Natural Resources, Geomorphology, And Archaeology Of Site Ca-Sma-113 In Quiroste Valley Cultural Preserve, California

Interpreting archaeological and paleoecological data with respect to indigenous landscape management practices requires a framework describing the natural resources, history of landscape development, and lifeways in the area under study. With frequent anthropogenic burning, we predict that the landscape around Quiroste Valley would have supported a varied and reliable mixture of plant and animal resources, and people living there would have had access to seasonal resources in different vegetation communities throughout much of the year. Geomorphological research indicates that the Quiroste Valley floor developed during the Holocene and has been stable for the last several thousand years. Results of archaeological research at site CA-SMA-113 suggest that inhabitants consumed a wide range of biotic resources and occupied the site during most of the year. They participated in regional economies by trading the raw materials for shell bead manufacture and possibly Monterey chert. Results of archaeological research at CA-SMA-113 are consistent with cultural developments reported at other local sites in the late Holocene (ca. AD 1000-1775).