The Chumash World at European Contact
Lynn H. Gamble, Ph.D.
 

This book details various aspects of society within the Chumashian cultural sphere of California in 1769, the year King Charles III initiated Spanish colonization to thwart the expansion of the Russian fur trade along the Sonoma Coast north of San Francisco Bay. The author explores daily and household life in the towns, leadership structures, politics, social class distinctions, gender issues, warfare, and the economy, conveying the essence of life during the era.

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The book mentions numerous communities, including Humaliwo (from which Malibu is derived), Noqto, Shilimaqshtush, Kashtayit, and many others. Islanders minted millions of units of shell disk coinage used in transactions with the mainland. Mainlanders traded commodities in return for finished goods and high-value materials available only on the islands.

 

After consuming shellfish, people discarded the shells in mounds which grew over time. The author worked on an island site where people lived for about 2,700 years at a mound that is so large it can be seen from a distance of five miles.

 

Gamble made headlines for combating the risks to California’s cultural heritage posed by rampant land development. This development, aimed to accommodate the explosive population growth in the Sunbelt starting in the 1970s, threatened archaeological sites dating back thousands of years.