Learning a craft by trial and error leaves an identi able signature in the material record, one that crosscuts time periods, cultures, and crafts. Novice training is also strongly correlated with speci c non-material variables, including the makeup of the student-teacher population, the location, and the timing of novice training. Based on intrinsic characteristics, an assemblage of projectile points from the western Mojave Desert is attributed to novices learning to knap. Inferences are derived from this assemblage regarding resident site population, the likely season of site occupation, and therefore the likely site function. It is suggested that, no matter the speci c craft, identi cation of novice artisan training areas may provide a valuable clue to hunter-gatherer site demography, seasonality, and resource acquisition.

The Inland Chumash Research Project (ICRP,) conducted by UCLA in the 1970s, was spearheaded by C. William Clewlow, Jr. Although the focus and nature of Chumash studies have changed dramatically in the intervening years, many of the questions concerning inland Chumash populations posed in the 1970s continue to interest scholars today. Selected examples of current research into the inland Chumash are brie y examined and compared to the ndings of the ICRP. This comparison shows that ICRP data still have a signi cant contribution to make to our understanding of Chumash economic and settlement systems.