Maritime to Mountains: Investigation of a Buried Site in the Upper Santa Ynez River Watershed, Santa Barbara County, Alta California

• Published in: California archaeology Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 107 - 122
• Main Authors: Brandoff, Joan, Glassow, Michael A., Reeves, Dan, Steinkamp, Matthew J., Picciuolo, Jon, Galbraith, Steven
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 02.01.2017
• ISSN: 1947-461X; 1947-4628
• DOI: 10.1080/1947461X.2017.1292453

Few sites dating to the Early Period are found in the interior of Santa Barbara County. Most are defined by their assemblages of milling stones. CA-SBA-3950, however, has been dated by accelerator mass spectrometry and radiometric dating to about 6,900-6,100 cal B.P. It is a buried deposit composed almost exclusively of marine and estuarine shell. A recent investigation of the site entailed exposure of a profile revealing cultural deposits occurring in two strata that were collectively 140 cm thick. Separate soil movement events capped each stratum. Radiocarbon dates resulting from this investigation better define the time range represented and have implications for the early inclusion of both coastal and interior landscapes within the subsistence and settlement system of the early part of the middle Holocene.