Lithic Procurement and Manufacturing Sequences at SBa-1542, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

摘要

Construction of the External Tank Towroute, part of the Space Transportation System, will affect SBa-1542, a quarry site eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The Office of Public Archaeology, University of California, Santa Barbara excavated seven 1.0 x 1.0 meter units and four backhoe trenches within the impact zone. Several research designs were produced and modified in order to address problems related to the production of bifaces and nonbifacial tools; flake production; the acquisition of raw materials (casual vs. special trip procurement); and the effect of raw material shape, size, and quality on the reduction strategies. Based on the analysis of cores and flakes, it was inferred that SBa-1542 was a casually used quarry for the production of flakes with a minor amount of biface manufacturing occurring at the site. The microwear analysis of potentially utilized pieces and biface fragments produced 10 tools used in wood and bone working. All of the implements can be attributed to quarry related activities. The presence of large amounts of debris and irregular cores is hypothesized to be the result of the poor quality and irregular shape of the raw material.