Technological and Functional Characteristics of Ceramics and Their Distribution along the Southern California Coast

Summary

Prehistoric ceramics found across southern California have a relatively discrete spatial distribution. While locally manufactured ceramics are common to the south and southeast of the Los Angeles River, prehistoric sherds are rare in deposits located to the northwest. This marked distribution is potentially explained by regional differences in surface ages and post-depositional processes. Alternatively, populations to the north may have had access to resources necessary for pottery alternatives, may have differed in their settlement patterns, mobility, and/or subsistence practices. Finally, it is possible that ceramics are concomitant with distinct population histories and that the south is occupied by populations that are derived from the California Desert. In this poster, I evaluate measurements of technological and functional variability of ceramic assemblages from deposits across southern California to determine the degree of variation that exists in the use and production methods of vessel ceramics. After ruling out differences in surface age and deposition, if aspects of the environment are correlated with space, it is likely that vessel ceramics are tied to an ecological or economic feature of the environment. Alternatively, random variability across space potentially supports the hypothesis that population histories are largely driving the presence of pottery.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage