This thesis examines how environmental factors and floodplain vicinity have affected human subsistence strategies and occupation at Danielson Ranch (CA-VEN-395), California. Although multiple occupations date as far back as 2430--2690 cal BP, components analyzed in this study covers the last thousand years of site occupation. Shellfish remains from two units at different loci are examined using standard zooarchaeological techniques such as weight, minimum number of individuals (MNI), density graphs, and dietary reconstructions. Theoretical models stemmed from historical ecology, settlement patterns, and contextual archaeology are employed to discuss the implications of subsistence patterns through time at this site. To reconstruct paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic conditions and assess the impact on resource procurement and site occupation at Danielson Ranch, stable oxygen analyses of 8 archaeological California mussel (Mytilus californianus) shells are utilized. Additionally, shellfish data from archaeological sites in environmentally diverse adjacent localities (i.e. lagoon, creek channel, alluvial fan, and upland foothills) are included to reframe the historical ecology of the western Santa Monica Mountains region from 180--1580 cal BP. This analysis of diachronic archaeological data from diverse site types presents a critical assessment of human-environmental interactions and shifting strategies of resource use of the Ventureno Chumash in the western Santa Monica Mountains.