Analysis of Prehistoric Resource Procurement in the Newport Coast Area of Southern California

To determine whether archaeological sites are preferentially located on or near particular soils, the percentage of different soils in the entire study area was compared to the percentage of those soils in the possible resource procurement areas. These areas were defined by creating a 2,000-meter buffer around each site that was weighted by the slope of the landscape.

Most archaeologists define resource procurement areas with a circular buffer, but this might not reflect where prehistoric people actually obtained resources. Weighted buffers more accurately reflect travel time and cost. It was expected that there would be clustering around certain soils as preferred vegetation might be located predominately on that soil. Clustering would result in a significantly higher percentage of certain soils in the resource procurement areas than in the entire study area. However, the only significant differences found with a t-test involved an avoidance of Bosanko clay and Cieneba sandy loam. For all other soil types, there was no significant difference between the percentage of each soil in the procurement areas and the percentage within the entire study area.