Kathleen L. Hull

Identification of Cultural Site Formation Processes Through Microdebitage Analysis

Ives, R. L. 1941 Photographing Translucent, Transparent, and Multicolored Artifacts. American Antiquity 6:263-265. Kraft, H. C. 1971 A Simple Ammonium Chloride Generator for Use in Observing and Photographing Chipping Details and Wear Evidence on Artifacts. New York State Archaeological Association Bulletin 51:6-8. Lutz, B. J., and D. L. Slaby 1972 A Simplified Procedure for Photographing Obsidian. American Antiquity 37:262-263. Rovner, I. 1974 A Simpler Simplified Procedure for Photographing Obsidian. American Antiquity 39:617. Weide, D. L., and G. D. Webster 1967 Ammonium Chloride Powder Used in Photography of Artifacts. American Antiquity 32:104-105. Wilkinson, K. 1968 A Method of Preparing Translucent Artifacts for Photography. Nevada Archeological Survey Reports 2(2):10, 11.

RECOGNIZING RITUAL ACTION AND INTENT IN COMMUNAL MOURNING FEATURES ON THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST

Abstract Recent excavations at two sites located along the coastal margin of the Los Angeles basin revealed three features created as a result of communal mourning ritual during the Intermediate Period (ca. 3000–1000 cal B.P.). Detailed analysis of constituents, structure, and context indicates that formation of these dense concentrations of ground stone implements, unmodified cobbles, other artifacts, and cremated human remains involved deliberate equipment production, sequential implement fragmentation and treatment including burning and pigmentation of items, and secondary interment of incomplete objects and bodies in pits within locales often used for this purpose over many generations. The large size and evident manipulation of objects as part of communal mourning ritual indicates that actions would have been readily visible to a gathered assembly. Thus, while the meaning and significance of these practices remains to be thoroughly explored, the data suggest that communal mourning ritual may have played a significant role in community-building and the maintenance of identity within a region with a dynamic population history.

Ritual as performance in small-scale societies

Abstract Although archaeological study of ritual as performance has garnered increasing attention in recent years, such research has primarily focused on large-scale, complex societies and, therefore, on the relation of performance to politics and power. In contrast, this paper explores archaeological assessment of public performance within small-scale societies, considering especially the significance of specific practices to social integration, identity, and historicity. This analysis is informed by emerging interdisciplinary theory on ritual, dramatization, and performance, and draws on archaeological evidence of cyclic communal mourning rites in coastal southern California that reveal aspects of performance including item manufacture, burning, pigmentation, sequential fragmentation, and structured deposition in ‘persistent places’.

Communal Mourning Revisited

Abstract Reexamination of published data and previously unpublished information on communal mourning features excavated at sites in southern California in the 1930s to 1950s reveals important details about structure and constituents, as well as actions contributing to the formation of such features. Data from eight sites—some of which have not been previously identified as containing communal mourning features—are synthesized to document the range of structural diversity, consider specific material practices that may relate to alternate expressions of meaning, explore potential temporal patterns, and offer recommendations for future work. Such reanalysis contributes to the emerging picture of communal mourning practices in southern California and reveals information unavailable in regional ethnographies.

Structured Tumult: A Review Forum for Robert L. Bettinger's Book, Orderly Anarchy: Sociopolitical Evolution in Aboriginal California

Select at random an issue of American Antiquity from the past 15 years. Chances are good that you will find at least one article or report in the table of contents that focuses on the archaeology of California. Recent research in the Golden State and adjacent regions has been highly influential in two main areas: the archaeology of prehistoric hunter-gatherers and innovative historic archaeology brought to bear on the past few centuries. One might argue that the specialists in the historic period of California have been truly at the forefront of general anthropological and archaeological theory, while those focused on precontact California have been relatively satisfied with a long-cherished and comfortable package of theory that leans heavily—as hunter-gatherer archaeology nearly always does—on cultural ecology and behavioral ecology. While some archaeologists grumble that they do not need any stinking theory for their job at hand, the truth is that every time we load up the field gear in the truck, sort through a tray of artifacts in the lab, write up that overdue report, or critique someone else’s work, we are using archaeological theory. As many have pointed out, everything we think or do with regard to archaeology is based on theoretical assumptions and models. The point of this is to stress the importance of Orderly Anarchy: Sociopolitical Evolution in Aboriginal California, by Robert L. Bettinger. This work promises to be a catalyst for California archaeology and ethnography for decades to come. Most California archaeologists will find that whatever problems they are working on will fit squarely into what Bettinger writes about in this book. He brings together nearly all of the topics over which California specialists grapple under a single theoretical model, and this is perhaps unprecedented. In response, the journal California Archaeology hereby establishes its own new practice, its first book review forum. This format provides a more thorough consideration of the significance and impact of Bettinger’s book than would be

Ishi, Kroeber, and Modernity

tions also gave me more insight into Taylor’s more famous work. A Harvard graduate, Taylor also questioned the validity of culture traits as applied by Americanist archaeologists. Like his colleagues, he also took Haury to task, along with most other prominent culture historians of his day, only to argue in the end for a better version of culture history where culture traits were mental phenomena. His critiques inspired many, but his inability to leave the trait-based framework behind rendered his conjunctive approach unworkable in the absence of poststructural theory. In sum, I found this book full of lessons about the processes of archaeological discovery and history within the American Southwest and beyond. Although the writers did not mythologize the past, I could not help doing so as I read it. There was something deeply heroic and tragic in the Harvard offspring constructing a new kingdom while consuming their mentors, only to pass along the palace to processual archaeology.