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Analysis of temporal and spatial patterns in settlement between San Clemente and San Nicolas islands suggest that the trajectory of human adaptations differed significantly. On San Clemente, site densities increased dramatically during the latter portion of the late Holocene, including numerous small-sized upland residential sites targeting terrestrial resources. In contrast, occupation of San Nicolas was intensive and constant from the latter half of the middle Holocene onward, and subsistence was more marine-oriented. These divergent trends in land use intensity and settlement organization were driven in part by modest geographic and environmental differences between the islands tied to land mass, annual rainfall, and terrestrial vegetation.

The late Quaternary stratigraphy and geochronology of San Mateo and Las Flores Creeks indicates that both streams, which drain into the Pacific Ocean along the southern California coast, had a synchronous landscape history. Both San Mateo and Las Flores Creeks cut deep valleys during the late Pleistocene in response to the worldwide drop in sea level. A long period of aggradation followed as sea level rose to its present position during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Around 500 years ago, the channels of both streams downcut into their respective floodplains creating a prominent terrace (T‐2). This was followed by renewed deposition and later channel incision which created a second terrace (T‐1). These channel changes are probably the result of a complex response of the fluvial system to major flooding during the late Holocene. The geologic history of these drainages provides a framework that can be used to assess the buried archaeological record along the coast and evaluate regional prehistoric settlement patterns. Based on this study, the post‐4000 B.P. valley floor archaeological record along the southern California coast will be more complete and accessible, resulting in a better understanding of the spatial distribution of sites. On the other hand, the pre‐4000 B.P. valley floor record lies deeply buried and inaccessible to researchers, which results in a distortion of settlement patterns before 4000 B.P. Finally, examination of post‐4000 B.P. sites in the alluvium of San Mateo and Las Flores creeks yielded a pattern of large sites that were occupied extensively for multiple seasons and had considerable evidence of marine exploitation. These findings are contrary to models of cultural development along this portion of the southern California coast. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The late Quaternary stratigraphy and geochronology of San Mateo and Las Flores Creeks indicates that both streams, which drain into the Pacific Ocean along the southern California coast, had a synchronous landscape history. Both San Mateo and Las Flores Creeks cut deep valleys during the late Pleistocene in response to the worldwide drop in sea level. A long period of aggradation followed as sea level rose to its present position during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Around 500 years ago, the channels of both streams downcut into their respective floodplains creating a prominent terrace (T-2). This was followed by renewed deposition and later channel incision which created a second terrace (T-1). These channel changes are probably the result of a complex response of the fluvial system to major flooding during the late Holocene. The geologic history of these drainages provides a framework that can be used to assess the buried archaeological record along the coast and evaluate regional prehistoric settlement patterns. Based on this study, the post-4000 B.P. valley floor archaeological record along the southern California coast will be more complete and accessible, resulting in a better understanding of the spatial distribution of sites. On the other hand, the pre-4000 B.P. valley floor record lies deeply buried and inaccessible to researchers, which results in a distortion of settlement patterns before 4000 B.P. Finally, examination of post-4000 B.P. sites in the alluvium of San Mateo and Las Flores creeks yielded a pattern of large sites that were occupied extensively for multiple seasons and had considerable evidence of marine exploitation. These findings are contrary to models of cultural development along this portion of the southern California coast. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The relationship between current interpretations of Natufian settlement and subsistence and available archaeological data are examined in light of recent research, particularly in Jordan. Regional variability in adaptive strategies is discernible, particularly between forest and coastal sites versus steppe and desert sites. Greater evidence of plant processing and more intensive occupation characterize settlement in the former, although year-round occupation has yet to be conclusively demonstrated. Patterned variability also exists between two classes of steppe and desert area settlements. One set of steppe and desert sites is characterized by a broad range of activities and moderate settlement permanence and activity intensity, while less permanent occupation and more specialized activities focused primarily on hunting typify the other set of sites. Evidence for food production in the Natufian is examined and, although the domestication process may have begun, no morphological evidence exists for the domestication of plants or herd animals. Finally, worthwhile areas for future research are outlined.

Mortuary data are used to examine social structure and differentiation within the prehistoric Natufian cultural complex of Southwest Asia. New interpretations are presented regarding the nature and importance of changes in Natufian social structure through a rigorous analysis of burials from the three best documented sites. Intra-settlement descent group differentiation, perhaps along extended family or kin-group lines, is inferred for the early Natufian. We interpret this novel development to be a result of adopting new markers for social relations during a period of social change and stress when larger populations rapidly coalesced and resided together for longer periods each year. There is no evidence to indicate that any of these kin-groups had significantly greater wealth or status. Mortuary behavior changed significantly during the late Natufian, in part reflecting greater emphasis on the burial of individuals and increased settlement mobility. We argue that there is no strong mortuary evidence for hereditary social inequality during the Natufian, and that mortuary ritual was multidimensional and had considerable embedded meaning that often lacks direct ethnographic parallels and simple categorization into evolutionary stages.

The exceptional preservation of structural detail at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site of ‘Ain Ghazal allows analysis of techniques of house building, and of sequences of construction and modification of houses. Frequent remodelling was common, with a trend towards smaller residential areas. The concept of the ‘development cycle’ is applied, to explain the structural modifications in terms of the changing nature of the co-residential group.