EXCAVATION OF SITE LAn-2

This site occupies the same ridge as does the Tank Site approximately 350 yards west-northwest of the latter at an estimated 150 feet lower elevation. The ridge narrows down to a slight saddle, providing a semi-knoll upon which the occupational debris has collected (Treganza and Malamud, 1950, pl. 14, a, c). For purposes of fire control the area had previously been bulldozed, obliterating the exact limits of the deposit. Mound soil appears to extend 110 feet east-west and 70 feet north-south, and is 36 inches at its deepest point, some 15 feet southwest of the center of the site. The midden thins out on the periphery more rapidly toward the west than to the east. The deposit is loose, dark, and sandy. No extensive ash lenses were observed, and charcoal, though it appeared in small pieces, was not common. Surrounding the depositional area, the markedly yellow sandy clay stands out in definite contrast. The submound base is the same as the surrounding soils only slightly darker from the downward leeching of organic material from the midden. Directly above the site and to the northeast, a light-yellow sandstone outcrop has been exposed to weathering for a considerable period of time.

Exploratory excavation was initiated in the form of a 12- by 3-foot test trench in 1947. Continuing in the summer of 1948, it was found that more thorough excavation would be warranted. A 5-foot coördinate system was then superimposed on the partial excavated area (see map 3).

At the conclusion of the 1947 season there was reason to feel that the Tank Site was stratified, though at that time without further data, or a means of checking with another site, the evidence was not fully convincing. However, in 1948 additional work on the Tank Site plus a limited amount of excavation on the LAn-2 provided the necessary information not only to show a definite cultural change in respect to some elements within the Tank Site, but also that the Topanga Culture as it has been defined underwent considerable change as it continued on into later times. These changes as exhibited in LAn-2 consist primarily in a shift in the method of disposal of the dead from extended burials to a flexed position, a change in burial orientation favoring north, elaboration in pestle types, absence of large crude blades, projectile points that are small and correspond with the types in upper level of the Tank Site, and a shift in material and variety of core and flake tools. It is upon these differences that Topanga Phase II rests.

Map 3. Site LAn-2

DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD

The method of disposal of the dead contrasts sharply with that of the Tank Site. Of the four burials exposed, two were loose-flexed (pl. 17, c-d), a third, tight-flexed on the back (pl. 17, a-b), and the fourth, though incomplete, likewise suggested a flexed position. The use of a rock cairn is shared by a single burial from the Tank Site, though in the case of the former (burial 6), the cairn composed of manos and metates and other rocks surrounded the burial; here the rocks lay directly over the burial. Like the Tank Site, associated artifacts were rare. The only occurrence was a single metate associated with the cairn in burial 4.

The condition of the bones was poor. Though more complete than the remains from the Tank Site, the skeletal material was fragile and difficult to expose, possibly due to the loose sandy mound matrix.

Burial 5 from the Tank Site possessed a slight flexure of the knees and the dual burial 10 possibly suggests flexure. Both of these burials come from the shallow area of the Tank Site and may suggest a parallel.

In other coastal sites, the burial pattern found at LAn-2 finds comparable practices (Rogers, D. B., 1929; Rogers M. J., 1945; Walker, 1936; Peck, 1955; Wallace, 1954.)

Table 6

Burial Data on Site LAn-2

Burial dataBurial number
1234
Depth from surface (in.)21131526
Primary inhumationxxxx
Loose flex on sidexxx...
Tight flex on side............
Tight flex on back.........x
Head pointedNEWSWNN
Artifacts associated.........x