Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:59:29.840Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comments on Cottrell's Long Distance Jasper Trade Hypothesis: In Defense of Renfrew's Trade Models

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Henry C. Koerper ,
Donald L. Fife ,
Clay A. Singer  and
Jonathon E. Ericson
Henry C. Koerper
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, Cypress College, Cypress, CA 90630
Donald L. Fife
Affiliation:
Donald L. Fife and Associates, Tustin, CA 92681
Clay A. Singer
Affiliation:
Center for Public Archaeology, California State University, Northridge, CA 91330
Jonathon E. Ericson
Affiliation:
Program in Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92717; Division of Geological Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper critically assesses Cottrell's model of prehistoric exchange of jasper said to have been transported through the Mojave Desert to the Tomato Springs site in coastal southern California. We point out numerous conceptual and analytical errors which cast doubt on Cottrell's interpretation of the Tomato Springs site as a control center for the importation, production, and trade of this supposedly nonlocal material. Cottrell has not demonstrated a desert origin for the jasper found at Tomato Springs, and thus has no grounds for testing any of Renfrew's distance-decay models. The presence of local natural sources of jasper better explains the occurrence of this mineral at Tomato Springs and nearby sites.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , July 1987 , pp. 623 - 630
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Aiello, P. V. 1969 The Chemical Composition of Rhyolitic Obsidian and Its Effect on Hydration Rate : Some Archaeological Evidence. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Ball, S. H. 1941 The Mining of Gems and Ornamental Stones by American Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 128, Anthropological Papers No. 13. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Bean, J. L. 1972 Mukat's People. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Bean, J. L., and Smith, C. R. 1978 Gabrielino. In California, edited by Heizer, R. F., pp. 538–549. Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 8, Sturtevant, W. G., general editor. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Bowers, S. 1890 Orange County. Tenth Annual Report of the State Mineralogist for the Two Years Ending December 1, 1980, pp. 399–409. California Mining Bureau, Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
Broman, M. 1972 Gem Trails in California. Main Street Press, Anaheim, California.Google Scholar
Campbell, E. W. C, and Campbell, W. 1935 The Pinto Basin Site. Southwest Museum Papers No. 9. Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Cottrell, M. G. 1985 Tomato Springs : The Identification of a Jasper Trade and Production Center in Southern California. American Antiquity 50 : 833–849.Google Scholar
Cottrell, M. G., and Del Chario, K. C. 1981 Archaeological Investigations of the Tomato Springs Sites. Submitted to Boyle Engineering, Newport Beach, California. Copies available from California State University, Fullerton.Google Scholar
Cottrell, M. G., and Del Chario, K. C. 1984 Archaeological Investigations of the Tomato Springs Site. Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 20(2) : 1–76.Google Scholar
Earle, T. K. 1982 Prehistoric Economies and the Archaeology of Exchange. In Contexts for Prehistoric Exchange, edited by Ericson, J. E. and Earle, T. K., pp. 1–12. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Ericson, J. E. 1975 New Results in Obsidian Hydration Dating. World Archaeology 7(2) : 151–159.Google Scholar
Ericson, J. E. 1977 Egalitarian Exchange Systems in California : A Preliminary View. In Exchange Systems in Prehistory, edited by Earle, T. K. and Ericson, J. E., pp. 109–126. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Ericson, J. E. 1981 Exchange and Production Systems in California Prehistory. BAR International Series, 240 pp. Oxford.Google Scholar
Ericson, J. E. 1982 Production for Obsidian Exchange in California. In Contexts for Prehistoric Exchange, edited by Ericson, J. E. and Earle, T. K., pp. 129–148. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Ericson, J. E. 1984 Toward the Analysis of Lithic Production Systems in Prehistoric Quarries and Lithic Production, edited by Ericson, J. E. and Purdy, B. A., pp. 1–9. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
Ericson, J. E., Hagen, T. A., and Chesterman, C. W. 1976 Prehistoric Obsidian in California, II : Geologic and Geographic Aspects. In Advances in Obsidian Glass Studies : Archaeological and Geochemical Perspectives, edited by Taylor, R. E., pp. 218–239. Noyes Press, Park Ridge, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Fairbanks, H. W. 1893 Geology of San Diego County, Also of Portions of Orange and San Bernardino Counties. Report of the State Mineralogist, pp. 76–120. California Mining Bureau, Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
Fife, D. L., Minch, J. A., and Crampton, P. I. 1976 Age of the Santiago Peak Volcanics, California. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 78 : 304.Google Scholar
Friedman, I., and Long, W. D. 1976 Hydration Rate of Obsidian. Science 191 : 347–352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frondel, C. 1982 The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University 1837-1892, Volume III : Silica Minerals. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Henry, D. J. 1957 California Gem Trails. Lowell Gordon, Long Beach, California.Google Scholar
Johnson, H. C. 1973 Western Gem Hunters Atlas. 16th ed. Cy Johnson and Son, Susanville, California.Google Scholar
Koerper, H. C, and Fife, D. L. 1985 Comments on the Desert to Coast Jasper Trade Hypothesis. Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 21(3) : 25–33.Google Scholar
Koerper, H. C, Ericson, J. E., Drover, C. E., and Langenwalter, P. E. II 1986 Obsidian Exchange in Prehistoric Orange County. Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 22(1) : 33–69.Google Scholar
Kowta, M. 1969 The Sayles Complex : A Late Millingstone Assemblage from Cajon Pass and the Ecological Implications of Its Scraper Planes. University of California Publications in Anthropology 6. Berkeley, California.Google Scholar
Kroeber, A. L. 1925 Handbook of the Indians of California. Bulletin 78. Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Kunz, G. F. 1905 Gems, Jewelers’ Materials, and Ornamental Stones of California. California State Mining Bureau Bulletin 37. Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
Longinos Martinez, J. 1961 Journal of Jose Longinos Martinez : Notes and Observations of the Naturalist of the Botanical Expedition in Old and New California and the South Coast, 1791-1792. Translated and edited by Simpson, L. B.. John Howell Books, San Francisco, California.Google Scholar
Meighan, C. W. 1954 A Late Complex in Southern California Prehistory. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 10(2) : 215–227.Google Scholar
Meighan, C. W., and Johnson, K. L. 1957 Isle of Mines. Pacific Discovery 10(1) : 24–29.Google Scholar
Murdock, J., and Webb, R. W. 1956 Minerals of California. California Division of Mines Bulletin No. 173. Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
Newcomer, M. H. 1971 Some Quantitative Experiments in Hand Axe Manufacture. World Archaeology 3 : 85–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pabst, A. 1938 Minerals of California. California Division of Mines Bulletin No. 113. Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
Randolph, G. C. 1935 Santa Catalina Island. The Mineralogist 3 : 7–8.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. 1972 The Emergence of Civilization. Methuen, London.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. 1977 Alternate Models for Exchange and Spatial Distribution. In Exchange Systems in Prehistory, edited by Earle, T. K. and Ericson, J. E., pp. 71–90. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Ruby, J. 1970 Culture Contact Between Aboriginal Southern California and the Southwest. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Russell, G. 1981 Appendix C : Obsidian Hydration Reading. In Archaeological Investigations of the Tomato Springs Sites. Cottrell, M. G. and Del Chario, K., authors, pp. 215–216. E. I. R. study available from Archaeological Research Facility, California State University, Fullerton.Google Scholar
Schlegel, D. M. 1957 Gem Stones of the United States : Contributors to Economic Geology. United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 1042-G. U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Schrader, F. C, Stone, R. W., and Sanford, S. 1917 Useful Minerals of the United States. United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 624. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Schweitzer, C. G. 1944 The Rocks Are In at Redondo. The Mineralogist 12 : 131–132.Google Scholar
Singer, C. A. 1985 Comments on Collections from Three Prehistoric Archaeological Sites in the Manix Basin, San Bernardino County, California. Submitted to U. S. Bureau of Land Management, California Desert District, Contract No. CA-060-PH5-135. Copies available from BLM, Needles, California.Google Scholar
Thrush, P. W. (editor) 1968 A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral and Related Terms. U. S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Wallace, W. J. 1971 Indian Use of California's Rocks and Minerals. Journal of the West 10(1) : 35–52.Google Scholar
Zipf, G. K. 1949 Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort : An Introduction to Human Ecology. Addison-Wesley, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar