Ceramic Distribution, Migration, and Social Interaction at Mine Wash, a Late Prehistoric (1300-200 BP) Seasonal Habitation Site in San Diego County, California

Summary

We selected 40 pottery samples from different levels within three separate excavation units at the site of Mine Wash (CA-SDI-813, 1100-310 BP) in central Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The composition of these small, undecorated sherds was characterised by a combination of thin section petrography and INAA. This was compared to a now extensive petrographic and geochemical database of ceramics and raw materials from the San Diego region. Our analysis reveals a compositionally diverse assemblage that contains material from several non-local sources in the Colorado Desert to the east and the nearby Peninsular Range mountains to the west. The movement of pottery to Mine Wash is likely to reflect seasonal migration of social groups between different landscape zones along ethnographically-known trails. We consider the correspondence of macroscopic, petrographic, and geochemical classification methods. Additionally, we propose possible explanations for intra-site compositional variation of ceramics across the three excavation units.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage