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ABSTRACT

SPATIAL, TECHNOLOGICAL, AND FUNCTIONAL VARIABILITY AMONG THE

PREHISTORIC CERAMICS OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST

By

Jennifer L. McElhoes

August 2017

Prehistoric pottery found across southern California has a remarkably discrete spatial

distribution. While locally manufactured vessel ceramics are common to the south and southeast

of the Los Angeles River, sherds are virtually absent in deposits located to the northwest and

along the California Coast. Two primary possibilities exist to account for this pattern. First, it is

possible that populations to the north may have had access to resources necessary for vessel

alternatives and may have differed in their settlement patterns or subsistence practices.

Alternatively, it is possible that ceramics are concomitant with distinct population histories and

that the southern area of the coast was occupied with populations that are derived from the

California desert where vessel ceramics are common, while the rest of the area was occupied by

populations with no tradition of making pottery. In this thesis, I generate descriptions of ceramics

including measurements of technological and functional variability of ceramic deposits across

southern California. These measurements are designed to determine the degree of variation that

exists in the use and production methods of vessel ceramics. I explore whether ceramic

distributions are correlated with space and the structure of the environment. Based on my results,

I conclude that ceramic variability is driven by utilitarian functions and, thus, their distribution is

related to proximity to subsistence resources. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the

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