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The Chumash and the swordfish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Demorest Davenport,
John R. Johnson and
Jan Timbrook
Demorest Davenport
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara CA 93106, USA
John R. Johnson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara CA 93105, USA
Jan Timbrook
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara CA 93105, USA
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Abstract

Linguistic, ethnographic, archaeological and technical evidence demonstrates the mythological and ceremonial importance of the swordfish in Chumash culture. From at least the 1st century AD, there existed among the Chumash of the Santa Barbara region, California, a productive fishery for swordfish (Xiphias gladius) by harpoon. The probability is that a shamanistic cult was intended to bring this great ‘master of the sea’ within reach of fishermen and to persuade it occasionally to drive whales ashore, making their meat available. Evidence from a number of world-wide sources shows that this Chumash belief was, indeed, founded in fact.

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Papers
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Antiquity , Volume 67 , Issue 255 , June 1993, pp. 257 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 1993

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