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AN INVESTIGATION OF CUYAMACA OVAL BEDROCK MILLING BASINS _______________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of San Diego State University _______________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Anthropology _______________ by Kent S. Manchen Summer 2015 iii Copyright © 2015 by Kent S. Manchen All Rights Reserved iv ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS An Investigation of Cuyamaca Oval Bedrock Milling Basins by Kent S. Manchen Master of Arts in Anthropology San Diego State University, 2015 First identified as being centered in the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park of San Diego County, California, are a number of prehistoric bedrock milling sites with unique, oval- shaped basin milling surfaces. Many of these sites lack the rounded mortars typically associated with acorn processing during the Late Prehistoric Period. Due to a number of factors, archaeologists working in the region have speculated that these sites represent a more archaic occupation of the mountains than has been previously recorded. Ethnographic information concerning the function of Cuyamaca Oval basins is also lacking. This thesis will present the results of a number of research methods utilized in an attempt to not only describe these basins in more detail, but, also to provide statistical data on where additional unrecorded sites may be located, describe the function of these unusually-shaped basins, and offer some preliminary occupation dates for a significant Cuyamaca Ovals site. Keywords: Cuyamaca Ovals, Kumeyaay, bedrock milling v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 Prehistoric Cultural Periods of Southern California ................................................2 Prehistoric Cultures of San Diego............................................................................4 Late Prehistoric/Cuyamaca Complex ......................................................................6 The Cuyamaca Mountains .......................................................................................7 Geology ..............................................................................................................7 Water Resources ................................................................................................8 Faunal Communities ..........................................................................................8 Plant Communities .............................................................................................9 Bedrock Milling .....................................................................................................10 Form Versus Time ...........................................................................................12 Forms of Bedrock Milling Surfaces .................................................................13 2 BACKGROUND RESEARCH ...................................................................................16 Protein Residue Analysis .......................................................................................16 Obsidian .................................................................................................................18 Geographic Information Science History and Capabilities ...................................19 GIS in San Diego Archaeology........................................................................20 Theory ....................................................................................................................20 Archaeology and the Scientific Method ..........................................................21 The Type Concept ..................................................................................................22 vi Cultural Ecology and Environmental Archaeology ...............................................25 Research .................................................................................................................30 3 FIELDWORD ..............................................................................................................32 Sites Visited ...........................................................................................................32 CA-SDI-14423 .................................................................................................32 CA-SDI-879 .....................................................................................................33 CA-SDI-9538 Ah-ha’ Kwe-ah-mac’ ................................................................33 Unrecorded Site at Scissors Crossing ..............................................................34 CA-SDI-852 .....................................................................................................35 CA-SDI-10972D/SDM-W-365 ........................................................................36 CA-SDI-10972 .................................................................................................37 CA-SDI-16832 .................................................................................................38 CA-SDI-17349 .................................................................................................38 CA-SDI-15674 .................................................................................................38 CA-SDI-856 .....................................................................................................39 CA-SDI-857 .....................................................................................................42 CA-SDI-858 .....................................................................................................43 CA-SDI-10585 .................................................................................................45 CA-SDI-14326 .................................................................................................46 CA-SDI-12591 .................................................................................................47 CA-SDI-16294 .................................................................................................48 CA-SDI-945 .....................................................................................................49 CA-SDI-8844 ...................................................................................................51 CA-SDI-8865 ...................................................................................................52 CA-SDI-917 .....................................................................................................53 CA-SDI-916 .....................................................................................................54 JWH-50 ............................................................................................................55 A4-S-1 ..............................................................................................................55 CA-SDI-820 .....................................................................................................57 CA-SDI-835 .....................................................................................................57 CA-SDI-6847 ...................................................................................................57 CA-SDI-926 .....................................................................................................59 vii CA-SDI-11198/Mitaragui ................................................................................60 Fieldwork .........................................................................................................61 4 RESULTS ....................................................................................................................67 Protein Residue Analysis .......................................................................................67 Results ....................................................................................................................68 Obsidian Artifacts ..................................................................................................68 GIS Analysis ..........................................................................................................71 Milling Statistics ....................................................................................................79 Milling at Coastal Sites ....................................................................................85 Milling at Inland Sites ......................................................................................85 Milling at Montane Sites ..................................................................................88 Milling at Desert Sites .....................................................................................90 Cuyamaca Oval Dimensions ..................................................................................93 5 CONCLUSIONS..........................................................................................................96