Pauma Complex facts for kids
The Pauma Complex was an ancient way of life for Native American groups in California. It was first studied by Delbert Leroy True in northern San Diego County.
What Was the Pauma Complex?
This ancient culture existed during the middle Holocene period. This means it was around from about 8,000 to 4,000 years ago. The Pauma Complex came after the San Dieguito Complex in this area. It also came before the later San Luis Rey Complex. At the same time, it existed alongside the La Jolla Complex found along the coast of San Diego County.
Where Did They Live?
Archaeologists have found signs of the Pauma Complex mainly in the San Luis Rey River valley. They also found sites on the Valley Center plateau, which is south of the river.
What Tools Did They Use?
Archaeologists can tell the Pauma Complex apart from other ancient cultures by the tools they used. Here are some of the special things they found:
- They used many manos that were shaped. Manos are hand stones used for grinding.
- They had finely made small, rounded scrapers.
- They also used knives and points (like arrowheads or spear points).
- Some sites had discoidals (disk-shaped stones) and cogged stones (stones with gear-like edges).
- They used more grinding tools than flaked tools. Grinding tools help prepare food. Flaked tools are made by chipping pieces off stone.
- They mostly used deep basin metates for grinding. These are large, hollowed-out stones. They used fewer flat slab metates.
- They mostly used cobble hammers (round stones) instead of core hammers (stones with a core removed).
- They did not use many tools made from cobbles (rounded stones).
- They had very few cobble choppers or cobble scrapers.
- For their flaked tools, they mostly used volcanic rock. They used less quartzite.
- They almost never used obsidian, which is a type of volcanic glass.
