries was guided more by self-interest tha n by principles of game conservation. Two intervals of temporary site aband onment ca. 6150-3970 B.C. and A.D. 1020-1400, were both followed by periods of increased marine mammal exploitation and may reflect intervals during w hich marine mammal populations rebounded. Broad-scale diachronic trends in the zooarchaeological remains do not correlate with flux in paleo-sea tempe ratures and are best interpreted as products of overhunting and increased u se of watercraft overtime. (C) 2000 Academic Press.