Artifact of the Week: Stone Bowls

These stone bowls were found underwater many miles off shore. Their exact use is not known, but they indicate that the people of the Middle Holocene had ocean going boats.

These bowls date to the La Jolla Tradition. During this period, hunting was still important, but gathering plants and shellfish were increasingly important. As shellfish gatherers, the La Jolla Tradition people left large piles of clam and mussel shells known as middens. These middens show the predominant part of their diet was shellfish, but evidence has been found that this was supplemented with seeds, berries, fish, rabbits, and other small animals.

Date: La Jolla Tradition (7,500 ya – 3,000 ya)
Material Class: Lithics – Ground Stone

Want to learn more? Visit the exhibit By Land and By Sea currently on view at the Center.