Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
Marie Cottrell's recent (1985) proposal that prehistoric long distance exchange of jasper occurred between the California coast and inland deserts is most unlikely in light of the presence of abundant secondary siliceous sediment sources (including jasper) along the nearby southern California coast. The obsidian hydration based site chronology at Tomato Springs, founded on non-source provenienced obsidian, is equally problematic. A number of other lesser potential fallacies serve to undermine the assumption of long distance transport of a raw material that was available locally.