Prehistoric Trade Networks and the Ethnographic Record in Central California

Abstract

During ethnographic times, the Penutian-speaking Yokuts Indians of California's San Joaquin Valley functioned as middle men in the exchange of finished artifacts, raw materials, and foodstuffs between coastal and interior aboriginal groups. Within most Yokuts tribelets there apparently existed one or more professional traders who were critical components of trans-Sierran trade networks. It is argued that the ethnographically documented pattern of interregional trade in central California is a partially distorted postcontact product of a more complex and widespread precontact exchange system in which Yokuts traders played a major role. Archaeological data are reviewed to determine the general time depth of trans-Sierran trade, and ethnographic data are examined in an attempt to assess the validity of central California native trade relations and activities as portrayed by the ethnographic record.

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