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: English
• Published: Dryad 2023
• Subjects: FOS History and archaeology; ZooMS; cetaceans; zooarchaeology; Buckley; Wellman; Balaenoptera musculus; Megaptera novaeangliae; Phocoena phocoena
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jm63xsjgh; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.jm63xsjgh

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 cavirostris) whales suggest collection of beached ... : We used ZooMS to identify specimens from Palmrose (NISP=116), Tahkenitch Landing (NISP=11), and Par-Tee (NISP=31). Sampling for ZooMS analysis was performed at the Northwest Coast Zooarchaeology Lab and the NMNH. In brief, specimens were prepped with a sterile kimwipe dampened with a dilute bleach-H2O solution (50%). A small sample of bone (10-30 mg) was removed using a bleached utility blade and placed into a sterile Eppendorf tube. The table was bleached and gloves were changed between the sampling and handling of each new specimen. This sampling protocol has yielded accurate species identifications in previous aDNA studies (Wellman et al., 2020, 2017). The samples were sent to the Ancient DNA and Proteins (ADαPT) Laboratories in the Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. In brief, the bone collagen was extracted, purified, and spotted onto a target plate following a protocol described in Buckley et al. (2014). The bone samples were sent to the University of British Columbia ...