Abstract
Relative to flaked stone assemblages, ground stone implements have generally been subject to less intensive examination and interpretation. The present research uses a methodology that centers on functional associations within and between major ground stone artifact categories. In-depth analyses concentrating on the kinds and relative amounts of use-wear are more informative and accurate. The goal of this study was to better understand factors influencing the ground stone technologies of north-central California. This study examines variation in several archaeological assemblages from different areas and time periods, including the northern Sierra Nevada (CA-NEV-199), Lake Oroville and the Feather River Drainage (CA-BUT-84 and BUT-362/H), the Sacramento Valley (CA-SAC-225 and BUT-288), and the southern North Coast Ranges (multiple sites in the Clear Lake Basin and Warm Springs/Lake Sonoma locality). Analyses focused on specific use-wear attributes of mortars, pestles, handstones, mullers, and millingslabs ranging in age from approximately 5000 B.P. to the historic era. Nuances in the morphology and patterns of tool wear reveal differences across and between ground stone assemblages, identifying important temporal and spatial trends in north-central California. Several chronological trends become evident from in the data, however, most variability appears to relate to environmental constraints. Across all tool categories, environments, and time periods, the impressionability of a material has an overwhelming influence on many attributes. Dual-use tools -- “mullers” -- become an almost axiomatic part of one shift, indicating the need for a tool to perform sufficiently in multiple ways. In addition, some generally accepted notions are not separated by results of this study, i.e., that handstones were more shaped and formalized in earlier temporal intervals. Shifts in ground stone technology are reflected not only by changing ratios of tools within archaeological assemblages, but in the kinds and amounts of secondary modification, toolstone choice, use-wear, and other attributes.