Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Recent research utilizing paleolandscape reconstruction and targeted underwater survey has led to the discovery of prehistoric cultural material on the submerged landscape off of Espíritu Santo Island, Baja California Sur. Our ability to identify preserved inundated cultural remains suggests that Baja California’s unique geography and environment may be favorable for identifying evidence of late Pleistocene coastal occupations. Indeed, survey data identifying unique geomorphological and environmental characteristics clari es the various factors that made this region attractive to early hunter­gatherer populations, and also explains why Baja California may be integral in the search for some of the earliest coastal inhabitants of the New World.