Early Holocene Landscape Archaeology in the Coso Basin,Northwestern Mojave Desert,California

Abstract

Early Holocene adaptations are still poorly understood in North America. The archaeological record of this period is often difficult to access and most studies have taken a site-based approach, focused on a small number of well-excavated sites. The archaeological record of the Coso Basin in the northwest Mojave Desert provides the unique opportunity to approach adaptations from a landscape, rather than a site-based, perspective. Large sections of land that were formed during the Pleistocene and Early Holocene, the landforms on which Early Holocene hunter-gatherers lived, are still exposed and easily accessible today. Previous studies have significantly under-represented these landforms in regional survey and excavation. Our analyses suggest that Early Holocene people made use of a wide range of environments, not primarily lakes and wetlands as has commonly been suggested. Furthermore, there is little indication that populations were more residentially mobile and lived in lower population densities than later in time. After accounting for survey, geological, and temporal biases, it is apparent that site densities equal or exceed those of later periods in time. These findings should challenge archaeologists to reconsider certain notions about the Early Holocene in the desert west and to, when possible, take a landscape approach in reconstructing prehistoric lifeways.