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.)
Probably most significant of this season's work was the partial excavation
of LAn-2 located on the same ridge and about 350 yards below the Tank
Site. Through our efforts here we were able to confirm the suspected
stratigraphy in the Tank Site and, at least partly, define Phase II of the
Topanga Culture. Of greatest contrast is the appearance of flexed burials
and the exclusive occurrence of light projectile points. Although core and
flake tools are still present, a definite shift occurs in the material
from which they are made and the tools themselves do not dominate the
cultural inventory.
From the Tank Site the artifact yield per cubic foot almost doubled that
of the 1947 season. From the removal of approximately 2,496 cubic feet of
mound we obtained 5,895 typable artifacts (all specimens and original data
for 1947-1948 are now deposited in the Museum of Anthropology, University
of California, Berkeley) or on the average of 2.3 artifacts per cubic foot
of dirt removed. Compared to other California mounds, this figure is
exceptionally high. Only in the Sacramento Valley among Late Horizon sites
where baked clay objects were manufactured as a substitute for stone do
figures run correspondingly as high, and even here one has to consider a
single class of artifacts rather than a full range as expressed in the
Tank Site. One explanation for the great increase for this season is that
most of our excavations were conducted in the shallow part of the site (0
to 8 inches) where the bulk of the artifacts occurred.
REVIEW OF EARLIER WORK AT THE TANK SITE
Concerted excavation at the Tank Site was first carried on from June 19 to
August 5, 1947. The immediate aim was to explore as fully as time
permitted the nature and extent of the deposit. In the main, interest
revolved on cutting long trenches, test pitting, and expanding in
favorable areas. The compact nature of the soil and the heavy artifact
yield retarded clearing. Nevertheless, some 5,000 cubic feet of mound
earth was removed which bore an artifact content of one finished implement
to every 1.5 cubic feet.
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