Serrated Triangular Arrow Points from Mission Santa Clara: Evidence of Colonial-Period Innovation and Regional Connections

ABSTRACT

This article considers a particular form of small, intricately serrated arrow points from central California. Several examples of this point were recovered during recent archaeological mitigation work at Mission Santa Clara de Asís (CA-SCL-30/H), where researchers have referred to them as Mission Santa Clara Serrated (MSCLS) points. Subsequent research indicates that similar points were recovered decades earlier from sites in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills, but until now had not been formally considered within existing projectile point typologies or regional culture history. We review the known examples of these points, including their physical attributes, geographic distribution, temporal placement, and similarities to previously described serrate Desert Side-Notched points. Our analysis suggests that the MSCLS point style was developed during the colonial period and spread throughout the region via Native Californians’ participation in and rejection of the Franciscan mission system.

RESUMEN

Este artículo considera una forma particular de punta de flecha pequeña e intrincadamente serrada del centro de California. Varios ejemplos de este punto fueron recuperados durante un trabajo de mitigación arqueológico reciente en la Misión Santa Clara de Asís (CA-SCL-30 / H), donde los investigadores se han referido a ellos como puntos Serrados de la Misión Santa Clara. Investigaciones posteriores indican que se habían recuperado puntos similares de sitios décadas antes en las estribaciones del Valle Central y Sierra Nevada, pero hasta ahora no se habían considerado formalmente dentro de las tipologías de puntas de proyectil existentes o la historia cultural regional. Revisamos los ejemplos conocidos de estos puntos, incluidos sus atributos físicos, distribución geográfica, ubicación temporal y similitudes con los puntos serrados con muescas laterales del desierto previamente descritos. Nuestro análisis sugiere que este estilo puntual se desarrolló durante el período colonial y se extendió por toda la región a través de la participación y el rechazo de los nativos californianos al sistema de misiones franciscanas

KEYWORDS:

• Projectile points
• Desert Side-Notched
• serration
• innovation
• California missions
• Mission Santa Clara
• Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
• obsidian

Acknowledgments

We thank Albion Environmental and Linda Hylkema for providing access to the points from Mission Santa Clara. The point from Mission San José is from a project led by Environmental Science Associates; we appreciate the commitment to data sharing exemplified by Rebecca Allen and Scott Baxter. We thank the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and Natasha Johnson in particular, for allowing access to the points in their collection. Kathleen Hull offered contextual information about sites in Fresno and San Joaquin counties, for which we are grateful. Mark Q. Sutton and two anonymous reviewers provided constructive comments on the initial manuscript. Aspects of this work were supported by the National Science Foundation under grant BCS 1559666 to Panich.

Data Availability Statement

Materials from Mission Santa Clara are curated at Santa Clara University. The single artifact from Mission San José is curated at San José State University. All other materials directly analyzed for this study are curated at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation [grant number BCS 1559666].