Bedrock mortars as indicators of territorial behavior in the Sierra Nevada

Bedrock mortars were an integral part of intensive acorn economies in Native California and are a prominent feature of the Late Holocene archaeological record of the Sierra Nevada. Construction of these milling features also indicates a long-term investment in the landscape. Ethnographic evidence su...

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Veröffentlicht in:Quaternary international Jg. 518; S. 57 - 68
Hauptverfasser: Stevens, Nathan E., Whitaker, Adrian R., Rosenthal, Jeffrey S.
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Elsevier Ltd 30.05.2019
Schlagworte:
anthropology
bedrock
behavior change
California
crops
fruits
Holocene epoch
Hunter-gatherers
landscapes
milling
mountains
ownership
Sierra Nevada
Subsistence intensification
Territoriality
California
Territoriality
California
Hunter-gatherers
Subsistence intensification
Sierra Nevada
ISSN:1040-6182, 1873-4553
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Zusammenfassung:Bedrock mortars were an integral part of intensive acorn economies in Native California and are a prominent feature of the Late Holocene archaeological record of the Sierra Nevada. Construction of these milling features also indicates a long-term investment in the landscape. Ethnographic evidence suggests the importance of local acorn crops and other resources led to ownership and defense of property and resource rights in many areas. Through a combination of time-sensitive projectile points and obsidian hydration dating, we show that bedrock mortars became widely used in the Sierra Nevada after 1300 cal BP, and that this was coincident with the arrival of the bow and arrow to the region. When and where bedrock milling features occur provides evidence for evolving territorial behavior during the Late Holocene and further insights into how prehistoric Californians leveraged technology and behavioral changes to solve the difficult problem of making a back-loaded resource both palatable and profitable.
Bibliographie:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:1040-6182
1873-4553
DOI:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.11.008