Antecedents to the Specialized Microdrill Industry on Santa Cruz Island, California

ABSTRACT

This report examines the development of lithic technology among the Chumash of California’s northern Channel Islands. By the middle of the first millennium A.D., the Island Chumash began to pursue specialized bead and drill making activities, leading to large-scale production of standardized artifact forms over much of the second millennium A.D. The region’s best provenanced collection of early ad hoc drills used for perforating Olivella shell beads is analyzed. These are flake drills, found in small numbers at late Middle Period (A.D. 650–1150) sites. Two sub-types (A and B) are identified that suggest technological development leading to formalized microdrills. It is suggested that bead makers at CA-SCRI-474 on the southern coast of Santa Cruz Island experimented with variations in drill forms throughout the early part of the late Middle Period. During the Transitional Period (A.D. 1150–1300), their techniques for Type B drills spread to CA-SCRI-191, a major bead-making center.

RESUMEN

Examinamos el desarrollo de la tecnología lítica entre los Chumash en la parte norteña de Las Islas Channel en California. A mediados del primer milenio A.D., los Chumash de las islas comenzó a dedicarse a la fabricación de abalorio y perforadoras especializadas, lo que llevó a la producción a gran escala de formas de artefactos estandarizados durante gran parte del segundo milenio A.D. Analizamos la colección mejor procedencia de la región de las primeras perforadoras utilizados para perforar abalorio de concha de Olivella. Estos son perforadoras de lasca, identificados en pequeñas cantidades en los sitios del período Medio tardío (A.D. 650–1150). Identificamos dos subtipos de estas perforadoras (tipos A y B) que sugieren un desarrollo tecnológico que conduce a micróperforadoras formalizadas. Sugerimos que los fabricantes de abalorio en CA-SCRI-474 en la costa sur de la isla Santa Cruz experimentaron con variaciones en las formas de perforación durante la primera parte del período Medio tardío. Durante el período de Transición (A.D. 1150–1300), sus técnicas se extendieron a CA-SCRI-191, un importante centro de elaboración de abalorio donde los isleños adoptaron perforadoras de lasca tipo B directamente.

KEYWORDS:

• Chumash archaeology
• complex hunter-gatherers
• lithic technology
• Late Holocene
• Channel Islands
• Santa Cruz Island
• microdrills

Acknowledgments

The analysis presented in this report was conducted under a Graduate Summer Research Mentorship grant through UCLA. Original field excavation was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. BNS 88–12184 and SBR 95-11576), by the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, and by UCLA Summer Session Archaeology Field Schools. Field work took place on Santa Cruz Island with permission of the Nature Conservancy, with the tireless support of Dr. Lyndal Laughrin and Brian Guerrero. We thank Dr. Greg Schachner and Dr. Lana Martin at UCLA for comments on some of the earliest versions of this report, along with Dr. Christopher Jazwa and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments. Any remaining errors are the responsibility of the authors and not of our conscientious reviewers.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data Availability Statement

The artifact assemblage addressed in this report is housed at the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

Additional information

Funding

The analysis presented in this report was conducted under a Graduate Summer Research Mentorship grant through UCLA. Original field excavation was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. BNS 88-12184 and SBR 95-11576), by the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, and by UCLA Summer Session Archaeology Field Schools. Field work took place on Santa Cruz Island with permission of the Nature Conservancy, with the tireless support of Dr. Lyndal Laughrin and Brian Guerrero.