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valley. Most Pleistocene- and Holocene-epoch archaeological sites are deeply buried in accumulated gravels and silts or have eroded away. The closest-available prehistoric chronology to the study area comes from the wester — side of the San Joaquin Valley. The chronology is most clearly presented by Olsen and Payen (1969) and Moratto (1984). The Positas Complex(5200-4600 B.P.) is characterized by small, shaped mortars; cylindrical pestles; millingstones;perforated flat cobbles; small flake scrapers; handstones; and spire-lopped Olivella beads. To date, archaeologists have not identified burials or structures _ associated with the Positas Complex (Mikkelsen and Hildebrandt 1990). The Pacheco Complex (4600-1600 B.P.) is characterized by foliate bifaces, rectangular _ shell ornaments, flexed burials, and thick rectangular Olivella beads. Sites attributed to Pacheco Complex exhibit spire-ground Olivella beads,perforated canine teeth, bone awls,whistles, grass saws, large stemmed and side-notched points, flexed burials,millingstones, mortars, and pestles. Domestic structure remnants attributed to the Pacheco Complex were probably circular in outline and 10 to 12 feet in diameter(Mikkelsen and Hildebrandt 1990; Olsen and Payen 1969). The Gonzaga Complex (1600-1000 B.P.) is characterized by extended and flexed burials; bowl mortars; shaped pestles; squared and tapered-stem points; few bone awls; distinctive shell ornaments; and thin rectangular, split-punched, and oval Olivella beads (Mikkelsen and — Hildebrandt 1990; Olsen and Payen 1969). Projectile points are rare in comparison to the Pacheco Complex and are predominantly made from silicate stones. Archaeologists have reported a few fragmentary serrated projectile points fashioned from obsidian. Architectural — features from the Gonzaga Complex are larger than those reported from earlier complexes. Archaeologists hypothesize that the Gonzaga Complex marks the arrival of the Yokuts in the San Joaquin Valley (Mikkelsen and Hildebrandt 1990). The Panoche Complex (400-200 B.P.) is recognized by large circular structures (pits), flexed burials and primary and secondary cremations, varied mortars and pestles,bone awls, _ whistles, small side-notched points, clamshell disk beads, and other bead types. The Panoche Complex appears to represent the Yokuts' occupation of the San Joaquin Valley (Mikkelsen and Hildebrandt 1990; Olsen and Payen 1969). _ Ethnographic Setting (Except where otherwise noted, this section is summarized from Wallace 1978) The project area was aboriginally inhabited by the Northern Valley Yokuts whose _ territory is defined roughly by the crest of the Diablo Range to the west and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada to the east. The southern boundary is approximately where the San Joaquin River bends northward, and the northern boundary is roughly half way between the Calaveras and — DeSilva Gates Quarry Project,San Joaquin County Cultural Resources Inventory Report Community Development Department November 1005 3 AS ostos