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Busby et al. 1974. Four Papers on Great Basin Anthropology. Contributions of the Archaeological Research Facility, No. 21.

Busby et al. 1974. Four Papers on Great Basin Anthropology. Contributions of the Archaeological Research Facility, No. 21.

The valley of the lower Colorado River is well known for the immenseoutline figures of gravel which occur on its river terraces. Despite thisfact, only a few archaeologists have shown an interest in them, and as aresult there is little detailed information available concerning them.This paper is designed to sumarize briefly and to note the present stateof such information in order to facilitate future research.The two largest groups of gravel outlines yet discovered are the"giant desert figures" and the "mystic maze." The "giant desert figures"site is located approximately sixteen miles north of Blythe, California,and is clearly pictographic in nature. The "mystic maze" is situatedacross the river from Topock, Arizona, and like a number of the othergravel constructions of the region, may or may not be pictographic innature. However, in the light of presently available information, it doesnot seem practical to attempt to decide which gravel alterations are orare not pictographic. The locations of all known sites are indicated onthe distribution map. As can be seen, many such sites have been reportedsome distance from the lower Colorado River valley, particularly in theCalifornia deserts.

Based on the "Research Skills in the Library Context" program developed for Chicano High Pttential students in the Department of Special Educational Programs by Elena Frausto, Instructor, and Joseph A. Taylor, Instruction Specialist.This is part of the UCLA Library Occasional Papers, Number 17, 1970.

Based on the "Research Skills in the Library Context" program developed for Chicano High Pttential students in the Department of Special Educational Programs by Elena Frausto, Instructor, and Joseph A. Taylor, Instruction Specialist.This is part of the UCLA Library Occasional Papers, Number 17, 1970.

During April and May of 1949, test excavations were made at a largestratified shellmound on the shores of San Francisco Bay. 1 The site,designated in the records of the U.0. Archaeological Survey as 4-Mrn-115,is located on a point of land just north of San Rafael. The property isowned by Mr. W.H. Thomas of San Rafael, whose friendly cooperation in permittingthe excavation is here gratefully acknowledged.The preliminary excavations were made to check the stratigraphic andcultural associations of the mound. At the time, it was hoped that excavationof the site would be continued on a larger scale. However, variousfactors have prevented continuance of the work, and it now appears desirableto place on record the sketchy data obtained from the preliminary tests.The artifact sample is regrettably small, consisting of only a handful ofspecimens, but it appears sufficient to outline the cultural position of thesite. The excavation which has been done to date is of importance for tworeasons: first, a C14 date was obtained which throws some light on theterminal period of the Middle Horizon on San Francisco Bay, and second, aburned house ruin was exposed which merits description because of the rarityof such features in Central California archaeology.

The main controlling factor of physical conditions and processes,and of distribution and spread of plants and animals, is climate and itschanges. Low temperature and, in some regions, excessive snowfall havecaused extensive glaciations. The withdrawal of water to form the icesheets lowered the oceans. Increased precipitation and reduced evaporationinduced pluviations in arid regions. Rise of temperature has madeice sheets and glaciers shrink and disappear. Climate has thus controlledthe geological factors. Biota have moved latitudinally andaltitudinally with the climatic belts. Plants and animals have beentrapped by climatic changes in unfavorable locations to become regionally.or universally extinct.The temperature rise which has occurred during the last hundredyears in North America and in Europe (and perhaps elsewhere), togetherwith the general parallelism of the past temperature histories, indicatethat the marked, long-continued temperature ages have prevailed simultaneouslyin the two continents. The major temperature ages and theirsequences consequently supply a basis for long-distance correlation; andthe temperature changes should therefore be used for the principaldivision of time. Regionally, subordinate divisions on other conditionsmay be practical. In dry and semiarid regions the natural basis isconditions and changes in moisture. For stratigraphic divisions erosionsare suitable markers.