San Dieguito Complex

The San Dieguito Complex is an archaeological pattern left by early Holocene inhabitants of Southern California and surrounding portions of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Radiocarbon dating places a 10,200 BP (Before Present) (8200 BCE) date consideration.

The complex was first identified by Malcolm J. Rogers in 1919 at site SDI-W-240 in Escondido, San Diego County, California (Rogers 1966). He assigned the Paleo-Indian designation of 'Scraper Makers' to the prehistoric producers of the complex, based on the common occurrence of unifacially flaked lithic (stone) tools at their sites.

In an initial synthesis, Rogers (1929) suggested that the Scraper Makers were the region's second inhabitants, following the people of the Shell Midden culture, later known as the La Jolla Complex, whose remains lie closer to the coast. However, his 1938 excavations at the C. W. Harris Site (CA-SDI-149) in Rancho Santa Fe established that the site's San Dieguito component underlay its La Jolla component, at the base of the stratigraphic sequence (Warren 1966).

Subsequent excavations at the Harris Site confirmed Rogers' main conclusions and obtained radiocarbon dates that placed the site's occupation as far back as 10,200 BP (8200 BCE) (Warren and True 1961; Warren 1967).

Characteristics suggested for San Dieguito Complex assemblages, in addition to the abundant scrapers, have included large, percussion-flaked bifaces; flaked crescentic stones; Lake Mohave or Silver Lake style projectile points; a scarcity or absence of milling tools (manos and metates); and an absence of small projectile points and pottery.

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