Cultural Chronology - Soils and Stratigraphy - Artifacts - Faunal Remains - CA-MNT-910 Home
Artifacts
Flaked Stone - Ground Stone - Bone Tools
The flaked stone assemblage from CA-MNT-910 included 11 cores, 3 flake tools, 1 biface fragment, and 9 projectile points.
Cores
All 11 cores are Monterey chert (Table A-3). Five were from control units, four were from STUs, and two were surface finds. Seven could be best described as multi-directional interior chunks, while three were large pieces of interior shatter. The remaining specimen (STU-60) was the margin from a large biface. All of cores lack cortex and show multi-directional flake removal. All of the cores were relatively small in size, ranging in maximum dimension from 20.70 to 91.40 mm and in weight from 21.29 to 375.00 g.
Biface
Only a single specimen, which classified as a biface fragment was recovered from the site. This artifact represents the margin of a Stage 5 obsidian biface (910-2-25) and appears to have been re-used as a drill. It originated from the Napa Valley and produced a hydration reading of 3.9 microns. The lack of large bifacial implements is typical of Late Period components and contrasts with Middle and Early Period (Hunting Culture) components.
Flake Tools
Three Monterey chert flakes show edge modification and possible use-related
wear along one or more edges. Two of these were from levels between 0-10 cm
in Units 2 and 5. One was a surface find. Two are made on simple interior flakes
while the other (SURF-07) was a complex interior flake.
Projectile Points
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| Desert Side-notched from CA-MNT-910 |
Three types are represented in the collection of nine specimens: Desert Side-notched (N = 4), Cottonwood (N = 2), and leaf-shaped (N = 1). Two of the specimens are indeterminate fragments. All projectile points were made of Monterey chert.
The Desert Side-notched (DSN) type is a clear marker of the Late-Protohistoric Period (post–A.D. 1250) as defined by Baumhoff and Byrne (1959). Locally it is a marker of the Dolan Phase. Cottonwood points (formerlyknown as Coastal Cottonwood/Canalino) are also Late Period markers. The leaf-shaped point (SURF-02) is considerably larger than the other specimens, which are all clearly associated with the bow and arrow. The leaf-shaped specimen also appears to represent the older biface reduction technology as opposed to the pressure flaking associated with the production of arrow points. This type is generally associated with the late Middle Period and Middle-Late Periods.
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| Projectile Points and a Drill recovered from from CA-MNT-910 (Drawn by Rusty VanRossman) |
Debitage
The phase II investigation of CA-MNT-910 yielded a total of 2238 pieces of debitage, which includes 58 flakes from 1/8" screened portions of two column samples. All excavated materials from the TEUs were recovered from 3 mm (1/8 in.) screens whereas the excavated materials from the STUs were recovered from 6 mm (1/4 in) screens.
All debitage from the TEUs was subjected to a detailed analysis (N=1222). All of the debitage recovered from this site was of Monterey chert. The excavation volume from the TEUs was 10.6 m3 and, consequently, the debitage density from these units was 171.8 flakes/m3. In comparison with excavation samples from other sites within FHL, the debitage density from CA-MNT-910 is most comparable to CA-MNT-879, which yielded 199.6 flakes/m3. CA-MNT-879, of course, was also a Late Period midden. Units excavated using 3 mm mesh at CA-MNT-332, -521, and -569 (with Early and Middle Period components) yielded debitage densities of 5963.0 flakes/m3, 4478.0 flakes/m3, and 8285.0 flakes/m3, respectively. Late Period/Prothistoric components at CA-MNT-237 and -569 produced debitage densities of 1021.0 flakes/m3 and 3063.1 flakes/m3, respectively, for units excavated with 3mm mesh.
Non-diagnostic flakes, primarily composed of indeterminate percussion flake
fragments and shatter, account for 74.7% (N = 1362) of the flakes in the sample.
The diagnostic flakes (N = 460) show a dominance of debris related to core reduction
(N =439; 95.4%) over biface reduction (N = 21; 4.6%). Cortical flakes account
for only 7.1% of the diagnostic debitage. These proportions are similar to findings
from CA-MNT-879 where core/flake debris (N = 328; 96.5%) dominated biface-related
debris (N = 12; 2.1%), and cortical flakes accounted for only 3.5% of diagnostic
debitage. These findings are also roughly similar to the figure of 80.8% core/flake
debris associated with arrow point production on the coast at CA-MNT-1223 and
are consistent with the presence of arrow points in the CA-MNT-910 assemblage.
However, the figures from CA-MNT-1223 are thought to reflect arrow point production
in a setting far from sources of chert. Findings from CA-MNT-515, a midden deposit
in the upper Nacimiento River, are thought to reflect arrow point production
closer to sources of raw material. Figures from that site, where total excavation
volume was 1.2 m3, show 99% core/flake debris and only 1% biface-related debris.
Technological Summary
The flaked stone tools and debitage from the CA-MNT-910 primarily reflect a Late-Protohistoric Period arrow point industry emphasizing core/flake technology. Evidence for a biface industry is limited to a single leaf-shaped projectile point. The presence of cores, and projectile points made of Monterey chert suggests that a wide range of reduction activities took place at this location. The debitage frequency and the flake-to-biface ratio, however, are extremely low in comparison with sites with extensive evidence for biface production (e.g., CA-MNT-521 and -569).
The flaked stone assemblage is most similar to that of CA-MNT-879, another Late Period site situated in the northern portion of FHL. The modest evidence for stoneworking at these two Late Period differs considerably from the extensive reduction activities evident at the large Middle Period middens investigated elsewhere within FHL. The category of primary reduction debris or modified chunks, defined as large pieces of angular debris associated with the assay and working of blocks of raw material, was not found to be useful in analyzing the CA-MNT-910 flaked stone assemblage. The limited number of cortical flakes shows that initial core reduction was not a major activity at the site.
The low quantity of flaked stone tools and debitage may be due to the small amount and size of raw material needed to create arrow points. The morphological characteristics of the Late Period projectile points indicate that they were manufactured through pressure-flaking along the margins of small flakes. These artifacts show the curvature of a flake and retain portions of the ventral and dorsal surfaces of the flake blank. Similar projectile points and partially complete arrow point flake blanks were recovered at CA-MNT-879 and -1223. The latter is an arrow point production locus on the Big Sur coast.
Among the six ground/battered stone artifacts were five pestles, one complete hopper mortar, and one bowl mortar fragment.
Hopper Mortar
A complete hopper mortar (specimen # SURF-11) was found buried in the road
bed on the northeastern edge of the site. This implement was large (256 x 258
mm) and complete. Made of sandstone it exhibits a band of asphaltum around approximately
half of a central mortar cup. The cup is 111.0 mm wise and 35.0 mm deep. The
asphaltum smear is generally about 30 mm from the edge of the cup and the overall
surface that would have been contained within the basket hopper was ca. 200.0
mm in diameter.
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| Hopper Mortar recovered from CA-MNT-910 |
Pestles
Three pestles were found on the surface and one (specimen 5-8) was found between 15 and 20 cm below surface in Unit 5, while the remaining fragment (specimen 3-3) was found in the 0-10 cm level of Unit 3. Four specimens (3-3, 5-8, SURF-9, and SURF-12) were fragments while one was nearly complete, albeit unfinished. Four of the five were formal, well-shaped cylindrical pestles. Only specimen SURF-9 was an informal, minimally modified cobble fragment. Specimen SURF-1 is the most interesting of the items in that it represents a pestle that was never completed. The artifact exhibits several heavily pecked areas along its cylindrical faces that would have presumably been subjected to more grinding in order to produce a formally shaped cylindrical tool.
Bedrock Mortars
A total of six mortar cups was recorded on the single outcrop within this site. Excavation results from other sites within FHL show that informal, crude cobble pestles are commonly associated with BRMs. The present findings, however, contradict these earlier studies and suggest that well-made cylindrical pestles were apparently also used with BRMs.
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| Bedrock Mortars from CA-MNT-910 (Drawn by Rusty VanRossman) |
Bowl Mortar
One fragment of a portable bowl mortar was recovered from the surface (specimen SURF-03). Made from sandstone, the artifact retained portions of the exterior lip, and interior of what was originally a mortar perhaps 30.0 cm in diameter. The lip was rounded and the walls of the vessel were 6.0 to 9.0cm thick.
Summary
The seven ground and battered tools recovered from CA-MNT-910 as well as the surface features all represent the mortar-pestle technology, and consist of four formal cylindrical pestles, one portable bowl mortar, one portable hopper mortar, and six BRM cups. All of these types are known to occur during the Late Period and this site seems to have produced a nearly complete representation of Late Period ground stone technology, although the slab/handstone dyad, absent here, is known from some Late Period contexts. One specimen indicates that ground stone implements were occasionally manufactured at this site. In general, the assemblage is consistent with similarly dated ground stone collections from the region. Almost certainly, the ground stone tools represent processing of acorns and/or pine nuts. Both gray pine and several species of oaks occur in the immediate vicinity of the site.
Three bone tools from CA-MNT-910 were all small fragments. Specimens 1-05 and STU-28a appear to represent awls while the third item (CS1-03b) is a modified limb shaft. All three pieces appeared to originate from large mammals
References Cited
Baumhoff, M.A. and J.S. Byrn; 1959; Desert Side-notched Points
as a Time Marker in California. University of California Archaeological
Survey Report 48:32-65.