Abstract:
CA-SCR-9 is an important early Middle Period (3100-2800 cal BP) site from the California central coast region that has been used to characterize residential base camps from that time. Previous studies have attempted to analyze the fauna using incomplete and non-representative samples, creating multiple, contradictory conclusions about the foodways of Middle Period peoples. The goal of this study was to synthesize and analyze all identified material to answer questions about the seasonal use of SCR-9, differences between two possible phases of occupation, and the adaptive strategies of Middle Period peoples on the California central coast. Using a representative sample of the fauna, this paper finds that SCR-9‟s inhabitants primarily preyed upon mule deer. However, diverse species of marine mammals, leporids, terrestrial carnivores, birds, and marine fishes were also deposited at SCR-9, and inland site. The faunal remains from SCR-9 alone are not enough to identify relationships between sites, but these marine materials suggest that SCR-9 may have functioned as a seasonal or year round habitation site from which Middle Period peoples traveled to coastal sites such as SMA-218, which is nearly contemporaneous with SCR-9. Other writers have argued that two separate phases are represented ad SCR-9, including the Sand Hill Bluff Phase and the later Año Nuevo Phase. The fauna from these two phases is extraordinarily homogenous, suggesting there were no changes in adaptive strategy, or that rodent activity has mixed the materials, making it impossible to compare fauna from the Sand Hill Bluff and Año Nuevo phases. Fortunately, the assemblage does shed light on differential handling of taxa, and raises questions about the nature of bone grease extraction practices.
