Alec Apodaca

University of California, Berkeley | UCB · Archaeological Research Facility

Indigenous people have profoundly influenced terrestrial and marine ecosystems by modifying coastal habitats to increase the productivity of target species and altering local biotas through their harvesting practices. In some cases, these actions led to local resource depression, while in other instances, Indigenous people engaged with terrestrial...

This paper discusses recent findings from a collaborative, eco-archaeological investigation of Indigenous landscape and seascape stewardship practices on the Santa Cruz coast. Employing a low-impact, fine-grained approach, the research team unearthed evidence for the long-term maintenance of coastal prairies extending back at least 1,200 years. The...

This paper summarizes over a decade of collaborative eco-archaeological research along the central coast of California involving researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, tribal citizens from the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, and California Department of Parks and Recreation archaeologists. Our research employs remote sensing methods to d...

This report presents an experiment in which four starch sampling methods are compared in order to identify the most successful and effective technique for starch extraction from large groundstone and milling features in the field. Testing archaeological specimens in situ is necessary when the artifact is too large or cumbersome to bring back to a l...

Native Californians collected and consumed wild plants and animals even as they encountered colonial programs. Persistent interaction with native plant and animal communities can usually be inferred from colonial documents or by their presence as archaeological remains collected at missions, ranchos, or other colonial sites. Growing interest in the...

Hinterland sites have recently been the focus for analyzing Native Californian use of wild foods during the colonial period. Toms Point offers unique insight into traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), the concept of indigenous landscapes, and intertidal environments. Furthermore, most research on traditional resource management has largely focuse...