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13 Flaked stone tools were made of chert and other cryptocrystalline silicates and of obsidian obtained from neighboring tribes through trade (Earle and Ericson 1977) . The Yokuts made pottery, which Kroeber describes as being ! characterized by its "excessive crudeness.' There is no evidence of coiling: pottery was apparently made simply by smoothing or pressing a lump of clay into the desired shape. The Yokuts constructed at least five types of dwellings. These include the mat-covered gabled kawi, a communal dwelling. Another house structure was a wedge-shaped tule house in which _ each family had separate quarters. The middle plains tribes constructed small tule houses that were elliptical or oblong with rounded ends. Another type of winter house was the te, built of . ; tule. A bark house called a samish was also built by the Yokuts (Latta 1977) . Shades were built with a flat roof supported by posts. Sweathouses were made by digging a pit, over which was F built a pole and hide structure covered with earth. The Northern Valley Yokuts population might have exceeded 25, 100, according to Cook (1955) , although he excluded from this total any inhabitants of the arid lands west of the San Joaquin. Baumhoff (1963: 221) puts the pre--contact Yokuts population at 31,404 , while Latta (1977:xvii) estimates 25, 400. All of these figures are far in excess of 'KroeberIs conservative guess that the entire Native American pre-contact population of the San Joaquin Valley was about 11, 000 persons. (Kroeber 1939: 137) . The main Yokuts settlements, according to Wallace (1978: 466) , were on low mounds near the banks of major watercourses. The San Joaquin and its tributaries frequently flooded during the rainy season and in early spring when waters from melting snow reached the San Joaquin, necessitating temporary abandonment of many villages (Pilling 1950) . Evidently there were distinct paths running from village to village along the San Joaquin and its tributaries (Cook 1960:240) . Wallace (1978:465) notes that fishing was vera important to the Yokuts. Salmon was a mainstay in the fall and spring; sturgeon and river perch were also important (see Latta 1977) . i Geese, ducks, and other wildfowl provided another important source .of food. Hunting declined during the historic period when Europeans entered the Yokuts territory, but undoubtedly was of great importance during prehistoric times. It is difficult today to appreciate the quantity and diversity of wild game that was available in the prehistoric San Joaquin Valley. Eyewitness accounts given by Latta �w .