This is the only case study available that focuses on the practice of archaeology in California, prehistory coastal adaptations, and cultural resource management. Unique coverage of the Vandenburg region and Santa Barbara Channel not only introduces students to regional archaeology but also allows them to observe the impact of environmental variations on cultural development. Examples included in the study reinforce relationships between fieldwork, data generation and processing, analysis, and interpretation.

Some forty scholars examine California's prehistory and archaeology, looking at marine and terrestrial palaeoenvironments, initial human colonization, linguistic prehistory, early forms of exchange, mitochondrial DNA studies, and rock art. This work is the most extensive study of California's prehistory undertaken in the past 20 years. An essential resource for any scholar of California prehistory and archaeology!

"Kennett explores trends in demography, dietary expansion, economic intensification, and increasing sociopolitical sophistication evident in the archaeological record. By combining empirical findings based on new archaeological and paleoclimatic work and a thorough synthesis of earlier studies, Kennett argues that the social and political complexity evident among the island Chumash historically was ultimately a product of individual responses to demographic expansion, human impact on marine habitats, and periods of rapid climatic change."--BOOK JACKET.