Indigenous inhabitants of the Baja California peninsula used littoral and marine resources for food and raw materials from the Holocene through the Spanish Colonial and Mission period. This study analyzes faunal assemblages from seven archaeological sites in the Bajamar-Jatay area spanning similar to 4,800 years to examine coastal foraging strategies during periods of cultural transition and environmental variability. Subsistence practices focused on harvesting mollusks, particularly larger species from upper and middle intertidal zones-such as black abalone, California mussel, and owl limpet-along with smaller aggregated species like turban snails. Nearshore fishing occurred but remained supplementary. Results indicate relative stability in harvested intertidal mollusks, with shell densities and ecological indices oscillating through time. These findings suggest localized adaptive strategies and sustained intertidal resource management within rocky boulder intertidal and subtidal habitats. There is no clear evidence that environmental shifts significantly affected local shellbeds. Los habitantes ind & iacute;genas de la pen & iacute;nsula de Baja California utilizaron recursos litorales y marinos para la alimentaci & oacute;n y la obtenci & oacute;n de materias primas desde el Holoceno hasta el periodo Colonial y Misional. Este estudio analiza conjuntos faun & iacute;sticos de siete sitios arqueol & oacute;gicos en la regi & oacute;n de Bajamar-Jatay (similar to 4,800 a & ntilde;os) para examinar estrategias de aprovechamiento costero en contextos de transici & oacute;n cultural y variabilidad ambiental. La subsistencia se centr & oacute; en la recolecci & oacute;n de moluscos, especialmente especies del intermareal superior y medio, como el abul & oacute;n negro, el mejill & oacute;n de California y la lapa gigante, as & iacute; como especies agregadas de menor tama & ntilde;o, como los caracoles turbante. La pesca en zonas someras fue complementaria. Los resultados indican estabilidad en los moluscos explotados, con densidades de concha e & iacute;ndices ecol & oacute;gicos que fluct & uacute;an a lo largo del tiempo, lo que sugiere estrategias adaptativas y manejo sostenido de recursos intermareales, sin evidencia clara de impactos significativos por cambios ambientales.
This paper evaluates the contemporary utility of legacy obsidian sourcing information by re-computing Robert N. Jack's x-ray fluorescence (XRF) data for artifacts from the Howell's Point archaeological site (CA-Col-2) in central California. Obsidian source attributions were corroborated and compared with detailed intra-site temporal phasing of artifacts from the site determined by James A. Bennyhoff. Conjoining these independent data sets revealed differences in obsidian source use unrecognized in previous research. This study shows that - if approached judiciously, combining results with refined dating, and with recognition of then-extant instrumental analysis limitations - legacy data can provide fresh insights about the past. Este art & iacute;culo eval & uacute;a la utilidad actual de la informaci & oacute;n sobre las fuentes de obsidiana heredadas mediante el recomputado de los datos de fluorescencia de rayos X (XRF) de Robert N. Jack para artefactos del yacimiento arqueol & oacute;gico de Howell's Point (CA-Col-2) en el centro de California. Las atribuciones de las fuentes de obsidiana se corroboraron y compararon con la detallada fase temporal intrasitio de los artefactos del yacimiento, determinada por James A. Bennyhoff. La combinaci & oacute;n de estos conjuntos de datos independientes revel & oacute; diferencias en el uso de las fuentes de obsidiana no reconocidas en investigaciones previas. Este estudio demuestra que, si se aborda con criterio, combinando los resultados con una dataci & oacute;n refinada y reconociendo las limitaciones del an & aacute;lisis instrumental vigentes en ese momento, los datos heredados pueden proporcionar nuevas perspectivas sobre el pasado.
Little is known about the sanitation and disposal practices of the people who lived and worked in the stockade complex at Colony Ross. Historic accounts indicate the Russians maintained the stockade as a secure space kept clean of garbage and waste. Yet archaeological research at Fort Ross State Historic Park has yet to detect any substantial middens associated with the Russian-American Company's (RAC) occupation of the stockade complex (CA-SON-190). If archaeologists could determine where materials were discarded, then this could provide new insights into the daily practices of the RAC officials in the stockade complex. This paper examines the possibility that materials were transported out of the south portal of the stockade and pitched down the steep slope of the nearby marine terrace. A landslide unleashed by torrential rain provided a unique opportunity to examine cultural material from the terrace slope that may have originated from the stockade complex. Se sabe poco sobre las pr & aacute;cticas de saneamiento y eliminaci & oacute;n de desechos de quienes viv & iacute;an y trabajaban en el complejo de empalizadas de la Colonia Ross. Los relatos hist & oacute;ricos indican que los rusos manten & iacute;an la empalizada como un espacio seguro, libre de basura y desechos. Sin embargo, la investigaci & oacute;n arqueol & oacute;gica en el Parque Hist & oacute;rico Estatal de Fort Ross a & uacute;n no ha detectado ning & uacute;n basurero sustancial asociado con la ocupaci & oacute;n del complejo de empalizadas por parte de la Compa & ntilde;& iacute;a Ruso-Estadounidense (RAC) (CA-SON-190). Si los arque & oacute;logos pudieran determinar d & oacute;nde se desechaban los materiales, esto podr & iacute;a proporcionar nuevos conocimientos sobre las pr & aacute;cticas diarias de los funcionarios de la RAC en el complejo de empalizadas. Este art & iacute;culo examina la posibilidad de que los materiales fueran transportados fuera del portal sur de la empalizada y arrojados por la empinada ladera de la terraza marina cercana. Un deslizamiento de tierra provocado por lluvias torrenciales brind & oacute; una oportunidad & uacute;nica para examinar material cultural de la ladera de la terraza que podr & iacute;a haberse originado en el complejo de empalizadas.
Before the rise of modern cultural resources management, western states like California had formally organized archaeological associations that conducted prehistoric investigations across their state. Most projects undertaken by these associations, along with recovered artifacts, have largely been forgotten. This article reintroduces a set of large and robust ceramic collections obtained by the Archaeological Survey Association of Southern California from 122 Patayan sites documented around the shorelines of ancient Lake Cahuilla. Now housed in perpetuity at the Imperial Valley Desert Museum, all these collections were obtained on BLM-administered lands and records show that there are more than 13,441 ceramic artifacts. While most site collections likely represent a single vessel, a number of others probably represent between two and 10 vessels. Taken together, these collections may represent between 100 and 200 vessels. This article highlights the value and research potential of legacy collections held at museums and repositories across the United States.
The elemental analysis of glass beads has great potential for the archaeology of California's colonial and Indigenous pasts. The present study employs a sample of 535 white glass beads from Mission San Jos & eacute; (1797-1840s) to evaluate the usefulness of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis for identifying temporally-diagnostic glass opacifiers, particularly antimony and arsenic, which are not visible to the naked eye. Our results indicate that the majority of the beads in our analysis were opacified with antimony, with several that exhibit evidence of arsenic as an opacifying agent. Consistent with previous research from Spanish colonial sites in central California, our study supports a mid-nineteenth century (1840s-1850s) introduction of arsenic-rich beads to the region. Overall, this study illustrates the strengths of utilizing rapid XRF analysis to differentiate glass bead opacifiers, while further confirming the regional introduction of arsenic opacifiers during a critical period in the history of Native California.
Radiocarbon dating of two giant rock scallop beads (Crassadoma gigantea, formerly Hinnites multirugosus) from southeastern Monterey County, in the interior of California's Southern Coast Ranges, confirms the deep antiquity of these ornaments and extends their geographic range well into the interior of the state. A globular bead from CA-MNT-2318/H, the Turkey Flat Site, returned a median calibrated date of 8508 cal BP, making it the earliest known example of this form. A disc bead from CA-MNT-2308, the Lichtenstein Site, yielded a date of 3674 cal BP. Here we provide contextual and chronological information that further documents the occurrence of giant rock scallop ornaments in Early and Middle Holocene contexts, as first established by Braje et al. (2008). We also extend the known geographic range of giant rock scallop ornaments well out of the Santa Barbara Channel region where they are typically found.
Using paleobotanical and faunal materials from sorting of just 20 liters of midden from precontact site CA-SFR-230, radiocarbon-dated between 1480 and 330 cal BP, we explore how precontact people of the San Francisco Peninsula accessed plant and animal resources from different parts of the landscape across different seasons. Isotopic and microscopy results show that the majority of food items could have been sourced within just 2 km, and all within 8 km, of the site. Shoreline and estuarine habitats were used in winter and summer to harvest fish and shellfish, grasslands and wetlands were exploited in spring and summer, and riparian areas in summer for a range of plant products. Fall resources are conspicuous by their near absence. We suggest people were residentially mobile during the fall, relocating either to larger shell mounds, or to areas in the interior of the peninsula, as part of a fission-fusion settlement pattern. Con materiales paleobot & aacute;nicos y faun & iacute;sticos de solo 20 litros de conchero del sitio precontacto CA-SFR-230, fechado por radiocarbono entre 1480 y 330 a & ntilde;os cal BP, exploramos c & oacute;mo las personas precontacto de la pen & iacute;nsula de San Francisco acced & iacute;an a los recursos vegetales y animales de diferentes partes del paisaje a lo largo de las distintas estaciones del a & ntilde;o. Los resultados isot & oacute;picos y de microscop & iacute;a muestran que la mayor & iacute;a de los alimentos podr & iacute;an haberse obtenido en un radio de solo 2 km y todos dentro de un radio de 8 km del sitio. Los h & aacute;bitats costeros y estuarinos se utilizaron en invierno y verano para recolectar peces y mariscos, las praderas y humedales se explotaron en primavera y verano, y las & aacute;reas ribere & ntilde;as en verano para obtener una variedad de productos vegetales. Los recursos de oto & ntilde;o destacan por su casi total ausencia. Sugerimos que las personas eran m & oacute;viles residencialmente durante el oto & ntilde;o, traslad & aacute;ndose ya sea a mont & iacute;culos de conchas m & aacute;s grandes o a & aacute;reas del interior de la pen & iacute;nsula, como parte de un patr & oacute;n de asentamiento de fisi & oacute;n-fusi & oacute;n.
For over 100 years, scholars have unsuccessfully attempted to create Patayan pottery typologies. This is evident at Joshua Tree National Park where archaeologists simply record the presence or absence of ceramics because of a lack of a useable typology. We tackle this problem by creating pottery groups identified through compositional characteristics of sherds collected from the park. The pottery group identification process includes binocular and petrographic analysis of paste and temper and differs from previous formal typologies based mainly on color or surface appearance. Our goal is to standardize pottery recording by park archaeologists by developing a field guide. The project and research questions developed through consultation with the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and Morongo Band of Mission Indians, with questions developed that Tribal consultants felt would be most useful and relevant to them. Durante m & aacute;s de 100 a & ntilde;os, los investigadores han intentado sin & eacute;xito crear tipolog & iacute;as de cer & aacute;mica pataya. Esto es evidente en el Parque Nacional Joshua Tree, donde los arque & oacute;logos simplemente registran la presencia o ausencia de cer & aacute;mica debido a la falta de una tipolog & iacute;a utilizable. Abordamos este problema mediante la creaci & oacute;n de grupos cer & aacute;micos identificados a trav & eacute;s de las caracter & iacute;sticas compositivas de los tiestos recolectados en el parque. El proceso de identificaci & oacute;n de grupos cer & aacute;micos incluye an & aacute;lisis binocular y petrogr & aacute;fico de la pasta y el temple, y difiere de las tipolog & iacute;as formales previas basadas principalmente en el color o la apariencia de la superficie. Nuestro objetivo es estandarizar el registro de cer & aacute;mica por parte de los arque & oacute;logos del parque mediante el desarrollo de una gu & iacute;a de campo. El proyecto y las preguntas de investigaci & oacute;n se desarrollaron mediante consultas con las Bandas de Indios de la Misi & oacute;n Twenty-Nine Palms, San Manuel, Agua Caliente y Morongo, con preguntas formuladas que los consultores tribales consideraron m & aacute;s & uacute;tiles y relevantes para ellos.
The 2021 River Fire exposed a long abandoned lime kiln near the town of Colfax, in the Sierra foothills. The kiln was a rare two-stack monitor continuous kiln, which archival research revealed was operated by the Holmes Lime Company from 1903 to 1911. Continuous kilns were a technological innovation that increased production. Lime production is an extractive industry and one of many industrial enterprises exploiting natural resources for the development of California with links through production to other industries. California's nineteenth-century prosperity as a whole can be seen as driven by resource-based extractive industry. Such industries provide significant labor opportunities. The kiln complex included evidence of the workers' habitation area and much of the industrial landscape associated with production. Artifacts recovered during a short field season offered insights into the lives and health of workers at this manufacturing site. El incendio de river de 2021 dej & oacute; al descubierto un horno de cal abandonado hace mucho tiempo cerca de la ciudad de Colfax, en las estribaciones de la Sierra. El horno era un raro horno continuo do dos chimeneas, que seg & uacute;n revelaron las investigaciones de archivo, fue operado por la Holmes Lime Company entre 1903 y 1911. Los hornos continuos fueron una innovaci & oacute;n tecnol & oacute;gica que aument & oacute; la producci & oacute;n. La producci & oacute;n de ca les una industria extraciva u una de las muchas empresas industrials que explotan los recursos naturales para el desarrollo de California, con vinculos a trav & eacute;s de la producci & oacute;n con otras industrias. La prosperidad de California en su conjunto puede verse como un desarrollo impulsado por los recusos. Estas industrias brindan importantes oportunidades laborales en un context capitalista. El complejo de hornos incluia evidencia del & aacute;rea de habitaci & oacute;n de los trabajadores y gran parte del paisaje industrial asociado con la producci & oacute;n. Los artefactos repcuperados durante una corta temporada de campo ofrecen informaci & oacute;n sobre la vida y la salud de los trabajadores en el sito de fabricaci & oacute;n.
