Household and Community Archaeology at the Chumash Village of Niaqla, Santa Rosa Island, California

Abstract

Several studies on the North American Pacific Coast have demonstrated the importance of household and community archaeology for documenting hunter-gatherer sociocultural dynamics. Household archaeology in coastal southern California is limited, leaving a significant gap in our understanding of a fundamental aspect of ancient human social life on the Pacific Coast. The Chumash village of Niaqla (CA-SRI-2), located on Santa Rosa Island, California, is one of the few island sites where several houses have been excavated. Cemeteries and parts of at least 10 houses were excavated in the 1940s–1960s, but only limited details have been published. Analysis of field notes, artifacts, photographs, and maps from these excavations, supplemented by additional testing, mapping, and radiocarbon dating at the site, demonstrate that Niaqla was a vibrant community, with over 20 houses, occupied for more than 2000 years. Unlike houses along the northwest coast of North America, Island Chumash houses required substantially less labor and planning, but were important locations of craft production, subsistence practices, and other activities, illustrating variability in the structure and function of houses and communities among complex hunter-gatherers.

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