Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

The majority of the ethnographic references to greasewood gum or creosote gum probably refer to the resin of the creosote lac scale. This conclusion is based on the fairly consistent color (red) of the reported material, that the creosote bush itself does not produce usable (i.e., flowing) sap, and the lack of evidence that a creosote plant product (sap) was ever used. Examples in the archaeological record are rare, but it is possible that many such examples remain unrecognized. The identification of such resin and information on its distribution would be of great value in the delineation of trade patterns and technology (cf. Euler and Jones 1956).