Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

This paper is a test of the use of symmetry analysis of basket design to measure interaction among northern and central California Indian cultures. Although long-distance trade networks and casual exchanges at ceremonies have long been known as vehicles for cultural interchange, anthropologists have not systematically used criteria other than language for studying affiliations. Differences in language classically have been used to define tribal entities, but the subsequent consideration of other cultural information within these linguistic units has masked the fact that much information and actual interaction crosses these "unintelligible" boundaries.

The Mono Basin Paiute call themselves kucadikadi 'eaters of brine fly [Hydropyrus hians] pupae' (Fowler and Liljeblad 1986: 464), a name that derives from the important insect food they collected from the waters of Mono Lake, Mono County, California. Three historic (post-A.D. 1852) winter houses of this Paiute group were recorded during archaeological investigations near Mono Lake in 1986 and 1987 (Fig. 1) (Arkush 1987a, 1987b). Two of the structures reported here occur at CA-Mno-2122, a large multicomponent fall-winter encampment, and were mapped and excavated. A third winter house (CA-Mno-2382), originally recorded by U. S. Forest Service personnel, is located approximately nine kilometers northwest of Mno-2122, and was recorded and photographed by the author in 1987.

Nahachish Rock is located on the northerly margin of Rainbow Valley in northern San Diego County, California (Fig. 1). This feature is supposed to represent the solidified remains of an important person in Luiseno mythology. This paper describes the location of the Nahachish Rock, compares its appearance in the mid-1920s and the mid-1980s, comments on some aspects of the mythology associated with the person Nahachish and, wherever possible, provides definitive locations for the several places visited during his travels.

Inconsistencies in the identification of Pinto projectile point types, as used in Great Basin and Mojave Desert archaeology, have created chronological as well as typological problems (Warren 1980). Thomas' (1981:22) attempt to "clarify the situation" by assigning the type name "Gatecliff Split-stem" to the class of points that formerly had been included under the Pinto rubric in the western and central Great Basin, reflects the need for an adequate definition of Pinto points. We have assumed that the Pinto designation should be retained in the Mojave Desert where it was first used (Amsden 1935), unless it can be shown no longer to have a viable application. The viable application of any type is in part dependent upon its intended analytical function. The Pinto point type traditionally has been used primarily as a temporal type, or time marker. The Pinto point type, as defined here, is assumed to be a temporal type and the purpose of this paper is to take the initial step in testing the validity of that assumption. The validity of a temporal type is dependent upon two criteria: 1) a definable temporal distribution of the type; and 2) the consistent occurrence of a set or sets of physical attributes. In this paper we address only the second criterion: the physical attributes of the Pinto points in the Mojave Desert.

The dating of the Pinto Period has long been a major issue in Mojave Desert prehistory. Competitive chronologies place it within two significantly different time intervals, and lead to quite different interpretations of the ancient desert lifeway. Projectile points from radiocarbon-dated strata at the Rogers Ridge site support the case for an early occupation dating between 6,000 and 6,400 B.P. This paper presents and discusses the implications of the evidence from Rogers Ridge.

This report documents the excavation of the cave, describes the collection, and serves as the final report on the project. The collection and notes are housed at UCLA under accession number 365.

A number of scholars have examined the cause of demographic collapse in the Californias, and have included stress, disease, and subsistence crises among their explanations. This essay does not attempt to explain in detail the causes of demographic change, but rather to document population movements in the seven missions in central Alta California, from Santa Cruz in the north to San Luis Obispo in the south. The basic premise entertained here is that the process of demographic change in the Californias can best be examined on the basis of detailed studies of discrete subregions which for cultural, geographical, or historical reasons manifested similarities in the development of mission communities and patterns of demographic change. This paper, then, explores demographic change in the seven mission communities, contributing to the growing literature on Indian demographic change in the Americas.

Recent discussions by Wallace (1985:135-144, 1986:21-27), and a general dearth of information for the southerly portions of Los Angeles County in general, provide the impetus for this short comment. The data presented below from Malaga Cove (CA-LAN-138; Fig. 1) were collected by the author during the mid- to late-1930s, preceding and overlapping the Southwest Museum excavations conducted by Edwin Walker (Walker 1937:210-214, 1951:27-69).

The diversity of functions proposed for chipped stone crescentics is mirrored by the variety of their shapes. Some crescentics are simply of lunate design (e.g., Tadlock 1966), while others (often called "eccentric crescentics") incorporate notches, "spurs," "legs," and tangs onto an underlying crescent form (Rogers 1966; Jertberg 1978,1986). Malcolm Rogers (1929) believed that crescentics of San Dieguito age served as hunting amulets. Other suggested functions include lateral bird bunts, surgical instruments, skinning or slicing tools, ornaments, specialized scrapers, waterfowl points capable of glancing off water, and tools for peeling and stripping (Davis and Panlaqui 1978:61). Crescentics are generally thought to be of early Holocene age (Wallace 1955; Tadlock 1966; Warren 1968).

Examples of historic native American use of Euroamerican manufactured goods are well known. Woodward (1965:2) noted that trade goods entering California included a great variety of items, such as various cloths, beads, brass rings, wire, kettles, knives, and other goods. Wire was used to bind poles for construction (Ritter 1980); iron was used for projectile points (Fowler and Matley 1979:65, Fig. 51a-b); other items served more elaborate functions such as the use of glass beads in wealth displays, as part of ceremonial dress, and as mortuary offerings (Meighan and Riddell 1972:39; Hester 1978:498).

Killwa Texts: "When I Have Donned My Crest of Stars." Mauricio J. Mixco. University of Utah Anthropological Papers No. 107, 1983, 305 pp., 3 figures, 17 photos, 4 drawings, 4 maps, 1 appendix, $20.00 (paper). Killwa Dictionary. Mauricio J. Mixco. University of Utah Anthropological Papers No. 109, 1985, 382 pp., 2 appendices, $25.00 (paper).

Earliest Man of America in Oregon, U.S.A. D. E. Tyler. Ontario, OR: Discovery Books, 1985, 260 pp., 458 photos, $24.95 (paper).

Handbook of Indian Foods and Fibers of Arid America Walter Ebeling. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986, 971 pp., 73 figures, 50 plates, 12 tables. Appendix, Glossary, Index, References, $65.00 (hardcover).

The Archaeology of Nahas Cave: Material Culture and Chronology. Mark G. Plew. Boise State University Archaeological Reports 13, Boise Idaho, 1986, vi + 109 pp., $7.50 (paper).

The Maxon Ranch Site. Lynn L. Harrell and Scott T McKem. Rock Springs: Archaeological Services, Western Wyoming College, Cultural Resource Management Report No. 18, 1986, 215 pp., 47 figures, 24 tables, bibliography, 5 appendices, $10.00. The Sweetwater Creek Site. Janice C. Newberry and Cheryl Harrison. Rock Springs: Archaeological Services, Western Wyoming College, Cultural Resource Management Report No. 19, 1986, 121 pp., 31 figures, 17 tables, bibliography, 2 appendices, $7.50.

Archaeological Investigations at the Owl Canyon Site (CA-SBR-3801), Mojave Desert, California Mark Q. Sutton. Salinas: Coyote Press Archives of California Prehistory No. 9, 1986, 72 pp., 17 figures, 3 Appendices, $3.95 (paper).

Symposium: A New Look at Some Old Sites. Papers from the Symposium Organized by Francis A. Riddell presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for California Archaeology, March 23-26, 1983, San Diego, California Salinas: Coyote Press Archives of California Prehistory No. 6, 1986, iv + 82 pp., 3 maps, 1 photo, 2 tables, 1 chart, $4.95(paper).

The Journal will occasionally publish an annotated list of recent titles. Readers are invited to submit complete bibliographical information on new titles, together with a one- or two-sentence annotation for each, to a Reviews Editor. The Journal will accept for listing the titles of books, monographs. Master's theses, Ph.D. dissertations, substantive and well-written grant and contract reports, and other works that contribute significantly to California and Great Basin anthropology. For unpublished reports, identify the repository from which a copy of the report can be obtained. Such a repository is a responsible state or federal agency or the officially designated data center, such as an information center of the California Archaeological Inventory.