Perspectives on Prehistoric Trade and Exchange in California and the Great Basin

by Hughes, Richard E.

• ISBN13: 9781607811527
• ISBN10: 1607811529
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-12-31
• Publisher: Univ of Utah Pr

Summary

How does prehistoric material get from its place of origin to its location of archaeological recovery? While this question may seem basic, a moment's reflection suggests that the answers carry important implications for arc-haeological interpretation about social organization, settlement, and subsistence practices. Archaeologists know much about the temporal and spatial distribution of materials in prehistoric western North America, but comparatively little has emerged regarding the causes of such distributions. Trade and exchange, mobility, and direct access all have been credited with observed distributions, but the reasons for settling on specific behavioral linkages is rarely made clear. This volume investigates the circumstances and conditions under which trade/exchange, direct access, and/or mobility best account for material conveyance across varying distances at different times in the past. Each chapter contextualizes distributional and chemical data, evaluates competing distribution hypotheses, and addresses the reasoning and inferences employed to arrive at conclusions about the human behaviors responsible for the distributions of materials. Contributors showcase a range of diverse and creative ways of thinking about these issues in the California and Great Basin archaeological record, and why it matters.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. ix
List of Tables	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
Sources of Inspiration for Studies of Prehistoric Resource Acquisition and Materials Conveyance in California and the Great Basin
Interaction and Exchange in Fremont Society	p. 22
The Role of Mobility and Exchange in the Conveyance of Toolstone During the Great Basin Paleoarchaic Charlotte Beck	p. 55
The Function of Shell Bead Exchange in Central California	p. 83
On the Role of Siskiyou Utility Ware as a Social Network Marker in Late Prehistoric Northern California and Southern Oregon	p. 114
Pot Conveyance, Design Characteristics, and Precontact Adaptations to Arid Environments	p. 135
Evaluating Alternative Models for the Conveyance of Bodie Hills Obsidian into Central California	p. 148
Current Perspectives on the Production and Conveyance of Coso Obsidian
Obsidian in the Carson Desert: Mobility or Trade?	p. 189
Exploring Prehistoric Trade in Western Great Basin Textiles	p. 201
Constraints on Long-Distance Movement of Plant Foods in the Great Basin	p. 221
Material Conveyance in Prehistoric California: Cultural Contexts and Mechanisms	p. 242
Multiscalar Perspectives on Trade and Exchange in the Great Basin: A Critical Discussion	p. 253
Contributors	p. 267
Index	p. 269
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