Jeffrey S. Rosenthal

Are obsidian subsources meaningful units of analysis?: temporal and spatial patterning of subsources in the Coso Volcanic Field, southeastern California

Archaeologists frequently assign artifacts to chemically discrete subsignatures of major obsidian sources. While the technical ability to do so has been demonstrated, it remains to be shown that such information is behaviorally meaningful. Indeed, some analysts choose not to make such determinations under the presumption that the data are not anthropologically relevant. Using a case study from the Coso Volcanic Field, which has at least four distinct subsignatures, we examine this problem and conclude that subsource identification can be useful and quite interesting. This is particularly so when large datasets encompassing spatially expansive areas can be assembled and statistically analyzed.

Hunter-Gatherer Storage, Settlement, and The Opportunity Costs of Women's Foraging

for hunter-gatherers who live in environments with predictable seasonal fluctuations in resource availability (Goland 1991; RowleyConwy and Zvelebil 1989), but few models have been developed to explain the choice of resources for storage (see Bettinger 2009 for one example). Optimal foraging theory has become a standard approach for examining subsistence decisions, including which foods to include in the diet (e.g., Broughton 2002; Cannon 2003; Madsen 1993; Madsen and Schmitt 1998; Simms 1987; Ugan 2005), where to locate central villages (e.g., Morgan 2008, 2009, 2012; Zeanah 2000, 2004), and when to field process resources (e.g., Barlow and Metcalfe 1996; Bettinger et al. 1997; Bird and Bliege Bird 1997; Metcalfe and Barlow 1992). Storage falls outside the scope of traditional optimal foraging models, however, because it separates foraging effort from consumption. The extra time that hunter-gatherers must spend accumulating a surplus for storage has the potential to conflict HUNTER-GATHERER STORAGE, SETTLEMENT, AND THE OPPORTUNITY COSTS OF WOMEN’S FORAGING

Stable Isotope Provenance Analysis of Olivella Shell Beads From the Los Angeles Basin and San Nicolas Island

ABSTRACT Production of marine shell beads in island and coastal settings was an important activity in prehistory, with important political and economic ties. Currently, there are few methods to track beads to their locus of production. Examining the spatial distribution of bead types provides one method of doing so. Chemical and stable isotopic methods provide an additional and independent means of testing hypotheses generated by spatial distributions. We use stable oxygen, carbon, and strontium isotope data to reconstruct provenance zones for 18 Olivella biplicata beads from the Los Angeles Basin and San Nicolas Island, California. We compare the results to isotopic data from modern and radiocarbon-dated whole shells collected along the Pacific Coast. Results indicate that all 18 beads were manufactured from shells growing in open coast locations south of Point Conception. Differences in isotopic composition between bead types suggest that not all were produced in the same location. Some, such as callus beads (K1), have highly variable composition, suggesting production in a range of locations. Others, such as thin lipped (E1), seem to have been produced in more restricted regions.

A Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Environmental Record and Fluted Point from Twain Harte, California

ABSTRACT Although more than 500 Clovis points have been found at no fewer than 60 locations in California, the age of these points remains problematic. Here we report stratified deposits more than 3 meters deep at a site in the central Sierra Nevada from which a Clovis point was recovered in 1969. Five radiocarbon (14C) dates provide temporal control for terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene strata at the site, including the sediments in which the point reposed. We also report the analysis of pollen samples from these strata. Our research indicates that the Clovis point most likely dates to ∼11,900–11,400 cal yr BP. We interpret this, in the context of other fluted-point discoveries, to mean that Clovis lithic technology evidently persisted longer in the Far West than it did elsewhere in the U.S.

A probable prehistoric case of meningococcal disease from San Francisco Bay: Next generation sequencing of Neisseria meningitidis from dental calculus and osteological evidence

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of ancient dental calculus samples from a prehistoric site in San Francisco Bay, CA-SCL-919, reveals a wide range of potentially pathogenic bacteria. One older adult woman, in particular, had high levels of Neisseria meningitidis and low levels of Haemophilus influenzae, species that were not observed in the calculus from three other individuals. Combined with the presence of incipient endocranial lesions and pronounced meningeal grooves, we interpret this as an ancient case of meningococcal disease. This disease afflicts millions around the globe today, but little is known about its (pre)history. With additional sampling, we suggest NGS of calculus offers an exciting new window into the evolutionary history of these bacterial species and their interactions with humans.

Prehistory of Nevada's northern tier : archaeological investigations along the Ruby Pipeline. (Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 101)

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EARLY HOLOCENE LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE COSO BASIN, NORTHWESTERN MOJAVE DESERT, CALIFORNIA

Early Holocene adaptations are still poorly understood in North America. The archaeological record of this period is often difficult to access and most studies have taken a site-based approach, focused on a small number of well-excavated sites. The archaeological record of the Coso Basin in the northwest Mojave Desert provides the unique opportunity to approach adaptations from a landscape, rather than a site-based, perspective. Large sections of land that were formed during the Pleistocene and Early Holocene, the landforms on which Early Holocene hunter-gatherers lived, are still exposed and easily accessible today. Previous studies have significantly under-represented these landforms in regional survey and excavation. Our analyses suggest that Early Holocene people made use of a wide range of environments, not primarily lakes and wetlands as has commonly been suggested. Furthermore, there is little indication that populations were more residentially mobile and lived in lower population densities than later in time. After accounting for survey, geological, and temporal biases, it is apparent that site densities equal or exceed those of later periods in time. These findings should challenge archaeologists to reconsider certain notions about the Early Holocene in the desert west and to, when possible, take a landscape approach in reconstructing prehistoric lifeways.

Projectile point typology and chronology in the north central Sierra Nevada

Despite years of concerted research, no well substantiated projectile point chronology for the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada has been established. Several reasons for this have been identified, including a lack of datable contexts, stratigraphic mixing, and excessive morphological variability resulting from material constraints and regular tool resharpening. Existing projectile point typologies, while accommodating the full range of morphological variation, have proven cumbersome due to large numbers of distinct types and sub-types. Further, chronological control has relied on inferences drawn from other regions, with little local support for inferred point sequences. To address these problems, the following study employs a large assemblage of projectile points from three stratified archaeological sites in the American River watershed. Projectile points are segregated using two common measurements—neck width and proximal shoulder angle. The newly defined types are then compared to regional stratigraphic patterns, revealing a consistent sequence of dart and arrow point types spanning the middle through late Holocene.