Nic Grosjea ANTH 410

In the article "Archaeological Evidence for the Origin of the Plank Canoe in North America" Lynn

Gamble researches the Southern California Chumash culture's plank canoes. In the essay,

Gamble identifies the increased sociopolitical complexity and stratification caused by these

canoes. Gamble also researches the age of some of the boats using radio-carbon dating.

Gambles explains that the increase of social stratification through the use of plank canoes is

directly interrelated with the intensified access the plank canoe provided to marine resources

and provided through larger trade networks. Gamble focuses also on determining the

chronology of the plank canoe in North America. Gamble's methodology entailed formal

analysis of plank canoe artifact assemblages, including planks, stone drills, and asphaltum plugs.

Gamble then gives the reader a review of other canoe/boats that are found in North America.

The different types of canoes discussed by Gamble included hide or skin canoes, bark canoes,

reed boats/canoes, cane and log rafts, and dugout canoes. Ethnographic accounts are then

used by Gamble to provide the reader with information on plank canoes' size--which averaged

3.5-9 meters--and human capacity. Gamble quotes ethnographic accounts as documenting

plank canoes to hold anywhere between 3 and 13 people. Gamble next tells the reader that the

Chumash also used other watercraft, such as the reed canoe and possibly the dugout canoe.

Gamble includes another scholar's argument that canoes with attached planks may have been

the prototype for the plank canoes. Gamble continues with a discussion of the construction of

plank canoes, which involved cutting planks of wood and sewing them together. Gamble

explains that the cracks between the planks and in the holes which were made for sewing were

filled a mixture of asphaltum/tar and sap. In addition to discussing construction techniques,

Gamble talks of the Chumash economy and their trade. Gamble explains that Chumash

economy used shells as money and often traded key items, including cooking vessels and

mortars and pestles or grindstones. The artifacts Gamble analyzed included 62 planks and 44

whole asphaltum plugs and caulking on many of the planks' edges. One plank Gamble had

dated to around 1,300 years before present, and another to about 2,300 years before present.

Gamble analyzed 68 trifacial stone drills, using use-wear polish analysis to confirm some of the

drills were used as wood drills, while other were utilized as shell drills. Gamble's assemblage of

studied drills and plugs share a very similar mean diameter with one another, 12.8mm for the

drills, and 12.5mm for the plugs. Near the end of the essay, Gamble posits of the possibility of

Polynesian introduction of the plank canoe to Southern California, but goes on to point out this

is unlikely due to a lack of evidence of Polynesian/Chumash contact, and because there are

substantial differences in construction techniques and construction materials of both groups'

plank canoe. Gamble concludes by repeating that the plank canoe for the Chumash indicated an

increase in social stratification and complexity. I agree with Gamble's conclusions, and think an

improvement to the research would be to construct a replica. I think Gamble intended for this

essay's audience to be archaeologists and anthropologists, as wells as everyone else with an

interest in California Native American cultural history and those interested in maritime history.

Nic Grosjea ANTH 410

Gambles use of maps, charts, and illustrations increased the accessibility of the article and gives

the reader a better idea of the artifacts under study. I hope that this paper will increase the

greater awareness of the technological innovation of the Chumash, and that it may create

further interest in studying the cultural impacts technological advances make. I also hope

Gambles work will drive new discussions about the importance of canoes/boats to maritime

cultures, including the Chumash of Southern California.