123 Appendix G FISH REMAINS FROM THE STEGE MOUNDS, RICHMOND, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA W.I. Follett Curator Emeritus of Ichthyology California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Introduction This is a report on a collection of fish remains from the Stege mounds, Richmond, Contra Costa County., California. These remains appear to be 15 of those mentioned in a report on the archaeology of the Stege mounds by Loud (1924:359), who stated that "only 17 specimens of fish bones were large enough to attract attention and be saved." Loud did not indicate from which of the two mounds these fish remains had been obtained, but he noted, "That the larger mound [CA-CCo-300] was preeminently the location of a fishing village is proved by the large quantities of net sinkers, 61 per cent of all artifacts being such implements. As relatively fewer sinkers but many more bird bones were found in the smaller mound [CA-CCo-298] an interesting contrast of mode of life is apparent." The Stege mounds (see Loud 1924:356, Fig. 1) were situated about 1.6 km. (1 mi.) eastward from the Ellis Landing shellmound (CA-CCo-295; see Nelson 1910), about 5.6 km. (3.5 mi.) northward from the West Berkeley shellmound (CA-Ala-307.; see Wallace and Lathrap this volume), and about 8.8 km. (5.5 mi.) northward from the Emeryville shellmound (CA-Ala-309; see Uhle 1907; Schenck 1926). Fishes represented The 15 fish remains of this collection (13 of which are identifiable) are incomplete or fragmentary. They represent 3 (or possibly 4) species, referable to 3 genera and 3 families: Smoothhound Sharks--Triakidae Leopard shark, Triakis semifasciata Girard S turgeons--Acipense ridae White sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus Richardson Green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris Ayres Croakers--S ciaenidae White seabass, Cynoscion nobilis (Ayres) 124 Leopard shark (For notes on the leopard shark and for records of its remains at other archaeological sites, see Follett Appendix B this volume.) Material: 2 vertebral centra; one shown in P1. la. (Identified from the pattern of structures revealed by anteroposterior radiograph.) Sturgeons (For notes on sturgeons and for records of their remains at other archaeological sites, see Follett Appendix B this volume.) -Material: 1 ceratobrachial, 4 parasphenoid fragments, 2 pterygoids (one left and one right, from a sturgeon perhaps 178 cm. (70 in.) in total length; Univ. Calif. Lowie Mus. Anthro. No. 1-23280), 1 rib, and 1 dorsal scute. (These sturgeons remains do not appear sufficiently distinctive for differentiating white sturgeon from green s turgeon.) White seabass The white seabass (see Skogsberg 1939:19, Fig. 2) is a good food fish. It is known to attain a total length of 152 cm. (5 ft.), according to Miller and Lea (1972:154), and a weight of 38 kg. (83 lb. 12 oz.), according to Hulbrock (1974:26). Material: 1 fin ray (caudal?) and 1 vertebra (caudal, from a white seabass about 114 cm. (45 in.) in total length and perhaps 13.6 kg. (30 lb.) in weight; Univ. Calif. Lowie Mus. Anthro. No. 1-23527; P1. lb). (For length-weight relationship, see Hulbrock 1974:27.) Records from other archaeological sites: Arroyo Sequit, Los Angeles Co. (Mitchell 1959 :153); Century Ranch sites, Los Angeles Co. (Follett 1963a:305; 1968b:136); Chumash village site Ven-87, Ventura Co. (Fitch 1975); Goff's Island, Orange Co. (Mitchell 1959:153); Little Harbor site, Santa Catalina Island (Meighan 1959:402); Malaga Cove, Los Angeles Co. (Walker 1952:40; Mitchell 1959:153); Rincon Point site SBa-1, Santa Barbara Co. (Huddleston and Barker 1975); San Nicolas Island (Fitch 1969:66, 69; Greenwood and Browne 1969:47); Shelter Hill, Marin Co. (Follett 1974:146); Shisholop, Ventura Co. (Fitch 1969:61 , 66); Strawberry Point, Marin Co. (Follett 1957:68); Ventura inland site Ven-168, Ventura Co. (Fitch 1975). Discussion This collection is too small to be considered representative of the fish material that presumably was buried in the Stege mounds. The large number of stone sinkers (527) recovered from the larger mound 125 suggests that the 17 fish remains recorded by Loud constitute only a small fraction of the fish material that might have been recovered. The leopard shark and both species of sturgeon may enter shallow water at times. The white seabass is known to enter water as shallow as 1.2 m. (4 ft.), according to Feder, Turner, and Limbaugh (1974:41). This small collection of fish remains therefore does not necessarily reflect the far-offshore fishing hypothesized by Loud (1924:363) on the basis of the comparatively heavy stone sinkers recovered from the Stege mounds. These stone sinkers may have been used on gill nets or on seines. The white seabass is regularly taken by hook and line and by gill net (Thomas 1968:8). Since this species enters bays and coves to feed at night (Cannon 1964:124) and since it may enter shallow water, the specimen(s) represented might have been taken by seine. The paucity of remains of the white seabass found at the Stege mounds may not be significant, in view of the small size of this collection. But only a few remains of this species were found at other sites on San Francisco Bay: the Emeryville shellmound (material identified March 1975 by W.I. Follett), the Shelter Hill site (Follett 1974:146), and Strawberry Point (Follett 1957:68); and none were found at the West Berkeley shellmound (Follett Appendix B this volume). This appears to indicate that even in aboriginal times white seabass were taken only occasionally in San Francisco Bay. Acknowledgments I thank Robert F. Heizer and A.B. Elsasser (University of California, Berkeley) for permission to report on these fish remains and for information, assistance, and advice; Leonard J.V. Compagno (Stanford University) and John E. Fitch (California Department of Fish and Game, Long Beach) for information; and Lillian J. Dempster, Maurice C. Giles, and James E. Gordon (California Academy of Sciences), respectively, for assistance with the manuscript, for enlargements of the photographs, and for radiographs of the shark centra. 126 References Cited Cannon, Ray 1964 How to Fish the Pacific Coast. 2d ed. Menlo Park, California: Lane Book Company. Feder, Howard M., Charles H. Turner, and Conrad Limbaugh 1974 Observations on Fishes Associated with Kelp Beds in Southern California. California Department of Fish and Game Fish Bulletin 160. Fitch, John E. 1969 Fish Remains, Primarily Otoliths, from a Ventura, California, Chumash Village Site (Ven-3). Memoirs of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 8: 56-71. Fish Remains from a Chumash Village Site at Ventura, California. MS. California of Fish and Game, Long Beach. (Ven-87) Department Follett, W. I. 1957 1963 1968 Fish Remains from a Shellmound in Marin County, California. American Antiquity 23(1) :68-71. Fish Remains from the Century Ranch Site (LAn-227), Los Angeles County, California. University of California (Los Angeles) Archaeological Survey Annual Report 5:295-316. Fish Remains from Century Ranch Site LAn-229, Los Angeles County, California. University of California (Los Angeles) Archaeological Survey Annual Report 10: 132-143. Fish Remains California. Anthropology from the Shelter Hill Site, Marin County, San Francisco State University, Treganza Museum Papers No. 15:145-159. Fish Remains f rom the West Berkeley Shellmound (CA-Ala-307), Alameda County, California. (Appendix B this volume). Greenwood, 1969 Roberta S., and R. O. Browne A Coastal Chumash Village: Excavation of Shisholop, Ventura County, California. Memoirs of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 8:1-55. Huddleston, Richard W. and L.W. Barker 1975 Otoliths and Other Fish Remains from the Chumash Midden- at Rincon Point (SBa-l), Santa Barbara-Ventura Counties, California. MS. Los Angeles County Museum of Natural His tory. 1975 19 74 1975 127 Hulbrock, Robert 1974 Lengths, Weights and Ages of 13 Southern California Marine Gamefish. Sacramento: California Department of Fish and Game. Loud, Llewellyn L. 1924 The Stege Mounds at Richmond, California. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 17(6): 355-372. Meighan, Clement W. 1959 The Little Harbor Site, Catalina Island: An of Ecological Interpretation in Archaeology. Antiquity 24(4) :383-405. Example American Miller, Daniel 1972 J. and Robert N. Lea Guide to the Coastal Marine Fishes of California. California Department of Fish and Game Fish Bulletin 157. Mitchell, Edward D., Jr. 1959 Faunal and Human Skeletal Remains. In Freddie Curtis, Arroyo Sequit:151-158. Archaeological Survey Association of Southern California Paper No. 4. Nelson, N.C. 1910 The Ellis Landing Shellmound. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 7(5) :357-426. Schenck, W. 1926 Egbert The Emeryville Shellmound: of California Publications Ethnology 23(3) :147-282. Final Report. University in American Archaeology and Skogsberg, Tage 1939 The Fishes of the Family Sciaenidae (Croakers) of California. California Division of Fish and Game Fish Bulletin No. 54. Thomas, James C. 1968 Management of in California and Game Fish Uhle, Max 1907 the White Seabass (Cynoscion nobiZis) Waters. California Department of Fish Bulletin 142. The Emeryville Shellmound. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 7(1):1-106. 128 Walker, Edwin 1952 Francis Five Prehistoric Archaeological Sites in Los Angeles County, California. (Publications of the Frederick Webb Hodge Anniversary Publication Fund, Vol. 6) Los Angeles: Southwest Museum. Wallace, William J. and Donald W. Lathrap 19 75 The West Berkeley Site: A Culturally Stratified Shellmound on San Francisco Bay. (This volume. ) Plate 1 Explanation of Plates Vertebral centrum, length 7.8 mm., diameter 11.5 mm., representing an adult leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata). (Print from anteroposterior radiograph.) Vertebra (caudal), length 39 mm., seabass (Cynoscion nobilis) about total length and perhaps 13.6 kg. Univ. Calif. Lowie Museum Anthro. representing a white 114 cm. (45 in.) in (30 lb.) in weight; No. 1-23527. a b Plate la P late lb