Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Analysis of shellfish remains from two sites in the Lodge Hill subdivision near Cambria, California (Fig. 1), suggests that a major change in mollusc exploitation may have occurred there prior to the Middle Period (1400 B.C. to A.D. 1150 [King 1981]). Specifically, by the end of the Early Period (7200- 1400 B.C. [King 1981]) there was a pronounced shift from the intensive exploitation of Mytilus californianus to the exploitation of a more diverse molluscan assemblage consisting primarily of Tegula funebralis, limpets, and chitons. This change might have been a result of overexploitation of the Mytilus sp. population, but it also may indicate a change in local environmental conditions due to rising sea level and shore cliff erosion.