Research Issues in San Diego Prehistory
Research Issues in San Diego Prehistory is unconventional in several respects. It may be helpful to try to clarify its aims and methods.
One thing that might be expected from a discussion of regional prehistory is a comprehensive, up-to-date summary of the existing knowledge and understanding of the subject. The reader will find here at least some of the elements of such a regional synthesis, but the main focus is on something altogether different. This webpage isn’t primarily about what we know. It’s about what we don’t know. Or to be a little more exact, it’s about those sections of the frontier of our ignorance which we can now clearly recognized and over which we seem to be poised to cross in the foreseeable future.
As for the comprehensiveness of this discussion, the webpage’s ambitions are inclusive, but its pretensions aren’t. What is presented is a scattered assortment of research topics. These topics try to suggest the range of the subject matter which falls within the purview of the webpage, but they in no way exhaust its possibilities. Future updates will progressively fill in more of the gaps, without ever finally eliminating them. Similarly, the individual discussions should be regarded as working papers, offering guidance into the often-obscure archaeological literature as well as ideas for its interpretation and advancement, but without any claim to being definitive.
The discussions of research issues are arranged under five general headings. “Chronology” deals with questions relating to prehistoric events and the broad-scale patterns of regional change. “Functions” addresses the uses that can be ascribed to specific kinds of prehistoric artifacts, features, and sites. “Resources” considers issues relating to the prehistoric exploitation of particular faunal, floral, and mineral resources. “Spatial Relationships” looks at spatial patterning in the prehistoric record, extending from the narrow scale of activity areas within individual archaeological sites up to broad regional or interregional systems. “Methods” raises problems of archaeological methodology. The groupings are fairly loose. Many of the topics relate to more than one of these general subject areas.
The basic elements that make up the webpage are “issue statements.” At present, 77 of these are offered. Each issue statement identifies a topic of regional interest that involves some actual or potential interpretive dispute. Existing knowledge and opinion on the topic are discussed briefly, and prospects for future research are indicated. A “References” section lists the sources that are cited in the issue statements.
Geographically, this webpage is concerned with issues that can be significantly addressed by means of evidence from San Diego County, California. However, this isn’t to say that the issues that are raised pertain exclusively, or even preeminently, to San Diego County. It’s hoped that researchers whose primary interests lie in other regions will also find material of interest here. Certainly the work of outside researchers will continue to contribute greatly to the understanding of the issues within their San Diego context.
As noted, the present webpage is envisioned less as a finished product than as a guide to work in progress. New issue statements will be added from time to time, and existing issue statements will be updated with more complete coverage of the existing literature, data from new studies as these become available, sharper reformulations of the issues, or new ideas for their resolution. The reader is urged to help with this updating process by contributing corrections, suggestions, or new issue statements to the editor.
The primary users of this webpage are likely to be archaeological researchers, whether they are professionals, students, or avocationals. The intent is to stimulate and sharpen local archaeological research and to make its dissemination more effective. An investigator won’t find here a full-blown research design for any given study, but perhaps he or she will find some ideas worth developing into such a design.
This webpage began as “Research Issues in San Diego Archaeology,” a hard-copy publication distributed by the San Diego County Archaeological Society in 1992-1993. Thanks are due to many people for their help and encouragement in the venture. Particular mention must be made of the aid of John Beezley, Lynne Christenson, John Cook, Mike Nabholz, Roy Pettus, Marty Rosen, Jerry Schaefer, Sue Wade, and Claude Warren. Thanks are also due to the staff of the San Diego Archaeological Center, and in particular Ad Muniz, for assuming the chore of hosting the webpage.
(January 2018)
