Post by Okwes on Feb 22, 2006 15:28:53 GMT -5
Indians hunted carelessly, study says
By Guy Gugliotta
The Washington Post
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002818663_wildlife21.\
html
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002818663_wildlife21\
.html>
Like the Europeans who came later, the first Americans apparently had a
propensity for killing and eating any animal they could lay their hands
on without giving a lot of thought to the future, judging by the bones
they left behind at one notable site, a new study suggests.
"The general public probably buys into the 'Pocahontas version' that
Native Americans were inherently different and more in tune with
nature," said University of Utah archaeologist Jack Broughton. "The
evidence says otherwise."
After studying thousands of animal bones found in a garbage heap on the
shores of San Francisco Bay, Broughton concluded that Native Americans
living in an area where the city of Emeryville is now located hunted
several species to local extinction from 600 B.C. to A.D. 1300.
The lowest strata from the Emeryville Shell Mound showed many bones from
large geese and cormorants, but the number and size of the birds
dwindled over time: "About 1,500 years ago, there's a big crash in
cormorants, and by the end of the sequence, all you get is the odd adult
that wanders into the area," Broughton said.
Broughton, writing in Ornithological Monographs, said his most recent
study of bird consumption showed the same pattern as his earlier studies
of mammals and fish.
He said the lowest strata had the largest number of big animals, but
number and size both decreased over time: "Longevity decreased due to
harvest pressure."
By Guy Gugliotta
The Washington Post
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002818663_wildlife21.\
html
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002818663_wildlife21\
.html>
Like the Europeans who came later, the first Americans apparently had a
propensity for killing and eating any animal they could lay their hands
on without giving a lot of thought to the future, judging by the bones
they left behind at one notable site, a new study suggests.
"The general public probably buys into the 'Pocahontas version' that
Native Americans were inherently different and more in tune with
nature," said University of Utah archaeologist Jack Broughton. "The
evidence says otherwise."
After studying thousands of animal bones found in a garbage heap on the
shores of San Francisco Bay, Broughton concluded that Native Americans
living in an area where the city of Emeryville is now located hunted
several species to local extinction from 600 B.C. to A.D. 1300.
The lowest strata from the Emeryville Shell Mound showed many bones from
large geese and cormorants, but the number and size of the birds
dwindled over time: "About 1,500 years ago, there's a big crash in
cormorants, and by the end of the sequence, all you get is the odd adult
that wanders into the area," Broughton said.
Broughton, writing in Ornithological Monographs, said his most recent
study of bird consumption showed the same pattern as his earlier studies
of mammals and fish.
He said the lowest strata had the largest number of big animals, but
number and size both decreased over time: "Longevity decreased due to
harvest pressure."