Native American use of cetaceans in pre-contact Oregon: Biomolecular and taphonomic analyses illuminate human-cetacean relationships: MALDI-TOF data ...

• Main Authors: Wellman, Hannah, Zhang, Hua, Yang, Dongya, Evans, Zara, Miner, Maxwell, Speller, Camilla
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: The University of British Columbia 2023
• Subjects: Balaenoptera musculus; Megaptera novaeangliae; Phocoena phocoena
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0436263; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0436263

Abstract <span lang="EN-US">This study characterizes how Native Americans living on the Oregon coast used whales and small cetaceans prior to European contact. We present an original analysis of a large subsample of archaeological cetacean remains from the Palmrose (35CLT47) site and new identifications from the previously analyzed Par-Tee (35CLT20) and Tahkenitch Landing (35DO130) sites. Using zooarchaeological and biomolecular analyses we report species presence and modification patterns to characterize use. Grays ( Eschrichtius robustus ) and humpbacks ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) were the most commonly identified whale species and a preferred source of food, oil, bone for tool manufacture, and possibly ligaments for sinew. Dolphins and porpoises, especially harbor porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ), were a source of food and possibly bone for tool manufacture. While opportunistic hunting may have occurred, the presence of species such as blue ( Balaenoptera musculus ) and Cuvier’s beaked ( Ziphius ...