Hundreds of split-twig figurines have been recovered from caves in Grand Canyon and are associated with a hunting ritual that dates from 4200–3100 ¹⁴C yrs before present (BP). The caves chosen for this ritual all have Pleistocene remains of big game animals visible in packrat middens or surface deposits at the entrances. Presumably, Archaic hunter-gatherers identified these sites as entrances to the Underworld where the fossil remains represented ancestral animals. We examine the known chronology for these sites in Grand Canyon and postulate that the origin of this ritual is correlated with a period of rapid climate change that occurred on both global and regional scales beginning at ∼4000 BP. Increasingly variable conditions and the onset of modern El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) patterns in the eastern Pacific at that time probably negatively affected productivity of big game species in years with decreased winter precipitation. Thus, the caves became foci for a hunting ritual with figurines serving as a kind of offering. Most dates on the figurines or associated artifacts occur between 4100–3530 BP and many cluster to specific periods that suggest this ritual was not continuous, but may correspond with episodic droughts. Additional radiocarbon dates on figurines can test this hypothesis.

This article compares the local ecological knowledge (LEK) of quilombolas in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil) to scientific knowledge about the diet of four ungulate taxa (Tapirus terrestris L., Mazama spp., Pecari tajacu L., Tayassu pecari Link). LEK was gathered through interviews conducted with the freelisting method and through closed questionnaires. Ecological studies were compiled via a systematic review of the specialized academic literature. The research detected points of convergence and divergence between these knowledge systems. Local knowledge of the food classes in the ungulate diet indicated a wider range of items than that observed in 65 scientific studies of the foraging habits of these species. Certain characteristics of the LEK, such as its principal focus on environments that are not commonly investigated by ecological studies, form the basis of these divergences and reveal the complementary potential of LEK relative to scientific data in this field.

Oases on Mexico's Baja California peninsula harbor farms and gardens which largely feature crops first introduced by Jesuit missionaries (1697–1768). These spring-fed agricultural landscapes are currently managed as diverse agroecosystems with original heritage food crop species as well as newer crop and livestock introductions. These isolated landscapes are relict sanctuaries for unique desert crop varieties and farming systems that may be important for in situ conservation of agrobiodiversity and crop resources. Historical records in 1774 describe 21 original perennial crop species introductions in cultivation on the peninsula just after the Jesuit expulsion. This research expands rapid-assessment surveys conducted in nine mission oasis sites on the peninsula in 2010 through in-depth surveys of Mission era and total perennial crop species richness and relative frequency in twelve Jesuit mission oases. In all, 241 large field-gardens were surveyed with eighty-nine total perennial crop species cultivated in the mission oases. Species-area and rank-abundance relationships were calculated to determine patterns of inter and intra-oasis agrobiodiversity. A high persistence of Mission era species indicates that these oases serve as agrobiodiversity refugia, or protected source areas for heritage perennial crop species. The cultural and agricultural islands of the oases should be considered as an archipelago of interconnected sites for the long-term resilience of the region's farming and food systems.

Using systematic flotation, we recovered small carbonized fragments of breadfruit skin (exocarp) from a house site dated to the late prehistoric period on the island of Mo'orea in the Society Islands archipelago (East Polynesia). Our find is the first record of the fruit of breadfruit from Oceanic archaeobotanical material. Utilizing direct ethnographic analogy, our analysis of the archaeological breadfruit remains, including their context and morphology, and their comparison with experimentally charred modern reference samples of breadfruit exocarp, suggests that these remains resulted from the practice of roasting breadfruit. Taken as a whole, these data provide evidence for the practice of breadfruit roasting in the past. More importantly, the evidence contributes new information on site function in the context of a larger study concerning late prehistoric household variability. The case study broadly supports how paleoethnobotanical data can provide supporting evidence for inferring site function and site specialization.

The seals inhabiting Eastern Siberia's Lake Baikal are involved in a suite of meaningful relationships with local people both in the present and in the distant past. Most people rarely see the seals in their natural habitat, but these animals nonetheless are considered icons of the region, particularly among tourists and the broader general public. Our recent interviews with Baikal seal hunters, most of whom are Buriat, revealed relationships of great depth and intimacy with these animals that involved, in part, knowing the animals based on their sounds, smells, taste, fur quality, appearance, and behavior. The hunters and their families maintain relationships with the animals by acting so as to stay in good standing with local spirits and through proper treatment of the animals' bodies after death. Further, Baikal seals have prominent roles in local cosmologies and legends, including the origin stories of some local groups. The region's archaeological record reveals that meaningful relationships with seals extend far back in time, including among ancient foraging groups, some of whom made representations of seals 7,000-8,000 years ago. Humans' long-standing relationships with seals at Lake Baikal cannot be viewed simply as interactions between predator and prey, or consumer and commodity.

Plant subsistence economies for native peoples in the Mojave Desert have been well-documented ethnographically and historically, but less so archaeologically. Ethnographic accounts taken from southern California Native Americans (Palmer 1878), including the Panamint (Coville 1892), Kawaiisu (Zigmond 1981), Timbisha Shoshone, and Southern Paiute (Fowler 1995; Kelly 1932–1934) report that Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia Engelm.), Mojave yucca (Y. schidigera Roezl ex Ortgies.), and other yucca species (all Asparagaceae) were harvested as reproduction progressed from early to late spring. Harvesting and processing methods varied between groups, but in general, immature and mature fruits were roasted in pits and stored for later consumption. The time depth of these subsistence practices, however, remains unknown because of a scant archaeological record. Recent archaeological excavations of several pit features yielded Yucca spp. seeds and fruit in association with fire-cracked rock (FCR) and charcoal. The mix of immature and mature seeds and fruits suggest some early spring gathering and processing, however the majority were collected later in the season. Thus, the archaeological evidence supports and elaborates on the ethnographic observations about Yucca as a food source. A combination of ethnographic and archaeological evidence allows for a more detailed and robust picture of past human behavior and dietary practices.