Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-21T17:01:16.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Cogged Stones of Southern California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Hal Eberhart
Hal Eberhart*
Affiliation:
Los Angeles State College, Los Angeles, Calif.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cogged stones are one of the few classes of artifacts which are limited in occurrence to the “middle” period of southern California's prehistory. They are stone discs, 6⅛ inches or less in diameter, characterized by grooves or indentations in the edge. On the basis of the nature of the latter and of the presence or absence of perforation they are described in four types. Some of the variations may have historical significance, but this cannot be proven with the data at hand. Few specimens have been excavated under controlled conditions. The distribution is virtually limited to the coastal drainage south of Ventura County and appears to center along the Santa Ana River Valley. According to the interpretation of coastal chronology employed, cogged stones were made during the period 6000-3500 B.C. Their use is unknown, but the absence of any pattern of wear and the conjunctions of certain of the specimens suggest that they served some ritual function.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 26 , Issue 3Part1 , January 1961 , pp. 361 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1961

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anonymous n.d. Orange County California Historical Research Project: Life and Customs and Peculiar Artifacts of the S. W. Coast Indians and Orange County Indians. MS, on file at Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Ashby, G. E. and Winterbourne, J. W. 1939. A Study of Primitive Man in Orange County and Some of Its Coastal Areas. Mimeographed report, on file at Southwest Museum, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Farmer, M. F. n.d. Preliminary Notes of an Archaeological Reconnaissance of Indian Camp Sites in the Baldwin Hills-Ballona Creek Region of Los Angeles County, California. MS, on file at Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Heizer, R. F. 1949. A Bibliography of the Archaeology of California. Reports of the University of California Archaeological Survey, No. 4. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Heizer, R. F. 1953. Sites Attributed to Early Man in California. Reports of the University of California Archaeological Survey, No. 22. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Holmes, W. H. 1902. Anthropological Studies in California. Annual Report of the U.S. National Museum, 1900, pp. 161–87. Washington.Google Scholar
Jennings, J. D. (Editor) 1956. The American Southwest: A Problem in Cultural Isolation. In “Seminars in Archaeology: 1955,” edited by Wauchope, Robert, pp. 59–127. Memoirs of The Society for American Archaeology, No. 11. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Meighan, C. W. 1959.a Californian Cultures and the Concept of an Archaic Stage. American Antiquity, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 289–305. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Meighan, C. W. 1959.b The Little Harbor Site, Catalina Island: An Example of Ecological Interpretation in Archaeology. American Antiquity, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 383–405. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Peck, S. L. 1955. An Archaeological Report on the Excavation of a Prehistoric Site at Zuma Creek, Los Angeles County, California. Archaeological Survey Association of Southern California, Paper No. 2. Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Smith, G. A. 1950. Prehistoric Man of San Bernardino Valley. San Bernardino County Historical Society, Redlands.Google Scholar
Strong, W. D., Schenck, W. E., and Steward, J. H. 1930. Archaeology of the Dalles-Deschutes Region. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 29, No. 1. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Treganza, A. E. and Bierman, Agnes 1958. The Topanga Culture: Final Report on Excavations, 1948. University of California, Anthropological Records, Vol. 20, No. 2. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Treganza, A. E. and Malamud, C. G. 1950. The Topanga Culture: First Season's Excavation of the Tank Site, 1947. University of California, Anthropological Records, Vol. 12, No. 4. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Walker, E. F. 1951. Five Prehistoric Archaeological Sites in Los Angeles County, California. Publications of the Frederick Webb Hodge Anniversary Publication Fund, Vol. 6. Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Wallace, W. J. 1955. A Suggested Chronology for Southern California Coastal Archaeology. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 214–30. Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Wallace, W. J. and others 1956 The Little Sycamore Shellmound, Ventura County, California. Contributions to California Archaeology, No. 2. Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Winterbourne, J. W. 1935. Orange County California Historical Research Project: Report of Banning Estate Excavation (Norris Property). MS, microfilm, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Winterbourne, J. W. 1937. Orange County California Anthropological Project: Artifacts from Banning Site. MSS, microfilm, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Winterbourne, J. W. 1938. Orange County California Anthropological Project. MSS, Southwest Museum, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Woodward, Arthur 1937. Atlatl Dart Foreshafts from the La Brea Pits. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, Vol. 36, Part 2, pp. 41–60. Los Angeles.Google Scholar