CALIFORNIA
(that’s where I
wanna be -- J. Mayall)
‚
At European Contact (1760s)
- most densely populated region in North America; 350,000 people, 6/km2
(A.L. Kroeber), 10% of prehistoric North American population
- most linguistically diverse region; 13 language families; as many as
80 languages
- environmental diversity: 11 major geomorphic provinces, including
cool, wet coastline (north coast), warm, dry coastline (south coast),
mountains, grasslands, deserts
- no farming; high population density based on h&g -- key
resources: acorns, salmon
- population density varied locally; strongly correlated to oak/acorn
productivity and diversity (M. Baumhoff)
‚
California Space-Time Framework
- confusing, because several different systems in use
- most divide time of human occupation into four major periods: Paleoindian, Archaic (11/10,000-4,000 BP),
Late Prehistoric or “Pacific” (4,000-200 BP), Historic
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Archaic
- often divided into Early (11,000-8,000 BP), Middle (8,000-6,000 BP),
and Late (6,000-4,000 BP)
- typical of Archaic elsewhere in North America:
- broad-spectrum subsistence (use of wide variety of resources)
- adaptation to local environments with seasonal mobility
- emphasis on plant gathering, esp. hard seeds, also acorns (to some
extent)
- hunting: deer, elk, and other smaller land mammals
- Archaic commonalities: subsistence diversity (“extensification”);
hard seeds and deer rank highest
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Millingstone Horizon
- Late Archaic in southern and central California sometimes referred to
as “Millingstone Horizon” (although recent research shows it is not truly a “horizon”)
- several sites with artifact assemblages dominated by millingstones
and manos, used primarily for seed grinding
- only slight evidence of mortar and pestle (used primarily for acorn
grinding)
- low-level use of salmon, and little or no use of benthic (deep
water) resources
- infer high settlement mobility; little use of storage -- forager
pattern?
‚
Pacific Period
- also divided into Early (4,000-2,500 BP), Middle (2,500-1,500 BP),
and Late (1,500-200 BP)
- includes several developments typical of “Formative” elsewhere in
North America:
1. large villages
2. high population density
3. resource intensification
4. elaborate exchange systems
5. complex social organization
-but Formative hallmarks (pottery and farming) largely absent
‚
Pacific Period in the Central Delta
- Central Delta is the confluence of Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers,
just east of Bay Area; this area drains most of central California
- Pacific period chronology for Central Delta includes: Windmiller
culture (5,000-2,500 BP), Cosumnes culture (2,500-1,500 BP), and Hotchkiss
culture (1,500-200 BP)
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Windmiller Culture (5,000-2,500 BP)
- named for Windmillar site in Sacramento River delta, a burial mound
site
- in fact, Windmillar culture known mainly from excavation of burial
sites
Q: How well can we infer settlement-subsistence patterns from burial
site assemblages?
- evidence from burial sites includes:
1. extended burials, most oriented east-west
2. grave offerings common, but little indication of status
differentiation
3. large, stemmed points (chert and slate) suggest hunting
4. baked clay net-weights -- fishing
5. variety of ornamentation; charmstones (shamans?), shell beads,
steatite, gypsum
6. mano-millingstones and mortar-pestle present but not common
- site distribution suggests seasonal transhumance; delta/lower river
region in winter (?) grasslands and foothills in summer (?) -- a collector
pattern
- subsistence: deer hunting, seed gathering; also some faunal evidence
for salmon use, and mortars suggest acorn use, but not intensive (earliest
evidence for acorn use in the region) -- a diffuse economy
- Windmiller culture largely contemporary with Berkeley pattern
(Bay area)
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Cosumnes Culture (2,500-1,500 BP)
- evolved form Windmiller; similar site distributions imply similar
seasonal mobility, but...
- higher population density; more and larger sites
- more sedentary settlement; first evidence of permanent villages, up
to 200-300 inhabitants
- variety of types of structures, including sweat houses, dance houses
(ritual)
- dwellings were mainly pithouses, which varied in size (status
differentiation?)
- fewer grave goods overall than in Windmiller, but more concentrated
in certain graves; greater range in grave lot values (GLV) suggests status
differentiation
Calculating GLV (T. Green method)
1. No. of graves (100) / No. of graves
containing certain artifact type (eg. “Stockton curves” (10)
this gives an “artifact rarity value” (ARV);
Stockton curves = 10
2. Sum of ARV for each artifact in grave; 4
Stockton curves= 40, + other artifacts
- other burial evidence of status differentiation: imported shells,
obsidian, skeletal trauma
- artifact changes from Windmiller: mainly stylistic (p. pts. etc),
but...
- major increase in use of mortar-pestle (acorns); also more intensive
use of salmon -- a focal economy
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Hotchkiss Culture (1,500-200 BP)
- thought to have evolved from Cosumnes, with same basic trends
continuing...
- climax of acorn/salmon focal economy
- increasing village size (+1,000); greater variation in village size;
multi-lineage villages, probably village headman/chief
- greater variation in pithouse size (5-10 m dia.)
- first evidence of true storage facilities (acorn granaries)
- burials reveal marked status differences (Olivella beads, Stockton
curves); Olivella beads used almost as currency in many parts of California
- skeletal evidence for warfare pattern (P. Lambert)
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The Thing About Acorns
- Q: if acorns were a “super-resource” (like salmon), why were they not
used intensively before Cosumnes?
- one answer relies on Optimal Foraging Theory (M. Basgall)
- acorn advantages:
1. high productivity (600-800 kg/ha)
2. localized resource (oak groves); “ownable”
3. nutritional content; rich in fat, calories
4. stores well for long periods
- acorn disadvantages:
1. reliability; high/low cycle in annual productivity -- mediated by
species diversity
2. labour requirements; very high...
shelling 5-10 kg(?)/person/hour
grinding 1 kg/hour
leaching (tannic acid) 0.7 kg/hour
- the thing about acorns -- high yield, but high cost; search time
(low); procurement time (low); processing time (high)
- some comparisons (cal. gained per hour work):
tubers, fruits (Australia)... 6,000 cal/hour
seeds, grasses....................
600 cal/hour
acorns............................... 1,070 cal/hour
salmon.............................. ???
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Archaeological Evidence for Acorn Use in Central California
1. Botanical evidence (charred acorn shells)
Fish Camp Slough site, 2,900 BP
Llano Seco site, 4,200 BP
2. Artifact assemblages
- mortars and pestles begin to outnumber millingstones during
Windmiller culture, and definitely by Cosumnes
3. Physical anthropology
- Harris lines; reduced in Cosumnes and Hotchkiss
- enamel hypoplasia; reduced in Cosumnes, Hotchkiss (then
increases with European contact?)
- dental caries; increases in Cosumnes, Hotchkiss (carbohydrates
intake)
- burial orientation (Windmiller); death in winter?
- paleodemography; shorter longevity, lower child mortality
- interpretation: acorns support more people, but does life get better?
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The Overall Trend
- population growth countered initially (ie., through Archaic and Windmiller)
by “extensification” (adding more resources (lower yield, higher cost) to menu)
- acorn (and salmon?) intensification begins when extensification
coasts exceed acorn costs
- acorn intensification permits rapid population growth and cultural
elaboration