Presented here is a modification and more limited view of the earlier chronological chart (table 8), differing from the chronology presented by Wallace mainly in the duration of time, and the inclusion of more recent data. Without knowledge of two phases of the Topanga Culture and without the aid of complete data, Wallace dates Topanga at about 2000 B.C. but not over 3000 B.C. Sites (or cultures) such as Oak Grove, Little Sycamore, Malaga Cove II, and La Jolla I are given a date between 0 B.C. and 3000 B.C. (average, 1500 B.C.). With more specific dating for the peripheral areas, especially the central California Middle and Early Horizons, a date of 2000 B.C. for Topanga seems far too conservative to fit comfortably into any over-all generalized chronology for California. Likewise, if Phase I of Topanga is related, as is suggested, to the San Dieguito of San Diego County, and the latter is related to the ancient Lake Mohave (Playa) Culture of the eastern desert, then the acceptance of a date of a little over 3000 B.C. for these cultures would suggest the geologic dating for ancient Lake Mohave as too early or that coastal southern California has suffered a considerable cultural lag. It is doubted that either is the case.
Though claims have been made for Third Interglacial occupation of the southern California coast, convincing evidence is still lacking. The organized cultural activities of man first appear as a combination of shore-line and milling activities directed toward the collection and preparation of food. This simple ecological adaptation could have occupied considerable periods of time involving little or no cultural modification in the direction of technological change. It does not seem to conservative to date Phase I of Topanga between 4000 B.C. and 8000 B.C. and Phase II with some overlap from 2500 B.C. to 5000 B.C.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Campbell, E. W., W. H. Campbell, E. Antevs, C. A. Amsden, J. A. Barbieri, and F. D. Bode
1937. The Archaeology of Pleistocene Lake Mohave, SM-P No. 12.
Heizer, R. F., and E. M. Lemert
1947. Observations on Archaeological Sites in Topanga Canyon, California. UC-PAAE 44:237-258.
Peck, S. L.