Technological Organization and Hunter-Gatherer Land Use: A California Example

Abstract

Recent research has identified a number of general factors with important effects on flaked-stone technology but has been less effective in solving the problem of examining these factors in specific archaeological contexts. This paper discusses this issue and presents a case study focused on mobility patterns in one area of coastal California to exemplify one approach to dealing with it. This study emphasizes the importance of considering, first, the ways in which local conditions mediate the effects of global aspects of human adaptations and, second, the interactions between multiple causal factors as conditioners of technology. This example highlights the role played by multiple, distinct technological strategies within a single pattern of activity as well as the potential ambiguity of the relations between these strategies and global mobility patterns.