The Study of Indigenous Landscape and Seascape Stewardship on the Central California Coast

This volume presents the results of a collaborative eco-archaeological project that examines evidence for Indigenous landscape and seascape stewardship practices over 7000 years on the Central California coast. The goal of this work is to develop a better understanding of practices employed by local Tribes to enhance the diversity, productivity, and sustainability of culturally important plants and animals in Tribal lands and waters. A team of scholars from the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the Native Stewardship Corps of the Amah Mutsun Land Trust, California State Parks, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Santa Cruz conducted collaborative work in the field and laboratory from 2016-2021. The research group employed a fine-grained, low-impact methodology designed to minimize impacts to ancestral places while accentuating the recovery of important information about Tribal histories and lifeways. The volume presents the findings from our recent surface and subsurface investigation of four sites (CA-SCR-7, CA-SCR-10, CA-SCR-14, and CA-SCR-15) situated in the rural coastal area between Davenport and Santa Cruz in central Santa Cruz County. The eco-archaeological investigation addressed four major research issues concerning the timing, diachronic development, scale, and contemporary relevance of Indigenous landscape and seascape stewardship on the greater Central California coast. We are particularly interested in examining the potential that our study may have for applying lessons from Indigenous history to manage better the contemporary lands and waters of the region.