Pauma Complex

The Pauma Complex is a prehistoric archaeological pattern among indigenous peoples of California, initially defined by Delbert L. True in northern San Diego County, California.

The complex is dated generally to the middle Holocene period. This makes it locally the successor to the San Dieguito Complex, predecessor to the late prehistoric San Luis Rey Complex, and contemporary with the La Jolla Complex on the San Diego County coast.

Pauma Complex sites have been identified primarily in the San Luis Rey River valley and on the Valley Center plateau to the south of it.

Archaeological traits distinguishing the Pauma Complex include:

• a high frequency of shaped manos
• the presence of finely worked small domed scrapers
• the presence of knives and points
• the presence of discoidals and cogged stones
• a predominance of grinding tools over flaked tools
• a predominance of deep basin metates over slab metates
• a predominance of cobble hammers over core hammers
• a low frequency of cobble tools
• a scarcity of cobble choppers and cobble scrapers
• a predominance of volcanic rock over quartzite as a source material for flaked lithics
• an extreme scarcity of obsidian

References

• True, D. L. 1958. "An Early Complex in San Diego County, California". American Antiquity 23:255-263.
• True, D. L. 1980. "The Pauma Complex in Northern San Diego County: 1978". Journal of New World Archaeology 3(4):1-39.
• True, D. L., and R. Pankey. 1985. "Radiocarbon Dates for the Pauma Complex Component at the Pankey Site, Northern San Diego County, California". Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 7:240-244.
• Warren, Claude N., D. L. True, and Ardith A. Eudey. 1961. "Early Gathering Complexes of Western San Diego County: Results and Interpretations of an Archaeological Survey". University of California, Los Angeles, Archaeological Survey Annual Report 1960-1961:1-106.

Pre-Columbian North America
Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic
Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Pueblo (Anasazi) Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek Complex Caborn-Welborn Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites Leon-Jefferson Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Tchefuncte Tocobaga Troyville
Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds Anzick Clovis burial Bandelier National Monument The Bluff Point Stoneworks Cahokia Casa Grande Chaco Canyon Coso Rock Art District Crystal River Archaeological State Park Eaker Effigy Mounds National Monument Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Site Fort Ancient Fort Center Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument Glenwood Grimes Point Holly Bluff Site Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Kimball Village Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds L'Anse aux Meadows Marksville Marmes Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moaning Cavern Moorehead Circle Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena Site Ocmulgee National Monument Old Stone Fort Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Recapture Canyon Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Russell Cave National Monument Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Spiro Mounds SunWatch Taos Pueblo Toltec Mounds Town Creek Indian Mound Turkey River Mounds Upward Sun River site West Oak Forest Earthlodge Winterville Wupatki National Monument
Human remains	Anzick-1 Arlington Springs Man Buhl Woman Kennewick Man La Brea Woman Leanderthal Lady Minnesota Woman Spirit Cave mummy
Miscellaneous	Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of the Americas Piasa Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Underwater panther Water glyphs
Related Genetic history Portal of Indigenous peoples of North America Pre-Columbian era