The Topanga Culture: Final Report on Excavations, 1948 — John Shaqi
The Topanga Culture: Final Report on Excavations, 1948Treganza, Adan E. (Adan Eduardo)
History
The Topanga Culture: Final Report on Excavations, 1948
Treganza, Adan E. (Adan Eduardo)
California -- Antiquities; Topanga Canyon (Calif.)
3. Slightly beveled disk like the above specimen only more refined and
with more grooves. Slightly pitted on both surfaces. Grooves appear to
have first been made by a sawing technique and then later smoothed
down. Height, 3 cm.; average diameter, 7.3 cm. Material is volcanic
tuff (pl. 23, _b_).
_Stone Disks_
Discoids, like cogged stones, do not appear to have been utility items.
That there may be some relationship between these two groups in a
functional complex is attested by their direct association in the Banning
Site as reported by Winterbourne. Eventually they may prove to be as
important as cog stones in terms of cultural time-markers, though at
present little is known concerning their distribution.
Stone disks have been divided into two gross categories: (I) those with
flat to convex faces; (II) those on which one or both faces are concave.
In either group the sides may be beveled or straight (for illustrations,
cf. Treganza and Malamud 1950, pl. 24, _c_, _d_, _f_, _i_).
The three specimens recovered this season fall into the first group. All
are characterized by flat faces and all are made of sandstone.
1. Sides beveled with the lower or larger face battered about the
entire periphery. Height, 4 cm.; diameter, 6.5 cm. to 9 cm.
2. Fragmentary specimen with straight sides and slight central
depression on one face. Height, 4.2 cm.; diameter, 7.7 cm.
3. Fragmentary specimen with vertical sides. Height, 3 cm.; diameter
undetermined.
A barrel-shaped object of sandstone was recovered which, if it is a
finished product, should not be classed here as a stone disk. However,
there is some possibility that it represents a discoid in the initial
stages of manufacture, and as such it is without parallel in the
collection. Height, 6 cm.; diameter 5.9 cm. at ends; 6.8 cm. at middle.
There is no reason to assume that any of our specimens are in any way
related to the so-called "bowling" stones reported for southern California
in late prehistoric or historic times.
_Rubbing Stones_
This class includes small flat cobbles, showing abrasive wear on one or
both faces. They may be distinguished from manos by their reduced size
though many appear to look like "little" manos. None shows any shaping
other than through continued wear from use.
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