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i; 20 for. making stone tools. Suitable cobbles were collected and used as ready-made milling implements, or were broken up to provide pieces of sharp stone to be made into flaked stone tools. It is to be appreciated that local availability of numerous types of resources, many of which no longer exist (an example being a watercourse which is now dry or occupies a different channel) , might have induced the Native Americans to inhabit or visit localities that today appear uninviting. In summary, prefield background research indicates that while the project area could not be identified as an area of [ , unusual significance from the point of view of the Native American residents of the Central Valley, it was an integral part of the larger San Joaquin River resource exploitation zone, and could have been visited or occupied seasonally or occasionally by the Yokuts, or by their neighbors the Miwok (Kroeber 1925: 444 ff. ) . Prefield research indicated that no historical sites, ranches, or other cultural features are known to be located on the project area. 3: RESEARCH' DESIGN Introduction Research designs in cultural resources investigations and management invoke formal, systematic procedures to direct and guide the execution of archaeological investigations.The process of archaeological research is controlled and guided by the research design to integrate theory, method, data and interpretation (Binford 1964:425-441; Brim and Spain 1974; Fowler 1982 : 1-50; Watson et al. 1971) . The key elements of research designs for archaeological survey projects integrate numerous theoretical and methodological considerations, guide the proposed research and organize the operations undertaken to conduct the research. The principal theoretical orientation to field research conducted in respect to the present proposed project is the concept of project-specific systematic archaeological survey,. as discussed by Dancey (1981:83-126) , Hester et al. (1975) , King (1978) , Napton (1981) , and Thomas (1989) . Research objectives The principal objectives of cultural resources survey of ` theJ ro ro osed project area were to: (1) ascertain whether P P P archaeological or historical cultural resources occur on the proposed project area; (2) locate and record the cultural resources; (3) assess the potential significance of the cultural (