cawry shells

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Title:

Cowry Shells: Fertility/Fecundity Symbols in Southern Calfiornia Iconography

Journal Issue:

Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 23(1)

Author:

Koerper, Henry C, Cypress College

Publication Date:

2001

Publication Info:Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, UC Merced Library, UC Merced

Permalink:

http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1z6919vc

Keywords:

ethnography, ethnohistory, archaeology, native peoples, Great Basin

Abstract:

Ornamental employment of Chestnut Cowry (Cypraea spadicea) shell artifacts in southernCalifornia prehistory included inlay work set into the rims of mortars and bowls. These and other

observations are marshaled to develop circumstantial evidence pointing to a linkage of cowryshells with sex-based symbolism. More direct evidence from J. P. Harrington's notes connect thecowry symbolically to the vulva.
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J o u r n a l of C a l i f o r n i a a n d G r e a t B a s i n A n t h r o p o l o g yV o l. 2 3 , N o . 1 , p p . 2 7 - 3 8 ( 2 0 0 1 )

Cowry Shells: Fertility/Fecundity SymbolsIn Southern California IconographyHENRY G. KOERPERA n t h r o p o l o g y D e p a r t m e n t , C y p r e s s C o l le g e , C y p r e s s , C A 9 0 6 3 0

Ornamental employment of Chestnut Cow ry (Cypraea spadicea) shell artifacts in southernCalifornia prehistory included inlay work s et into the rims of mortars and bowls. These andother observa tions are marsh aled to develop circum stantial evidence pointing to a linkage ofcowry shells ivith sex-based symbolism. More direct evidence from J. P. Harrington's notesconnect the cotiory symb olically to the vulva.

ross-culturally employed as ornament, a m u l e t / c h a r m , m o n e y , g a m i n g / g a m b l i n g c o u n t e r ,d iv inat ion p iece (e .g . , Quiggin 1949:25-26, Einzig 1966; Cabrera 1974; Bascom 1980; Hogendornand Johnson 1986 ; Op i t z 1992 ; Gabr i e l 1996) , and fo r o ther pu rposes ( e .g . , Kay 1985 :4 ) , t he cowryshel l ha s also s too d as a l ife force sym bol , owing to a pe rfun cto ry res em bla nc e be tw ee n the shel l ' sor i fice and the hu m a n vulva (e .g . , Ken yon 19 41:3 41-3 42; Go ber t 1 95 1; Safer an d Gil l 198 2; Gravel1 9 9 5 : 6 0 , 9 3 , 1 1 9 - 1 2 0 ) . E v en t h e g en e r i c n am e ch o s en b y L i n n aeu s , Cypraea, relates to a fer t i l i ty /fecundi ty theme, for the Lat in der ives f rom the i s land of Cyprus , home to the ear l ies t locat ion forworsh ip o f Aphrod i t e (Gypr i s ; a l so Cy tberea) , t he Romans ' Venus .Cowry she l l s were a f i x tu re of p re h i s to r i c coas t a l so u th ern Cal i fo rn ia cu l tu re . Th ey served asad or nm en t on pe r so ns and th ings (Anon . 1938b ; King 19 81 ; King 1982 :323-3 25 , 422 -425 ; Hudsonand Blackburn 1985:277; Koerper and Whi tney-Desautels 1999) , as grave offer ings (e.g. . Anon . 1938c;King 19 81 ; King 198 2) , as paci f iers for babies (Ha rr ingto n 1986:R1. 116, Fr . 49) , and , speculat ively ,as c l ap per s for r a t t l es (Anon . 1938a , 1938c , 1939 ; W in te rbo urn e 1967 :35 ) . Pub l i she d e thn og rap h icno te s a re l imi t ed , descr ib ing on ly som e decora t i ve uses of cowr i es (W iedm ann n .d . ; Hudson 1977 :12 ;Hudso n and B lackb urn 1 983 :7 8 , 109-11 0) , never o ffe ring i n fo rma t ion t o d i r ec t l y assoc i a t e cow r i eswi th fer t i l i ty / fecundi ty . Th is s tudy , bui ld in g f irs t on ci r cu m sta nt ia l ev ide nc e, dev elops the v iewtha t , as e l se w her e , sex -b ased symb ol i sm a t t a ch ed to t he she l l i n l oca l i cono graph y . Re cen t lyrecog n ized d i r e c t ev iden ce , g l eaned f rom J . P. Har r ing ton ' s no t e s and here to fo re unp ub l i s hed , h e lpsco r r o b o r a t e t h e p r ev i o u s l y d e r i v ed i n t e r p r e t a t i o n ( K o e r p e r 2 0 0 0 ) .


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2 8 J O U R N A L O F C A L I F O R N I A A N D G R E A T B A S IN A N T H R O P O L O G Y

Figure 1. Cvpraea spadicea (Ch estnut Co wry) specimens (a) Back-punch ed cowry, CA-O RA-855 ; (b) Back-remo ved cowry,CA-O RA-855 ; Outer lip cowry inlay, CA-ORA -855; (d) Outer lip cowry inlay, CA-ORA-85 5, with illustration of its position inthe shell; (e) Outer lip cowry inlay from the Medea Creek collection (courtesy UCL A Fowler M useum of Cultural HistoryArchaeological Collections Facility); (f) Cowry pendant (after King 1982:501 ).

BACKGROUNDO n l y t w o s p e c i m e n s of n o n i n d i g e n o u scowr i es have ear l i e r been r epor t ed fo r Orange

C o u n t y . Q u es t i o n a b l y , a M o n ey C o w r y s h e ll(Cypraea moneta) w as u n ea r t h ed w i t h a b u r i a l(S t r an d t 196 5 :31) , and a t GA-ORA-83 , a L i t tl eDeer Cowry (Cypraea cervinetta) was co l l ec t edf r o m s i t e s u r f ace ( s ee K o e r p e r an d W h i t n ey -D es au t e l s n . d . ) . O n l y r ecen t l y h a s t h e au t h o rb eco m e aw ar e o f an u n p r o v en i en ced Cypraeaannettae C o w r y s h e l l r e c o v e r e d ( S . O ' N e i l ,p e r s o n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n 2 0 0 1 ) a t a n O r a n g eCo un ty mid de n. This species is found in the Gulfof California, but i t also grows on the Pacific sideof lower Baja Cal i forn ia (B urgess 19 85 :10 2) .

Al l o ther cowry she l l a r t i f ac t s and cowryd e t r i t u s r e t r i e v e d fr o m s o u t h e r n C a li fo r ni am i d d en s a r e a t t r i b u t ed t o o n e s p ec i e s , Cypraeaspadicea ( C h es t n u t C o w r y ) ( F i g . l a , d ) , s i n ceon ly t h i s r ep resen t a t i ve o f t he l a rge ly t rop i ca lfami ly Gypraeidae l ives along Channel Is land andad jac en t coas t a l sho re s (F ig . 2 ) , oc cu r r in g onlys p o r a d i c a l l y n o r t h of S a n t a B a r b a r a C o u n t y( M o r r i s 1 9 6 6 : 7 9 ; M c L e a n 1 9 7 8 : 3 9 ; B u r g e s s1 9 8 5 : 1 0 6 ) .

T h e l o c a l e t h n o g r a p h i c r e c o r d g i v e s b u tc u r s o r y r e c o g n i t i o n t o t h e e m p l o y m e n t ofcowr i es . A Juanefio i n fo rman t r e l a t ed a p rac t i ca luse for t he loca l bac k pu nc he d cowry . I t wasg iven to bab i es t o ho ld i n t he i r mou ths t o sucko n . A s t r i n g w as a t t a c h ed t h r o u g h t h e p u n ch ed


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C O W R Y S H E L L S : F E R T I L I T Y / F E C U N D I T Y S Y M B O L S IN S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A I C O N O G R A P H Y 2 9

%^

Figure 2. Range of Cypraea spadicea (after Burgess 1985:106).


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30 JOURNAL O F CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGYper fo ra t i on , wi th t he ch i ld ho ld ing the s t r i ng i ni t s h an d ( H a r r i n g t o n 1986:R1. 116 , F r 49 ) . J . P .Har r ing ton a l so descr ibed two mod i f i ca t i ons o fcowr i es , "bases" and "ha l f bases , " bo th o f wh ichm i g h t s e r v e a s i n l a y s . " B a s e s , " o r " b a c k -r em o v ed " co w r i e s ( F i g . l b ) , w e r e s o m e t i m es s e ti n to t he r ims o f bo th wooden bowls and l a rges t o n e m o r t a r s ( c i t ed i n H u d s o n an d B l ack b u r n1 9 8 3 : 7 8 , 1 0 9 - 1 1 0 ) . G i f f o r d ( 1 9 4 7 : 1 1 , 6 9 )refer re d to such ar t i fac ts as "who le l ips ," h i s typeH l a ." H a l f b a s e " r e f e r s t o t h e a r t i f a c t t y p ei l l u s t r a t ed i n F igu res I c - e . Gifford ( 1 9 4 7 : 1 1 , 6 9 )ca l l ed t h es e "ha l f l i p s , " h i s t ype H l b , an d h eco n s i d e r ed t h a t t h ey m i g h t h av e f u n c t i o n ed a ss aw s o r r a s p s . H e h y p o t h e s i ze d t h a t t h e t y p eH l a s p e c i m e n s m a y h a v e r e p r e s e n t e d a s ta g e inthe m an ufa c tu re o f t he "ha lf l i p s . "A l l h a l f b a s e s k n o w n to t h e a u t h o r a r em an u f a c t u r ed f ro m t h e o u t e r li p of t h e c o w r y( F i g . I d ) . F e r n a n d o L i b r a d o u s e d t h e t e r m'ayapilili f o r t h e " h a l f b a s e , " a n d h e t o l dH a r r i n g t o n t h a t h e o n c e s aw a l a r ge m o r t a r w i t hs ix of these in lays set in to i t s " three f inger wide"r i m . T h e i n l ay s w e r e ab o u t 1.5 i n c h e s l o n g( H u d s o n an d B l ack b u r n 1 9 8 3 : 1 0 9 - 1 1 0 ) . G r ea ts t o n e m o r t a r s a r e l i k e l y t o h av e h ad ce r em o n i a l

Figure 3. Mortar from Medea Creek Cemetery (CA-LAN-243). Nearly com plete outer lip cowry inlay at far right.Remn ant inlay and asphaltum at 7 o'clock. Depression forinlay at 1 o'clock. Mortar diameter is 28.8 cm. (CourtesyUCL A Fowler Museu m of Cultural History ArchaeologicalCollections Facility).

Figure 4. Mortar, Medea Creek Cemetery (CA-LAN -243).Arrowis point to asphaltum filled depressions which oncecontained inner lip co'wry inlays. Mortar diameter is 28.2cm . (Courtesy UCL A Fowler Museum of Cultural HistoryArchaeological Collections Facility).

f u n c t i o n s ( H u d s o n a n d B l a c k b u r n 1 9 8 3 : 1 0 9 -1 1 0 ) . The Medea Creek Cemetery (CA-LAN-243)sands tone mor t a r s o f F igu res 3 and 4 have r imsw i t h s m a l l d ep r e s s i o n s i n t o w h i ch o u t e r l i pcowry in l ays had been cemen ted wi th aspha l tum.Most of the in lays are now miss ing (see King1 9 8 2 : 5 2 6 - 5 3 1 ) .

F r o m C h u m a s h i n f o r m a n t s , H a r r in g t o nl earned tha t bo th l a rge b rown (Ches tnu t Cowry)and smal l p ink (probably Coffee Bean shel l , o rTrivia californiana) w er e em p l o y ed t o i n l aythe i r vesse l s . T . cah /o rmana shel ls grow local lya n d b e a r s o m e r e s e m b l a n c e t o c o w r y s h e ll s( W i ed m an n n .d . ; H u d s o n 1 9 7 7 : 1 2 ) .

BACKGROUND TO THE HYPOTHESISThe two k inds o f mor t a r /bowl cowry in l ays ," b a s e s " and "hal f bases ," are v i r tual ly pr ima faciet e s t i m o n y f or t h e i d e a t h a t c o w r i e sc o m m u n i c a t e d f e r ti li t y/ f e c u n d it y s y m b o l i s m .The v i ew p ro f fe red here observes f i r s t t ha t t hed y n am i cs i n h e r en t i n t h e p e s t l e / m o r t a r co m p l exco n v ey s a s ex u a l d o u b l e e n t e n d r e .I n d e e d , m o r t a r a s v u l v a a p p e a r s i n

m y t h o lo g i ca l a c c o u n t s s u c h a s t h e C h u c h c h a n s i


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COWRY SHELLS: FERTILITY/FECUNDITY SYMBOLS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ICONOGRAPHY 31

Figure 5. Pestles: (a) Courtesy Mission San Juan Capistrano Museu m collection; (b) Bonita Site (CA-OR A-107), excavatedby WP A (Courtesy Santa Ana C ollege collection); CA-O RA-660 , Newpo rt Coast Archaeological Project.

Sto ry t ha t a t t r i bu t ed "a l l s t one mor t a r ho l es , i ns i t u a s w e l l a s p o r t ab l e , t o t h e co y o t e , w h oe m p l o y e d a n a g e n c y of m a n u f a c t u r e t h a td e c e n c y d e b a r s f ro m m e n t i o n " ( K r o e b e r1925 :528) . Many Nat ive Cal i fo rn i an and G rea tBas in peop les r ecogn ized Coyo te as t he makerof bed ro ck m or t a r s and /o r po r t ab l e m or t a r s ( e .g . ,Gi fford and Kroeb er 193 7:13 8; Dr iver 1937 :68;Voegel in 1938 :17 ; S t eward 1941 :286 ; S t ewar t1 9 4 1 : 3 8 1 ; Aginsky 1943:406) . Speculat ively , them e t a p h o r i c p r o d u c t of m o r t a r a n d p e s t l e inco n g r e s s m ay b u i l d o n co n d i t i o n s w h e r e m o d esof p rod uct ion and env i ronm en ta l se t ti ngs a t l eas tper iod i ca l l y b r ing spec i a l immediacy to i s suesof l if e f o r c e s , h u m a n f e r t i li t y , an d n a t u r e ' sb o u n t y .

Pest le as phal lus i s wr i t l arge in the graphic

rep re sen t a t i ons of num erou s sou ther n Cal ifo rn i apes t l es and in t he assoc i a t i ons o f pes t l e - l i kear t i facts wi th o ther objects infer red to embodysexual co n ten t . W i th m or t a r as f emale e l e m en t ,co w r y d eco r a t i o n s en c i r c l i n g a m o r t a r o p en i n ga r e b e s t ex p l a i n ed a s v i s u a l en h an cem en t s o fvu lvar imagery , a pa lpab le a rg um en t s i nce somany cu l tu res assoc i a t e t he cowry she l l w i thr e p r o d u c t i o n o r a r e l a t e d t h e m e . T h i sper sp ec t ive i s exp and ed be low.DISCUSSION

N o t w i t h s t a n d i n g t h e g e n e r a l l y p h a l l i cm o r p h o l o g y of v i r t u a l l y a ll p e s t l e s , a r t i s an soccas iona l ly p rov ided these t oo l s wi th p r i ap i ce n h a n c e m e n t s t h a t e x c e e d e d a n y c o m p e l l i n g


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3 2 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY

Figure 6. "Spikes"from CA-O RA-278 , the Corona del Mar site, found in association with a steatite birdstone (dimorphicsexual symbol) and a perforated steatite disc. (Anon. 1938a:73 ; and Winterbourne 1967:21).Ut i l i t a r i an necess i t y (Lee 1981 :50 ; Hudson andB l a c k b u r n 1 9 8 3 : 1 2 2 - 1 2 7 ) ( F i g . 5 ) . E q u a l l yrevea l ing a re cer t a in pes t l e - l i ke a r t i f ac t s (F ig .6a n d 7 ) , o f t e n la b e l e d " s p i k e s , " w h i c h a r ec h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y k n o b b e d a t o n e e n d a n dt a p e r e d a t t h e i r o p p o s i t e e n d ( s e e V a nV a l k en b u r g h 1 9 3 1 ; A n o n . 1 9 3 8 a ; W i n t e r b o u r n e1 9 6 7 : 2 0 - 2 1 ; But l e r 19 74 :65 , 67 ; Wal l ace 1987 ;K o e r p e r an d C r am er 1 9 8 8 : 1 0 1 ; K o e r p e r e t al.1 9 9 6 : 5 ) . G e o r g i a L e e ( 1 9 8 1 : 5 0 ) c o r r e c t l yrecogn ized tha t such sp ike- shaped a r t i f ac t s a rep h a l l i c r ep r e s en t a t i o n s .Not surpr i s ingly , sp ikes have been found ind i rec t as soc i a t i on wi th t hose d imorph ic sexua ls y m b o l s k n o w n v a r i o u s l y a s " b i r d s t o n e s , ""pe l i can s tones , " and "hook s tones" ( see Koerperand Labbe 1987, 1989; Koerper et al. 1995) . Twos p i k e s w e r e f o u n d c a c h e d t o g e t h e r w i t h a"bi rdstone" (Fig . 6) at the Corona del Mar s i te

( A n o n . 1 9 3 8 a ; W i n t e r b o u r n e 1 9 6 7 : 2 0 - 2 1 ) , an d

at a v i l lage s i te in Paci f ic Pal i sades , numerouss p i k es o ccu r r ed w i t h n u m er o u s b i r d s t o n es ( F i g .7) (Wal lace 1987) . Not al l miniature pest le- l ikea r t i f a c t s e x h i b i t t h e k n o b b e d s t y l i s t i cconven t ion , i nc lud ing one o f t he two spec imensf rom C oron a de l M ar At CA-OR A-365 , severalm i n i a t u r e p e s t l e s w i t h o u t k n o b s , a k n o bfragment , a smal l pes t le rem ark ab le for it s phall icna tu ra l i sm, and a smal l b i rd s tone had a l l beenc a c h e d w i t h i n a b a l l of c l a y ( N . W h i t n e y -D e s a u t e ls , p e r s o n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n 1 9 9 7 ) .

When pha l l i c imagery deve lops f rom pes t l es ,m o r t a r s e v o k e , ipso facto, v u l v a r i m a g e r y .F u r t h e r ab e t t i n g t h e s y m b o l i c i n t en t a r e t h o s ecowry in lays that are set in to the r ims of mor tars .Th e a r t i f ac t s ' deco ra t i ve pu rpo se i s a f em in i z ingo n e . F er n an d o L i b r ad o , i n r eca l l i n g a l a r g emor t a r bear ing "ha l f cowry" i n l ays , i n fo rmed J .P Har r ing ton tha t " t he t ee th o f t he cowr i es weref ixed in s ide t he mor t a r " (Hudson and B lackburn


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COWRY SHELLS: FERTILITY/FECUNDITY SYMBOLS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ICONOGRAPHY 33198 3 :11 0) , t ha t i s , pos i t i oned tow ard t he i nne re d g e of t h e o p e n i n g . L i b r a d o ' s s t a t e m e n to b l i q u e l y o b s e r v es an a t o m i ca l co r r ec t n e s s .

All th re e "hal f co wr y" in lays i l lus t rat ed inF igure Ic-e are manufac tu red f rom the ou t er l i pof a cowry . Ce r tain ly , for in lay wo rk , the ou terl i p i s b e t t e r s u i t e d t o r e p r e s e n t a v u l v a rschemat i c t han t he co lumel l a s i de o f t he she l lb a s e . To begin, the curve of the outer l ip offersa somewhat be t t e r f i t t o t he cu rve o f a mor t a r o rbowl r im, and so posi t ioned, the lab ial teeth facethe i nner marg in of a r im. Th us , t he ex posedsu r face o f t he ou t e r l i p i n l ay mounds upwardwhi l e t he t rough- l i ke morpho logy o f i t s oppos i t esu r face adheres t o t he mor t a r o r bowl r im and i sn o t s een .The author i s fami l iar wi th no example of aco lumel l a cowry in l ay f rom sou thern Cal i fo rn i aarch aeo logy . Fa sh ion ing an i n l ay ou t of t heco lumel l a y i e lds an i n l ay whose cu rva tu re , i fconcen t r i ca l l y se t t o t he sweep o f a mor t a r o rbowl r im, wou ld necess i t a t e t ha t t he columellart ee th be pos i t i oned toward t he ou t e r marg in o fthe r im, t hereby g ro t esque ly v io l a t i ng na tu re ' sdesign for the vulva.Is there evidence, more d i rect , to suppor t theidea that cowry shel l s were equated wi th vulvas?In his inquiries to Anastacia de Mejal regarding thesubject of cowries , Harr ington inser ted the notethat the Juanef io woman did not know the "namethat resembles word for cunt" (1986:RI . 116, Fr4 9 ) . Thi s sugges t s e i t her t ha t Har r ing ton hadelici ted from a Native person or persons the notiont h a t t h e s h e l l a n d t h e h u m a n a n a t o m y w e r esomehow connec t ed , o r he under s tood the roo tword was the same for each, or both. The Luiserioroot word for cowry is the same for vagina (EricDe Vries , perso nal co m m unic at io n 2001) . Moretel l ing i s a note that Bernardo Gueda gave theLuiserio name for the cowry shel l after Harringtontold him that the Mohave cal l i t the "cunt shel l"(Harr ington 1986:R1. 116, Fr 61) .

.

Figure 7. Three of 29 phallic spikes recovered in PacificPalisades a long with 22 "pelican stones." (after W allace1987:48).are of a doub le na tu re [male and f em ale] . " Hew r i t e s : The mos t obv ious and mos t un iver sa lsymbol of fer t i l i ty i s s t i l l the fact ofr e p r o d u c t i o n , w h e t h e r m a n i f e s te d i ncoi tus or par tur i t io n (chi ldbi r th ) . In tur n ,the most obvious symbols of coi tus arethe sexua l o rgans : thephallos (male) andthe kteis ( fem ale) . Given the fact th atpeop le l i v ing c lose t o na tu re under s t and

the double nature of fecundi ty , the twos y m b o l s g e n e r a l l y a p p e a r t o g e t h e r ,because i f one i s to have " l i fe ," one hasto have both c om po ne nts of fer t il i ty : ma lean d f em a l e . . . . i t i s f e r t i l i t y t h a t i ssacra l i zed and no t t he sex ac t [1995 :56] .CONCLUDING REMARKS

P i e r r e G r a v e l ( 1 9 9 5 : 5 7 ) n o t e s t h a t i np r e l i t e r a t e a n d a n c i e n t c u l t u r e s " a nex t ra o rd in ar i l y l a rge nu m be r of f e r ti li ty symb ol s

T h e p e s t l e - m o r t a r / b o w l c o m b i n a t i o n , a svehicle for merging phal l ic and vulvar mot i fs , c anbe sub sum ed wi th in a grea ter sou the rn Cal i forn ial i s t of dua l i s t i c sexua l sym bol s t ha t i nc lud esjux t a pos i t i ons o f yon i s and l i ngams (McGow an


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34 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY1982 :16-17 ; Bego le 1984 :22-23 , 26 -27) as wel la s d i m o r p h i c s e x u a l s y m b o l s k n o w n a s" b i r d s t o n e s , " " p e l ic a n s t o n e s , " a n d " h o o ks t o n es " ( K o e r p e r an d L ab b e 1 9 8 7 , 1 9 8 9 ) . T h eem p l o y m en t o f co w r y i n s e t s o n m o r t a r an d b o w lr i m s is c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e c r o s s - c u l t u r a las soc iat io n of th e shel l wi th fer t i l i ty / fecundi ty .I t i s ax iom at ic in archaeology tha t pas t m indse treconst ruct ion y ields more grudgingly to analysistha n , say, d iet rec ons t ruct io n . Yet th i s d i scuss iondemons t ra t es t ha t t h rough jud i c ious hand l ing o fc i r cumstan t i a l ev idence wi th in a c ross -cu l tu ra lperspect ive, ins ights in to past mental const ructsmight be product ively explored .

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI a m p a r t i c u l a r l y a p p r e c i a t i v e of L is aW o o d w a r d , w h o s e d i l i g e n c e i n m i n i n gH a r r i n g t o n ' s l e g a c y u n c o v e r e d r e f e r e n c e t ocowry shel l s as symbols for the human vulva.

Ms. W o o d w ar d h ad p r ev i o u s l y a t t en d ed m y SCApre sen t a t i o n (Koe rper 2000) of t h i s s t udy andconsequent ly was fami l iar wi th the author ' s questfor rele van t info rm at ion . Er ic De Vries of feredva luab le l i ngu i s t ic ass i s t anc e . Wendy Tee t e r ofthe UCLA Fowler Museum of Cul tural His toryA r ch aeo l o g i ca l C o l l ec t i o n s F ac i l i t y w as m o s tgen erou s wi th he r ass i s t anc e . I am g ra t e fu l forthe a r t i s t ry of Joe Cr am er who i l l u s t r a t ed a lla r t i f a c t s fo r t h i s r e p o r t , an d I t h a n k C a r eyCr am er for pro duc ing the ma p of Figure 2 . KarenK o e r p e r t y p e d m a n y d r a f t s . T h e r e v i e w e r sc o m m e n t s a r e a p p r e c i a t e d .

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3 6 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGYKoerper , Henry C , an d J o s ep h C r am er1988 Arc haeo log ica l Ev ide nce of Vi sua lAesthet ic Express ion in Prehis tor icOrange County . In : The Natural andSocia l Sc i ences o f Orange Coun ty ,

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cawry shells

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