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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Torben Rick

Curator of North American Archaeology
Department / Division
Anthropology
Education
  • B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Ph.D., University of Oregon
  • M.S., University of Oregon
Research Interests

Interactions of ancient people with coastal and terrestrial ecosystems.

Publications
Journal Article

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Book Review
Book Chapter
  • Rick, Torben C. 2022. "Shell Midden Archaeology and Maryland's Plant Communities." In The Future of Studying the Past: Innovative Technologies in Maryland Archaeology. Singer, Zachary, editor. 11. Crownsville, Maryland: Maryland Historical Trust.
  • Rick, Torben C. and Erlandson, Jon M. 2020. "Human Impacts on Ancient Marine Ecosystems." In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Smith, Claire, editor. 5334–5336. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
  • Braje, Todd, Erlandson, Jon, Gill, Kristina, Rick, Torben, Bentz, Linda, and Collins, Paul. 2019. "Historical Degradation and Ecological Recovery: Evaluating the Marginality of California Island Ecosystems." In An Archaeology of Abundance: Reevaluating the Marginality of California's Islands. Gill, Kristina, Fauvelle, Mikael, and Erlandson, Jon, editors. 31–58. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
  • Reeder-Myers, Leslie and Rick, Torben. 2019. "Sea Level Rise and Sustainability in Chesapeake Bay Coastal Archaeology." In The Archaeology of Human-Environmental Dynamics on the North American Atlantic Coast. Reeder-Myers, Leslie, Turck, John, and Rick, Torben, editors. 107–136. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
  • Rick, Torben, Hofman, Courtney, and Reeder-Myers, Leslie. 2019. "Why Translocate? Evaluating the Evidence and Reasons for Ancient Human Introduction of Wildlife to California's Islands." In An Archaeology of Abundance: Reevaluating the Marginality of California's Islands. Gill, Kristina, Fauvelle, Mikael, and Erlandson, Jon, editors. 248–272. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
  • Rick, Torben, Reeder-Myers, Leslie, and Turck, John. 2019. "Conceptualizing the Archaeology of North America's Atlantic Seacoast and Estuaries." In Archaeology of Human-Environmental Dynamics on the North American Atlantic Coast. Reeder-Myers, Leslie, Turck, John, and Rick, Torben, editors. 1–15. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
  • Erlandson, Jon, Braje, Todd, DeLong, Robert, and Rick, Torben C. 2015. "Natural or Anthropogenic? Historical Ecology and Pacific Coast Pinnipeds." In Applying Marine Historical Ecology to Conservation and Management. Kittinger, Jack, McClenechan, L., Gedan, K., and Blight, L., editors. 39–62. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Erlandson, Jon and Rick, Torben C. 2015. "The Kelp Highway and the First Californians." In First Coastal Californians. Gamble, L. H., editor. 9–16. Santa Fe: School For Advanced Research Press.
  • Gedan, Keryn B., Breitburg, Denise L., Grossinger, Robin M., and Rick, Torben C. 2015. "Historical Information for Ecological Restoration in Estuaries and Coastal Ecosystems." In Marine Historical Ecology in Conservation: Applying the Past to Manage for the Future. Kittinger, John N., Mcclenachan, Loren, Gedan, Keryn B., and Blight, Louise K., editors. 163–186. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520959606-012.
  • Perry, Jennifer, Glassow, Michael, Rick, Torben C., and Erlandson, Jon. 2015. "Ten Thousand Years on the Northern Channel Islands." In First Coastal Californians. Gamble, L. H., editor. 51–58. Santa Fe: School For Advanced Research Press.
  • Braje, Todd J., Erlandson, Jon M., and Rick, Torben C. 2014. "The Formation and Distribution of Large Shell Mounds in California’s Santa Barbara Channel Region." In The Cultural Dynamics of Shell Middens and Shell Mounds: A Worldwide Perspective. Roksandic, Mirjana, Mendonca, S., Eggers, S., Burchell, M., and Klockler, D., editors. 1–10. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
  • Braje, Todd J., Erlandson, Jon M., and Rick, Torben C. 2013. "Points in Space and Time: The Distribution of Paleocoastal Points and Crescents on California’s Northern Channel Islands." In Small Islands, Big Implications: The California Channel Islands and their Archaeological Contributions. Jazwa, Chirstopher and Perry, Jennifer, editors. 26–39. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
  • Rick, Torben C. 2013. "Hunter-Gatherers, Endemic Island Mammals, and the Historical Ecology of California’s Channel Islands." In The Archaeology and Historical Ecology of Small Scale Economies. Thompson, V., and and Wagonner, J.,Jr., editors. 41–64. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
  • Braje, Todd J., Rick, Torben C., and Erlandson, Jon M. 2012. "Rockfish in the Longview: Applied Archaeology and Conservation of Pacific Red Snapper (Genus Sebastes) in Southern California." In Applied Zooarchaeology and Conservation Biology. Wolverton, Steven and Lyman, R. Lee, editors. 157–178. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
  • Rick, Torben C. and Erlandson, Jon. 2012. "Fragmentation, Identification, and Interpretation of Faunal Remains from Late Holocene Tecolote Canyon, Santa Barbara County, California." In Exploring Methods of Faunal Analysis: Insights from California Archaeology. Glassow, M. A. and Joslin, T. L., editors. 109–123. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.
  • Rick, Torben C. and Erlandson, Jon M. 2012. "Kelp Forests, Coastal Migrations, and the Younger Dryas: Late Pleistocene and Earliest Holocene Human Settlement, Subsistence, and Ecology on California’s Channel Islands." In Hunter-Gatherer Behavior: Human Response During the Younger Dryas. Eren, M. I., editor. 79–110. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.
  • Braje, Todd J. and Rick, Torben C. 2011. "Perspectives from the Past: Archaeology, Historical Ecology, and Northeastern Pacific Pinnipeds and Sea Otters." In Human Impacts on Seals, Sea Lions, and Sea Otters: Integrating Archaeology and Ecology in the Northeast Pacific. Braje, Todd J. and Rick, Torben C., editors. 297–308. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Braje, Todd J., Rick, Torben C., Erlandson, Jon M., and DeLong, Robert L. 2011. "Resilience and Reorganization: Archaeology and Historical Ecology of California Channel Island Marine Mammals." In Human Impacts on Seals, Sea Lions, and Sea Otters: Integrating Archaeology and Ecology in the Northeast Pacific. Braje, Todd J. and Rick, Torben C., editors. 273–296. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Rick, Torben C., Braje, Todd J., and DeLong, Robert. 2011. "People, pinnipeds, and sea otters of the Northeast Pacific." In Human impacts on seals, sea lions, and sea otters: integrating archaeology and ecology in the Northeast Pacific. Braje, Todd J. and Rick, Torben C., editors. 1–17. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  • Erlandson, Jon, Braje, Todd J., Rick, Torben C., Davis, Troy, and Southon, John. 2009. "The Archaeology of Seal Cave (CA-SMI-604): Preliminary Results from a Paleocoastal Shell Midden on San Miguel Island, California." In Proceedings of the Seventh California Islands Symposium. Damian, Christine and Garcelon, David, editors. 33–42. Arcata: Institute for Wildlife Studies.
  • Rick, Torben C. 2009. "8,000 Years of Human Settlement and Land Use in Old Ranch Canyon, Santa Rosa Island, California." In Proceedings of the Seventh California Islands Symposium. Damian, Christine and Garcelon, David, editors. 21–31. Arcata: Institute for Wildlife Studies.

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Conference Proceedings
Book
  • Reeder-Myers, Leslie, Turck, John, and Rick, Torben, editors. 2019. Archaeology of Human-Environmental Dynamics on the North American Atlantic Coast. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
  • Rick, Torben C., Reeder-Myers, Leslie, Gobalet, Kenneth W., Hash, John M., Jew, Nicholas P., Wake, Thomas A., and Wolff, Christopher B. 2018. Deception Island: Archaeology of ′Anyapax, Anacapa Island, California. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. In Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, 52. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.1943-6661.52.
  • Wolverton, Steve, Nagaoka, Lisa, and Rick, Torben C. 2016. Applied Zooarchaeology: Five Case Studies. Clinton Corners, New York: Eliot Werner Publications, Inc.. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvqc6hk2.
  • Rick, Torben C. and Erlandson, Jon, editors. 2008. Human Impacts on Ancient Marine Ecosystems. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Erlandson, Jon, Rick, Torben C., and Vellanoweth, Rene. 2008. A Canyon through Time: Archaeology, History, and Ecology of the Tecolote Canyon Area, Santa Barbara County, California. Salt Lake City: University of Utah.
  • Rick, Torben C. 2007. The Archaeology and Historical Ecology of Late Holocene San Miguel Island, California. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.
Dataset