Archeologists discovered artifacts characteristic of ancient Paleocoastal sites that were occupied by the first islanders on the northern Channel Islands between 8,000 and 13,000 years ago. Scientists now believe that ancient sites from this period may be evidence of a coastal migration following the North Pacific Rim from Northeast Asia into the Americas, part of the peopling of the new world. A fire pit in a midden-
humus layer was dated at 9,900 years BC, while above this layer was a
stone chopper with a butchered and burned mammoth dated 9,800 years BC. Several more fire areas were dated at 9,000 years BC, while human bones,
Arlington Springs Man, are dated to 8,000 years BC. A circular fishhook was dated at 2,800 years BC. Huge shell mounds appear at 0 AD, while a camp fire in Skull Gulch was dated at 1695 AD.
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo first observed the islands in 1542. The three northern channel islands were inhabited by an estimated two to three thousand
Chumash, with eleven villages on Santa Cruz, eight on Santa Rosa, and two on San Miguel. In 1938 the
Santa Barbara and
Anacapa islands were designated a
national monument.
San Miguel,
Santa Rosa and
Santa Cruz islands were combined with the monument in 1980 to form modern-day Channel Islands National Park. The resulting spill was, at the time, the largest oil spill to occur in United States territorial waters. Crews took approximately 11 days to seal the rupture using a cement plug, during which approximately of
crude oil spilled into the
Pacific Ocean, creating an
oil slick with an area of about . Following the spill, tides carried the oil onto the beaches of the Anacapa, San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands. This spill is the third largest oil spill in the United States, only surpassed by the
Deepwater Horizon and the
Exxon Valdez oil spills. The
State of California Department of Oil and Gas noted 29 natural
oil seeps between
Point Conception and
Rincon Point. The seeps were noted by Father Pedro Font in 1776. Additionally,
tar mounds are concentrated off the coast at Point Conception,
Coal Oil Point, and
Carpinteria. A natural oil seep also exists off the west coast of San Miguel Island. Finally, the distinctive odor of the
petroliferous Monterey Shale is evident on the eastern end of Santa Cruz Island. The Chumash used the tar and oil from these seeps for caulking and adhesives. == Geography ==