The prehistory of Morro Bay : Central California's overlooked estuary /

This volume comprises a set of reports covering archaeological sites examined by the Far Western Anthropological Group from 2004 to 2013 as mitigation for the Los Osos Wastewater Project. Four initial chapters outline the environmental, ethnohistoric, and archaeological contexts and review the field and analytical methods used, and two final chapters summarize, synthesize, and discuss the results and place them in regional context. The intervening site reports are clear and comprehensive. The authors assume that their readers have a background in California coastal archaeology, and there are some problems of presentation: the contrast in bar graphs is not sufficient, the images of incised stones (p. 71) need accompanying drawings, and the ground stone tool photos are generally too dark. In conclusion, the authors aver that Morrow Bay resources are exceptionally broad even for coastal California, and are temporally variable as well. This volume is of most value for California coastal archaeologists. Its value for others is as an example of a thorough, well-written research report. Summing Up: Optional. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. --LUCILLE Lewis JOHNSON, emerita, Vassar College