Evidence of changing climate and subsistence strategies among the Nuu-chah-nulth of Canada’s West Coast

Abstract

Zooarchaeological data from Canada’s west coast are presented which show a shift from a greater abundance of rockfish (genus Sebastes) during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly to a greater abundance of salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) during the Little Ice Age. Measurements of rockfish hyomandibulars and δ18O analysis of Saxidomus gigantea shells are used within an optimal foraging framework as proxy measures to evaluate the hypothesis that human subsistence strategies changed in association with climate-driven environmental change. As well, suites of other marine resources that were preferred during each climatic period are presented and the cultural implications of the data are discussed. These data suggest that there was a change in subsistence strategy associated with this climatic transition, but a causal link is not demonstrated.