Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Recently Dietz et al. (1988) have made some headway toward development of a chronology for the central California coast. Based on their assessment of radiocarbon dates, obsidian hydration readings, and grave lots from the Monterey Bay area, they proposed a chronological framework in which the 10,000 years of Monterey Bay area prehistory are assigned to five periods, each of which is marked by distinct artifacts. Projectile point types are included in the chronology but, due to the constraints of the project in which the authors were involved, the point types are not fully defined. In this paper we build on that foundation by advancing the beginning of a projectile point typology for the Monterey Bay area. Specifically, we formalize two projectile point types that are readily definable in local collections: the Ano Nuevo Long-stemmed and the Rossi Square-stemmed. The morphological distinctiveness of these points has been recognized in preliminary, site-specific typologies (Gerow [1968]: Type I from CASMA- 77 for the Ano Nuevo type; and Roop [1976]: Type CS-7 from CA-SCR-20 for the Rossi type; see Fig. 1 for site locations). Our objective has been to identify the attributes that define these types with the hope that they will eventually prove useful as time markers.