Coast to coast: Prehistoric maritime cultures in the North Pacific

Selected conclusions about North Pacific maritime cultures derived from the papers in this volume are reviewed here. Evidence for early and extensive use of salmon and shellfish appears to be better documented in northeastern Asia than in North America. Evidence for the chronology of key innovations such as shellfish use, development of sea mammal hunting and fishing technology, and establishment of storage facilities and sedentary villages is reviewed. Maritime adaptations are earlier in the ice-free North Pacific than farther north, with independent centers of development in Asia and northwest North America, The available evidence from the North Pacific rim suggests that maritime hunting and fishing were Holocene developments that arose independently of any earlier coastal adaptations during the initial peopling of the Americas.