Chumash Canoe Specialization

The Chumash plank canoe (tomol) was a highly specialized and effective tool for the Chumash people. It has been argued that the development of this technology played a crucial role in the sociopolitical evolution of the Chumash. However, the debate lingers as to the actual provenance for invention of the plank canoe. Were the Cumash, a complex hunter-gatherer people, able to construct an intricate and complex tool on their own, or did they, as some have suggested, rely on external influence from Polynesia to guide construction? Jeanne Arnold’s article delves into multiple data sets in order to extrapolate who was responsible for the initial invention of the tomol.

The tomol were highly valued and, as such, were only in the possession of chiefs and certain elites. This was due to the high costs in producing the craft. The tomol required nearly 500 days of skilled labor and a sufficient quantity of material, such as redwood, that was not available locally. However, when completed the craft was six to seven meters in length and could hold 12 passengers or 2-tons of cargo. The ability to transport large quantities of cargo is essential in the expansion trading systems and the ability to capture large bodied fish.

Direct evidence for the construction or construction areas for the tomol are based on the presence of two main items; asphaltum, a sticky substance used to make the ships watertight, and redwood, used to construct the planks. While the indirect evidence of invention and widespread use of the tomol relies on the appearance of cross-channel movement of highly prized trade goods and heavy objects such as mortars, that would have been difficult to transport in any other fashion.

Based on these criteria, multiple techniques have been used to date the inception of the tomol. Radiocarbon dating of planks at a San Miguel Island site reported a calibrated date of A.D. 625-700. However, there has also been a strong case for using a database of fish remains form the Santa Barbara Channel to help date the tomol. The results of this study to a period between A.D. 500-600, in which a steady number of larger species of fish appear at coastal villages. It also appears that the movement of highly prized trade goods begins to be accelerated after A.D. 600-700. Based on the culmination of results from nearly a dozen sites, Arnold argues that at the date of A.D. 500 plus/minus a century is the most likely date for the invention of the tomol.

Based on an accepted date for the invention of the tomol, it is possible to delve into a possible Polynesian connection. However, given the early date of the invention of the tomol, it is highly improbable that there was any connection between the two groups. The earliest dates for colonization by Polynesians in the Hawaiian Islands dates no earlier than A.D. 800, and at Easter Island, that date is identified at A.D. 1200. These dates are far too recent to demonstrate a Polynesian influence on tomol invention. The dates also coincide with the fact that both construction techniques and the physical manifestation of the crafts are highly dissimilar. This clearly demonstrates that the Chumash was able to formulate a complex technological system in the creation of their specialized watercraft.

Arnold was able to demonstrate through empirical data that a complex hunter-gatherer population was able to manifest highly complex technological innovation without the influence of “an agricultural society”. The Chumash was able to develop a complex system, in which a vertical hierarchy was able to provide the social and economic capital necessary for social and technological innovation. In turn, Innovation was able to expand a network of exchange and craft specialization, thereby, firmly establishing Chumash political and social complexity.

Arnold, Jeanne E.

2007 Credit Where Credit is Due: the History of the Chumash Oceangoing Plank Canoe. American Antiquity 72(2): 196-209.