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To cite this Article Erlandson, Jon M., Graham, Michael H., Bourque, Bruce J., Corbett, Debra, Estes, James A. and
Steneck, Robert S.(2007) 'The Kelp Highway Hypothesis: Marine Ecology, the Coastal Migration Theory, and the
Peopling of the Americas', The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2: 2, 161 — 174
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/15564890701628612
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15564890701628612
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Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, 2:161–174, 2007
Copyright © 2007 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1556-4894 print / 1556-1828 online
DOI:10.1080/15564890701628612
ABSTRACT
161
Jon M. Erlandson et al.
Keywords archaeology, marine ecology, kelp forests, maritime migrations, Pacific Rim
old (cal BP; all dates in this article are and 30,000 years ago (see Erlandson
expressed in calibrated calendar years 2002; Fedje et al. 2004; with references).
before present) sites in interior regions By the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)
and a lack of coastal shell middens these colonizing voyages placed mar-
older than about 10,000 years left the itime peoples near the base of the Kurile
Pacific Coast relatively peripheral to Islands, which could have provided a
debate about how people got to the New series of staging points for a maritime mi-
World. gration to the Kamchatka Peninsula and
During the last decade or so, despite the south coast of Beringia (Erlandson
the effects of rising seas and marine ero- 1994:269).
sion on the archaeological record, the While the feasibility of a coastal
coastal migration theory has emerged migration route into the New World
as an increasingly viable alternative for has grown, recent geological and ar-
the peopling of the Americas (see Dixon chaeological evidence has clouded the
1999, 2001; Erlandson 1994, 2002; Fedje potential of an interior route to account
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et al. 2004; Gruhn 1994; Jones et al. for the earliest human colonization of
2002; Mandryk et al. 2001). The transfor- the Americas. Recent geological studies
mation of the coastal migration theory suggest that the ice-free corridor be-
from marginal to mainstream is the tween the Laurentide and Cordilleran
result of the gradual accumulation of ice sheets only became passable about
geological and archaeological evidence 13,000 years ago (Burns 1996; Dixon
from both coastal and interior regions 1999:30; Jackson and Duk-Rodkin 1996;
around the Pacific Rim. Fluted Clovis- Mandryk et al. 2001), for instance, and
like points have now been found from there is increasing interest in the hypoth-
coast to coast in North America, for esis that humans colonized the Americas
instance, and terminal Pleistocene sites before that time (Madsen 2004; Mandryk
have been identified in several areas et al. 2001; Meltzer 2004). Although the
along the Pacific Coast of North and site remains controversial (see Fiedel
South America (see Erlandson et al. 1999), widespread scholarly acceptance
1996; Keefer et al. 1998; Richardson of debate about a 14,500 year old occu-
1998; Sandweiss et al. 1998). These pation of the Monte Verde site near the
include shell middens or human skeletal coast of Chile (Dillehay 1997; Meltzer
remains found on islands in Alta and et al. 1997) has also contributed to a
Baja California, sites that demonstrate broader interest in the coastal migration
that coastal Paleoindians had seaworthy theory by American archaeologists.
boats and other maritime capabilities If a variety of evidence now sug-
between about 13,000 and 11,500 cal gests that a coastal migration around
BP (Des Lauriers 2006; Erlandson 2007; the North Pacific may have contributed
Johnson et al. 2002; Rick et al. 2005). significantly to the peopling of the
Evidence for even earlier maritime Americas, relatively little is known about
voyaging by anatomically modern hu- the paleogeography and paleoecology of
mans (Homo sapiens sapiens) has North Pacific coastlines or their feasibil-
emerged from islands of the western ity as a late Pleistocene migration route.
Pacific Rim, including the colonization Our primary goal in this article is to help
of Australia roughly 50,000 years ago fill that gap by discussing the nature
and additional ocean voyaging to the and productivity of nearshore habitats
islands of western Melanesia, the Ryukyu around those portions of the Pacific Rim
Archipelago, and Japan between 40,000 that may have served as a migration
route for early maritime peoples moving tive in lower latitudes, with numerous
from East Asia into the Americas. Our biological consequences. Anadromous
focus is on the ecology and history of fish are found primarily in high latitudes,
kelp forests, which are present today for instance, but catadromous species
around much of the Pacific Rim from dominate at low latitudes, reflecting the
Japan to Baja California. selective advantage of adult life in food-
rich environments (Gross et al. 1988).
Similar patterns are seen in evolutionary
ECOLOGICAL CONTEXTS FOR THE radiations among many aquatic mam-
COASTAL MIGRATION THEORY mals. Despite their nearly ubiquitous
distribution in freshwater habitats, for
In this section we examine some issues instance, otters radiated into the sea only
related to coastal productivity, kelp for- at higher latitudes, while small cetaceans
est ecology, and the paleoecology of radiated into freshwater habitats (river
North Pacific coastlines since the Last dolphins) only at lower latitudes. Other
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tat for a variety of seals and cetaceans, al. 2002). Fast-growing and structurally
walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), the mas- complex, kelps are generally limited to
sive (and now extinct) Steller’s sea nearshore waters less than about 30
cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), and other m deep (Dayton 1985; Graham et al.
relatively large-bodied marine animals 2003). Kelp forests are common from
(Brigham-Grette et al. 2004:59). Dur- Japan to the Aleutians and down the
ing the summer months, such convo- Pacific Coast of North America into
luted coastlines—especially when com- Baja California (Figure 2). After a break
bined with the low gradient of the in the tropics—where productive coral
Beringian platform—may have offered reefs, mangrove swamps, estuaries, and
broad expanses of productive inter- other coastal habitats support similar
tidal and nearshore habitats for early suites of marine fish, shellfish, and other
maritime peoples to hunt, forage, and aquatic animals—kelp forests continue
gather in. As Ames (2002:38) illustrated, along the Andean Coast, from Peru to
along such convoluted coastlines people Tierra del Fuego.
in seaworthy boats can access much The North Pacific has an especially
larger areas of nearshore habitat—and diverse array of kelps, with at least
transport much larger loads back to 21 species in the northeastern Pacific
residential bases—than those traveling alone (Dayton 1985:235; Druehl 1970;
on foot. Estes and Steinberg 1988). Large canopy-
Much of the northern Pacific Rim forming kelps dominate many Pacific
is also characterized by marine up- Rim kelp forests, including the giant
welling or other forms of oceanic mixing kelps (Macrocystis spp.) which grow
that fuel high plankton production in to heights of 45 m along the west
coastal zones, primary productivity that coasts of North and South America (Gra-
is passed to higher trophic levels where ham et al. 2007). Smaller canopy kelps
it is more available to humans. Another (e.g., Nereocystis luetkeana, Alaria fis-
major source of coastal productivity tulosa) reach heights up to 10 m and
around the North Pacific is found in are common from central California to
extensive kelp forests that concentrate Alaska and from the Aleutians to north-
biomass, magnify secondary productiv- east Asia, respectively (Druehl 1970).
ity, subsidize terrestrial productivity, Stipitate kelps are smaller (< 5–10 m
and support relatively complex food long), but Laminaria dominates many
Figure 1. Manley’s reconstruction of the geography of the Bering Sea area and Beringia’s south
coast about 15,000 years ago (coastal conformation is approximate, not corrected for
tectonic adjustments, offshore sediments, etc.; glaciers not depicted; adapted from Manley
2002).
North Pacific kelp forests from Japan and and growing from carbohydrate stores
northeast Asia to coastal Alaska and the during ice-packed winters. As Dayton
Pacific Northwest (Druehl 1970). (1985:235) noted, some North Pacific
Most Pacific kelps thrive along rocky kelps also exhibit considerable morpho-
shorelines in conditions of ample light, logical and ecological diversity depend-
high nutrients, and moderate water ing on local conditions, ranging from
temperatures, but some varieties have perennial to annual and from floating
adapted to subarctic conditions with canopies to short prostrate turfs. Under
strong seasonal fluctuations in light the right conditions, however, kelps
levels, nutrient availability, and water tend to grow relatively rapidly, enriching
temperatures—even surviving beneath coastal ecosystems with organic produc-
winter sea ice and blooming during a tion derived from their spores and plant
limited growing season (Dunton and detritus (Graham et al. 2007).
Dayton 1995). In the Sea of Okhotsk, Around the North Pacific, kelp
for instance, kelp forests form an almost forests historically supported or shel-
continuous belt along the coastline, pho- tered a similar suite of animal and
tosynthesizing during ice-free summers plant resources heavily exploited by
Figure 2. General distribution of kelp forest ecosystems (hatched areas in white) of the Pacific
Rim region today. Inset: shell midden on San Miguel Island, California, with high
concentration of abalone shells, sea urchin tests, and the remains of other kelp forest
organisms (figure drafted by M. Graham; inset photo by M. Moss).
coastal and maritime peoples with food resources, kelp forests also reduce
relatively high population densities. nearshore wave energy and provide
These include sea mammals (sea otters, holdfasts for boats.
pinnipeds, etc.), a variety of marine
shellfish (abalones, sea urchins, mus- Reconstructing Late Pleistocene Kelp
sels, chitons, etc.) and fish, sea birds, Distributions
and edible seaweeds. Many of these
resources—including numerous mem- For the broader Pacific Rim, the
bers of the same genus or species (e.g., geographic distribution and ecological
the sea otter, Enhydra lutris) found in productivity of kelp forests near the
nearshore habitats around much of the end of the LGM are not well under-
northern Pacific Rim—were harvested stood. Due to the clear parameters that
historically with relatively simple tech- govern their growth today, the distri-
nologies. Some species were available bution of kelp forests in the past can
in aggregations of highly vulnerable be roughly approximated (see Kinlan et
or behaviorally naive fauna (pinniped al. 2005), but direct evidence for their
rookeries, seabird colonies, and salmon geographic distribution or productivity
runs, etc.) that could be captured in is limited (Graham et al. 2003). Based
large numbers. For maritime peoples, on the diversity of North Pacific kelp
along with providing a diverse array of species, as well as the organisms strongly
associated with kelp communities, Estes much of the Pacific Coast at the time
and Steinberg (1988; see also Estes et of European contact. Moreover, the gen-
al. 1989) argued for a deep antiquity erally cooler sea-surface temperatures
of kelp forests in the area. During the that characterized the LGM in the North
Pleistocene, for instance, the massive Pacific may have shifted the boundaries
sea cow ranged from Japan around of kelp forest ecosystems into somewhat
the North Pacific to central California, lower latitudes than they are found in
where it almost certainly fed primarily today, possibly narrowing the tropical
on kelp (Clementz 2002). Kelp itself gap in kelp forests in the eastern Pacific.
does not preserve well in the fossil Today, the survival of productive
record (Estes et al. 2005:591; Graham et kelp forests in the Sea of Okhotsk
al. 2003) and virtually all late Pleistocene also suggests that kelp forests existed
shorelines where such fossils might be along much of the North Pacific Coast
found have been submerged by rising through the LGM (Steneck et al. 2002).
postglacial seas or lost to coastal erosion. Kelps also survive under the coastal sea
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The same can be said for most coastal ice of the arctic Beaufort Sea, where
archaeological sites (see below) dating they have probably persisted since the
to the late Pleistocene, where we might beginning of the Pleistocene (Vermeij
hope to find the remains of organ- 1991). Given the apparent abundance
isms such as large abalones (Haliotis of complex rocky shorelines, sea sur-
spp.) and sea urchins (Strongylocentro- face temperatures consistent with kelp
tus spp.) strongly associated with kelp growth, seasonal sea ice cover, and the
forests (see Graham 2004). In the future, dearth of sediment-producing glaciers
indirect evidence for the presence and along most of Beringia’s south coast,
productivity of kelp may come from there is no reason to think productive
isotopic or trace element studies of the kelp forests were not present. For much
organic fractions of fossil organisms or of the period between about 18,200 and
even seafloor sediments, but the base- 14,700 years ago, moreover, late-spring
line research to determine the feasibility to early-fall sea surface temperatures
of such methods has not yet been done. appear to have warmed to 8–11◦ C in the
For now, we are left with estimating far northwestern Pacific, when sea ice
the distribution of ancient kelp forests cover may have been limited to about
through the use of bathymetric maps, six months per year (Sarnthein et al.
sea level curves, and sea-surface temper- 2006:142–43) and kelp forests may have
ature data. been even more productive.
Kinlan et al. (2005) modeled the Clearly, the south coast of Beringia
changing distribution of kelp forests would have been highly dynamic dur-
along the California Coast during the ing the early post-glacial period. With
past 20,000 years, for instance, conclud- the possible exception of the Younger
ing that kelp forests were significantly Dryas cold spell (∼13,000–12,000 cal
more extensive and productive during BP), this was a time of rapid sea level
the terminal Pleistocene than they are rise and flooding of the Beringian plat-
today. If this holds true for the broader form. Coastal ecosystems are inherently
Pacific Rim, rocky coastlines along much dynamic, however, and rocky intertidal
of the North Pacific may have been and nearshore kelp forest communi-
even more attractive for early maritime ties are full of organisms capable of
peoples than they were for the dense Na- rapid recruitment and growth, suggest-
tive American populations that occupied ing that nearshore productivity would
Early coastal sites are rare from San to which their productivity may have
Francisco Bay to Vancouver Island, prob- influenced the antiquity, demography,
ably because of a history of subsidence and migrations of maritime peoples near
earthquakes and tsunamis associated the end of the Pleistocene.
with the Cascadia Subduction Zone (see Current evidence suggests, how-
Atwater 1987; Darienzo and Peterson ever, that anatomically modern hu-
1990; Erlandson et al. 1998), but numer- mans had colonized or explored several
ous sites dated between about 10,700 archipelagos in the eastern Pacific by
and 9000 cal BP have been identified 50,000 to 30,000 years ago, islands that
along the coastlines of British Columbia could only be reached with seaworthy
and Southeast Alaska (see Fedje et boats. During the LGM, maritime peo-
al. 2004). Most of these components ples living in the islands of Japan would
lack well-preserved faunal remains, but have been adapting to relatively cool
the 10,600 year old Kilgi Gwaay site waters, potentially comparable to those
produced the remains of sea otters and in parts of the Gulf of Alaska today.
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other animals common in kelp forest Between about 18,200 and 14,700 years
habitats (Fedje et al. 2005). ago, three extended warming episodes
in the northwestern Pacific may have
reduced seasonal sea ice cover sig-
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS nificantly, increased human access to
intertidal and nearshore habitats, and
In reviewing the evidence for associa- facilitated the migration of maritime
tions between early maritime peoples peoples from northeast Asia to Beringia
and kelp forest communities, we are not (Sarnthein et al. 2006). By about 16,000
suggesting that all early Pacific Coast to 15,000 years ago, a migration route
sites will be found adjacent to kelp following the outer coast of northwest-
forests or contain evidence for their ern North America appears to have
exploitation. Indeed, in many cases, been open and productive, providing
estuaries, large salmon streams, pin- an opportunity for maritime peoples
niped rookeries, and seabird colonies to migrate down the Pacific Coast into
may have been equally attractive to more temperate climates.
early maritime peoples. In other cases, Along with the relatively high pro-
following productive rivers inland from ductivity of kelp forests and other
the coast—or hunting mammoths or coastal habitats, such a coastal migra-
elk in peri-coastal upland areas—may tion route had a number of advantages
have been as tempting as following the over interior routes. Climatically, coast-
coast. lines are generally more equable than
Clearly, there is much to be learned adjacent interior regions, which can
about the antiquity of human settlement be brutally cold or hot. Fresh water
and subsistence in various coastal areas sources tend to be concentrated and
from Japan to the Kurile Islands and easily accessible in coastal zones (Faure
Kamchatka, and from the south coast of et al. 2002) and coastlines also provide
Beringia to the southern tip of Tierra del access to a diverse array of plant and
Fuego. There is also much to be learned animal foods from both marine and ter-
about the distribution and productiv- restrial ecosystems—resources that tend
ity of kelp forests, estuaries, mangrove to be tightly packed in the relatively
forests, and coral reefs around the Pacific mountainous and steep coastlines that
Rim in the past, as well as the degree characterize most of the Pacific Rim.
encountered numerous physical barriers fish, fish, and sea mammals common
(massive glaciers, large rivers, mountain in kelp forests. Between about 18,000
ranges and alpine passes, deserts, etc.) and 13,000 years ago, as glaciers and
and a wide variety of terrestrial ecosys- sea ice retreated from North Pacific
tems: from Arctic tundra, to relatively coastlines, a linear band of productive
sterile periglacial landscapes, boreal and kelp forests may have extended discon-
rain forests, grasslands, deserts, and tinuously from Japan to Baja Califor-
more. As Madsen (2004:20–21) noted, nia, providing a “kelp highway” that
foragers traversing these environmen- could have facilitated the migration of
tal “megapatches” would have encoun- maritime peoples into the New World
tered a wide variety of habitats, plants, (Steneck et al. 2002:453).
and animals, some with very different Showing that a coastal migration
properties or behaviors that required around the North Pacific was possible
new technologies and knowledge to or even highly plausible is obviously
successfully exploit. not the same as demonstrating that
A variety of archaeological, anthro- such a migration took place. Given the
pological, genetic, and geological evi- rising seas, coastal erosion, and dramatic
dence provides growing support that coastal landscape changes that have oc-
one or more coastal migrations con- curred since the end of the LGM, proving
tributed to the peopling of the Ameri- that such a coastal migration took place
cas (Erlandson 2002; Fedje et al. 2004; will be extremely challenging. More ar-
Gruhn 1994; Kemp et al. 2007). Eco- chaeological research is urgently needed
logical data suggest that North Pacific on land and beneath the sea to help
coastlines would have provided early search for late Pleistocene sites along the
maritime peoples numerous opportuni- coastlines of Japan, the Kurile Islands,
ties to hunt, fish, and gather in juxta- Kamchatka, Beringia, and the Pacific
posed marine and terrestrial habitats. Coasts of North and South America.
Some of the most productive of these Additional research on the paleoecology
coastal ecosystems were kelp forests of North Pacific coastal ecosystems is
that are nearly ubiquitous along cool or also needed to provide a better under-
cold-water rocky coastlines of the Pacific standing of the problems and potentials
Rim. Characterized by relatively high posed by a coastal migration route from
primary productivity and supporting Asia to the Americas.
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