This study characterizes how Native Americans living on the Oregon coast used whales and small cetaceans prior to European contact. We present an original analysis of a large subsample of archaeological cetacean remains from the Palmrose (35CLT47) site and new identifications from the previously analyzed Par-Tee (35CLT20) and Tahkenitch Landing (35DO130) sites. Using zooarchaeological and biomolecular analyses we report species presence and modification patterns to characterize use. Grays (Eschrichtius robustus) and humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) were the most commonly identified whale species and a preferred source of food, oil, bone for tool manufacture, and possibly ligaments for sinew. Dolphins and porpoises, especially harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), were a source of food and possibly bone for tool manufacture. While opportunistic hunting may have occurred, the presence of species such as blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and Cuvier’s beaked (Ziphius cavirostris) whales suggest collection of beached animals was an important acquisition strategy. Our study demonstrates the value of biomolecular analyses for improved species identifications/understanding of species richness, and the value of zooarchaeological analysis to fully understand dietary and cultural contributions of cetaceans to precontact lifeways on the Oregon coast.

We used ZooMS to identify specimens from Palmrose (NISP=116), Tahkenitch Landing (NISP=11), and Par-Tee (NISP=31).  Sampling for ZooMS analysis was performed at the Northwest Coast Zooarchaeology Lab and the NMNH. In brief, specimens were prepped with a sterile kimwipe dampened with a dilute bleach-H2O solution (50%). A small sample of bone (10-30 mg) was removed using a bleached utility blade and placed into a sterile Eppendorf tube. The table was bleached and gloves were changed between the sampling and handling of each new specimen. This sampling protocol has yielded accurate species identifications in previous aDNA studies (Wellman et al., 2020, 2017). The samples were sent to the Ancient DNA and Proteins (ADαPT) Laboratories in the Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. In brief, the bone collagen was extracted, purified, and spotted onto a target plate following a protocol described in Buckley et al. (2014). The bone samples were sent to the University of British Columbia where collagen was extracted within the Ancient DNA and Proteins (ADαPT) Laboratories in the Department of Anthropology. The bone sample was demineralized in a weak acid solution (0.6M HCl); the sample was then centrifuged, and the supernatant was discarded. The samples were rinsed with 250 µL of 0.1M NaOH and then rinsed three times with 200 μl of 50 mMol ammonium bicarbonate, pH 8.0 (AmBic solution), and gelatinized by heating at 65º C in AmBic solution for 1 hour. The collagen was enzymatically cleaved with trypsin at 37˚C, and purified using 100 µl Pierce ™ C18 pipette tips. Equal amounts of the collagen extract and α-cyano-hydroxycinnamic acid matrix solution (1% in conditioning solution) were mixed and spotted in triplicate onto a 384 spot MALDI target plate, with calibration standards. Samples were spotted in triplicate, and run on a Bruker ultraflex III MALDI TOF/TOF mass spectrometer with a Nd:YAG smart beam laser. We used the mMass software (Strohalm et al. 2008) to average spectra from replicates, and compare them to published m/z markers for marine mammals (Buckley et al. 2014; Hufthammer et al. 2018; Kirby et al. 2013). Taxonomic identifications were assigned at the most conservative level of identification (species, genus, or family level) based on the presence of unambiguous m/z markers.