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.)
Manos, like metates, were not too numerous nor varied in form. The
finished specimens lack the perfection of the better made examples in the
Tank Site. Considering the entire grinding complex, it is evident that the
role played here was of less importance. This might be interpreted as
indicative of a slight shift in the food economy. It is difficult to offer
an explanation as to the direction or nature of such a shift, though there
is some evidence suggesting greater emphasis was placed on hunting. By
types, the following number of each was found: 4 mono-facial type IA; 20
bifacial type IIB; 3 wedge-shaped type IIC; and 1 type III, with three
worked faces.
The ratio of manos to metates is quite different here than at the Tank
Site. Here the ratio is 1.5 metates to 1 mano. Little explanation can be
offered to this reverse trend other than it represents a breakdown of an
older pattern as a result of a shift toward the mortar-pestle complex.
_Mortars_
The evidence for mortars rests upon two incomplete specimens. A single rim
fragment, composed of a fairly course sandstone, resembles the Tank Site
specimen, but having a somewhat larger diameter (about 10 inches). The
second specimen is too fragmentary to allow any reconstruction of size.
_Pestles_
Only four pestles were recovered. One, a complete specimen composed of a
diabase, was shaped by pecking followed by grinding. The specimen is 14.6
cm. long, tapering from 3.5 cm. in diameter to 5 cm. at the distal end. A
ridge forms a circular band about the handle, 3.1 cm. from the top, 1.6
cm. wide, and projects some 3 cm. The form has a phallic appearance (pl.
24, _d_).
A fragmentary specimen like the above type is too incomplete to afford
much information. It is composed of a coarse sandstone and has been
subjected to considerable oxidation from a fire.
Another fragmentary specimen 11.3 cm. long exhibited a well-defined convex
pounding end. One side shows evidence of flattening by grinding, and in
this respect it is like the cache of three small pestles from the Tank
Site.
An implement, hardly worked but apparently complete, is an elongated
cobble, nearly circular in cross section. The pounding end is convex,
showing considerable wear. The length is 19.7 cm. with an average diameter
of 8.5 cm.
_Rubbing Stones_
All of the seven specimens recovered were composed of flat cobbles,
spherical to oval in form, and worn on both sides. Of these, two have a
single concave surface and a single specimen was bipitted on both
surfaces. Size of specimens averaged 7.85 by 7.1 by 2.8 cm.
_Stone Disks_
A single representative with beveled edges ranging in diameter from 7.4
cm. on one surface to 5.5 cm. on the other, and 3.6 cm. thick, was found.
It is composed of a sandstone and is shaped by pecking and grinding,
resulting in a somewhat uneven form. Similar specimens have been
illustrated for the Tank Site (Treganza and Malamud, 1950, pl. 24, _c_,
_d_, _f_, _h_).
_Pendants_
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