A Study of Lithic Debitage from Talepop (CA-LAN-229) at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California

Summary

CA-LAN-229 is a prehistoric archaeological site and an ethnohistoric Chumash village, Talepop, in the interior Santa Monica Mountains in southern California with evidence of human occupation stretching nearly 9000 years. There are both chronometric and ethnographic lines of evidence which indicate a punctuated occupation from 5000 BC up until the 1800s. The longevity of the occupation of the site provides a rare opportunity to study and test chronologies. The site is also distinctive because of its location within the interior of the mountains. Most other large mainland sites with village occupations in the region are located on the coast or in major valleys. Recent and past excavations of CA-LAN-229 recovered many lithic artifacts, most of which, unsurprisingly, are debitage. While chronologies for shell beads and groundstone have been researched for this region of California, much less emphasis has been placed on lithic artifacts, especially lithic debitage. Debitage analysis can provide insight to a site’s function, organization, favored materials, and trade. This research will analyze the debitage of CA-LAN-229 in order to gain a better understanding of the human behaviors taking place there, how they may have changed through time, and how these behaviors may be different from their coastal neighbors.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17402