Copyright (c) 2009 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/tljones Recent documents in Terry L. Jones en-us Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:59:37 PDT 3600 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/30 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/30 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:17:51 PDT Rivers and Jones (1993) reported the locations of 21 place names in the upper San Antonio Valley and adjacent coast of Monterey County, California, that were noted by Salinan speakers in John Peabody Harrington's field notes from 1922 to 1932. Surface reconnaissance and review of recently completed archaeological survey reports have led to the identification of 11 additional Salinan places in the upper San Antonio Valley and refinement in the location of three others. Archaeological sites in the vicinity of named places tentatively suggest that Salinan settlements are marked by clusters of small middens and bedrock mortars. Terry L. Jones Articles http://works.bepress.com/tljones/29 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/29 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:17:50 PDT Betty Rivers Articles http://works.bepress.com/tljones/28 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/28 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:17:49 PDT Terry L. Jones Articles http://works.bepress.com/tljones/27 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/27 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:17:48 PDT For nearly half a century, the Milling Stone Horizon has been recognized as an integral element of California culture history, but representative components have long been thought to be restricted to the southern portion of the state. Claims to the contrary by D.L. True and a few of his students for the presence of Milling Stone Horizon manifestations further north have not been fully embraced due to inadequate dating and poor component resolution. In this article, we reassess the previously scanty evidence for a Milling Stone Horizon presence in northern California, and review data from nine recently investigated sites that have yielded strong evidence for the Milling Stone Culture in Early-Middle Holocene contexts north of southern California. Richard T. Fitzgerald Articles http://works.bepress.com/tljones/26 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/26 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:59:51 PDT Sedimentary records from California's Northern Channel Islands and the adjacent Santa Barbara Basin (SBB) indicate intense regional biomass burning (wildfire) at the Ållerød-Younger Dryas boundary (~13.0-12.9 ka) (All age ranges in this paper are expressed in thousands of calendar years before present [ka]. Radiocarbon ages will be identified and clearly marked "14C years".). Multiproxy records in SBB Ocean Drilling Project (ODP) Site 893 indicate that these wildfires coincided with the onset of regional cooling and an abrupt vegetational shift from closed montane forest to more open habitats. Abrupt ecosystem disruption is evident on the Northern Channel Islands at the Ållerød-Younger Dryas boundary with the onset of biomass burning and resulting mass sediment wasting of the landscape. These wildfires coincide with the extinction of Mammuthus exilis [pygmy mammoth]. The earliest evidence for human presence on these islands at 13.1-12.9 ka (~11,000-10,900 14C years) is followed by an apparent 600-800 year gap in the archaeological record, which is followed by indications of a larger-scale colonization after 12.2 ka. Although a number of processes could have contributed to a post 18 ka decline in M. exilis populations (e.g., reduction of habitat due to sea-level rise and human exploitation of limited insular populations), we argue that the ultimate demise of M. exilis was more likely a result of continental scale ecosystem disruption that registered across North America at the onset of the Younger Dryas cooling episode, contemporaneous with the extinction of other megafaunal taxa. Evidence for ecosystem disruption at 13-12.9 ka on these offshore islands is consistent with the Younger Dryas boundary cosmic impact hypothesis [Firestone, R.B., West, A., Kennett, J.P., Becker, L., Bunch, T.E., Revay, Z.S., Schultz, P.H., Belgya, T., Kennett, D.J., Erlandson, J.M., Dickenson, O.J., Goodyear, A.A., Harris, R.S., Howard, G.A., Kloosterman, J.B., Lechler, P., Mayewski, P.A., Montgomery, J., Poreda, R., Darrah, T., Que Hee, S.S., Smith, A.R., Stich, A., Topping, W., Wittke, J.H. Wolbach, W.S., 2007. Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and Younger Dryas cooling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, 16016-16021.]. Douglas J. Kennett Articles http://works.bepress.com/tljones/25 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/25 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:59:50 PDT Terry L. Jones Articles http://works.bepress.com/tljones/24 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/24 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:59:49 PDT Terry L. Jones Articles http://works.bepress.com/tljones/23 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/23 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:39:32 PDT Torben C. Rick Articles http://works.bepress.com/tljones/22 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/22 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:59:11 PST A model of prehistoric marine mammal overexploitation advanced by Hildebrandt and Jones (1992) for the northeastern Pacific has been challenged by Colten (1995) and Colten and Arnold (1998) who argue that diachronic patterns in faunal remains from California's Channel Islands reflect climatically-induced decline in marine productivity and local socio-cultural developments not over predation. In this paper, we point out that some Channel Islands faunal trends are consistent with overexploitation, while others reflect methodological variation between studies. Newly available paleoenvironmental data raise questions about previous characterizations of late Holocene marine productivity, while new zooarchaeological findings from Monterey Bay, San Miguel and San Clemente Islands provide strong support for overexploitation in ways not envisioned in the original model. Such findings show that linear optimal foraging constructs may not account for all local variation in faunal assemblages, but still provide powerful explanations for broad patterns over time and can further provide useful insights into prehistoric human ecology. Terry L. Jones Articles http://works.bepress.com/tljones/21 http://works.bepress.com/tljones/21 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:59:07 PST As the focus of intense debate concerning the possible effects of environmental variability on Native populations, the Middle-Late Transition (MLT) is an exceptionally important period in California prehistory. Recent salvage excavations at the Coon Creek Site (CA-SLO-9) on the San Luis Obispo County coast revealed a single, highly discrete component dating cal A.D.900-1300 which is largely synchronous with most definitions of the MLT. With a recovery volume of 23.2 m3, this is the first component to yield artifact and faunal assemblages substantive enough to establish the culture historical markers for this period in this region, and to define corresponding subsistence and technological patterns. Artifacts from a proposed Coon Creek Phase show a blend of Middle and Late Period cultural traits (with a heavier contribution from the former) as well as some unique MLT diagnostics. Faunal remains suggest a landscape in which foragers exploited robust invertebrate populations, cormorants, sea otters, and rabbits, and "de-intensified" their fishing practices, all of which imply an organization of labor different from that of previous periods. Brian F. Codding Articles