La Jolla complex facts for kids
The La Jolla complex (also known as the Shell Midden People or Encinitas Tradition) was an ancient culture that lived near the coast in what is now southwestern California and northwestern Baja California. These people lived a very long time ago, from about 8000 BC to 500 AD. They were skilled at using the resources found along the coast.
What They Were Like
The people of the La Jolla complex used special tools for grinding food. These included handstones and flat grinding stones called manos and metates. They also made simple stone tools by hitting rocks together.
When they buried their dead, they often placed bodies in a curled-up position. They ate a lot of shellfish, especially clams, scallops, mussels, and oysters.
Some unique but rare items they made were 'cogged stones' and 'discoidals'. They also created shell jewelry, like beads made from Olivella shells. They used different kinds of arrowheads or spear points, such as Pinto, Gypsum, and Elko forms.
Bones from sea mammals and fish are found in their old campsites, but not in huge amounts. The fish remains usually show they caught fish close to the shore. This means they focused on living off the immediate coast rather than fishing far out at sea.
Malcolm J. Rogers, one of the first archaeologists to study this area, first called these people the "Shell Midden people." He identified different time periods or stages for this culture. Later experts changed some of his ideas. However, what's really interesting is how simple their tools stayed and how their culture lasted for a very long time, especially around San Diego.
Another archaeologist, Claude N. Warren, called it the Encinitas Tradition. This culture spread north to the Santa Barbara Channel area. In the northern parts, it was later replaced by the Campbell tradition after about 2000 BC. There was also a similar culture living inland, called the Pauma complex.
Ancient Human Remains
In 1976, two ancient human skeletons were found in La Jolla, California. These remains, a male and a female, were at least 9,500 years old. They were discovered during construction work on a house.
For ten years, there was a legal discussion about what should happen to these remains. In 2016, the University of California decided to return them to one of the local Kumeyaay Indian groups.
