The Clemmer Collection Revisited: Re-evaluation of Findings from the 1961 Excavation of CA-SLO-239, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo County, California

Excavated in 1961, CA-SLO-239 at Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County produced a large but undated assemblage of stone, shell, and bone artifacts. The first radiocarbon dates obtained from faunai samples (n =5) complement temporal diagnostics that indicate the site was occupied primarily during the early Middle and Middle-Late Transition periods. A single E2 Thick-Lipped Olivella bead suggests some minimal site use during the Late Period, but the lack of Desert Side-notched and Coastal Cottonwood projectile points suggests the site was largely abandoned after 700 cal B.P. Limited provenience data constrain our ability to define components more precisely. Faunal remains show an emphasis on marine animals for the entire span of occupation. Lack of evidence for occupation during the late Middle Period (ca. 1,550-900 cal B.P.) is consistent with other findings from the Morro Bay area, while a focus on marine fauna is consistent with previous findings for the Medieval Climatic Anomaly. The site produced two artifacts of possible extra-local origin, including an antler harpoon point with a line hole similar to examples from northwestern North America, and a stone labret. Labrets are known from the Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley, so the origin of that artifact might not be distant. Whether the harpoon point arrived with Aleutian otter hunters during the historic era or by some other means at another time cannot be determined.