Environment and Early Settlement.

The present-day state of California encompasses a wide range of environments. In the North are large, wet forests situated between steep mountains. In the center of the state run several large, well-watered valleys, and in the South one finds desert climates typical of the Southwest. The coast varies as well; some stretches are rocky and inaccessible while others have sandy beaches. Little archaeological work has been carried out in California, and piecing together the region's prehistory is difficult. What little digging has been done, however, confirms patterns typical of the rest of the continent. Clovis people entered the state approximately nine thousand years ago, and between 6000 and 3000 B.C. they made the transition from big-game hunting to hunting and gathering. By 3000 B.C. the Archaic inhabitants had developed diversified subsistence strategies that initiated a prolonged period of...