Zooarchaeology and Arctic marine mammal biogeography, conservation, and management

The Holocene zooarchaeological record of the subarctic and Arctic can be used to aid in the conservation and management of marine mammals. A synthesis of selected zooarchaeological data indicates that there have been significant changes in species ranges, that northern marine ecosystems varied temporally and spatially, and that changes in sea ice extent may be accessible through retrospective research. Despite some limitations, the analysis of faunal collections from regionally appropriate coastal prehistoric and historic-era archaeological sites can be used to provide baseline information on marine systems that is less likely than more recent data to be compromised by intensive and extensive human impacts. The long-term time series data derived through zooarchaeology are particularly relevant to marine conservation and management decision-making in the Arctic where climate change scenarios predict accelerated environmental changes in the coming decades.