No abstract

While debates have raged over the relationship between trance and rock art, unambiguous evidence of the consumption of hallucinogens has not been reported from any rock art site in the world. A painting possibly representing the flowers of Datura on the ceiling of a Californian rock art site called Pinwheel Cave was discovered alongside fibrous quids in the same ceiling. Even though Native Californians are historically documented to have used Datura to enter trance states, little evidence exists to associate it with rock art. A multianalytical approach to the rock art, the quids, and the archaeological context of this site was undertaken. Liquid chromatography−mass spectrometry (LC-MS) results found hallucinogenic alkaloids scopolamine and atropine in the quids, while scanning electron microscope analysis confirms most to be Datura wrightii. Three-dimensional (3D) analyses of the quids indicate the quids were likely masticated and thus consumed in the cave under the paintings. Archaeological evidence and chronological dating shows the site was well utilized as a temporary residence for a range of activities from Late Prehistory through Colonial Periods. This indicates that Datura was ingested in the cave and that the rock painting represents the plant itself, serving to codify communal rituals involving this powerful entheogen. These results confirm the use of hallucinogens at a rock art site while calling into question previous assumptions concerning trance and rock art imagery.

Women who move into and work within administration in higher education face many struggles. Both the traits that are specific to most females and their leadership style can impede their rise into and within administrative ranks. In addition, higher education has traditionally been a hierarchical and patriarchal system that makes it more difficult for women to advance into administrative positions.Over the past few decades, women have been making significant increases in community college administration. Community colleges have been more accepting of women both as students and as faculty; and now, they are leading higher education in reaching gender parity in administration. Across the nation, women hold over 50 percent of the executive/administrative and managerial positions in community colleges. In contrast to the national numbers, women in West Texas are in the minority as administrators in community colleges. Using a naturalistic inquiry and case study format, this study investigated environmental factors in West Texas

I present archaeobotanical evidence for intensive and long-term harvesting of edible geophytes in the Brodiaea complex, most likely blue dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum), during multiple seasons on California’s Santa Cruz Island. Ethnographic data indicate that Brodiaea corms were an important food source throughout prehistoric California, usually harvested in the late spring–early summer, after flowering. However, at least two ethnographic sources may suggest multiple seasons of harvest, an idea supported by careful examination of seasonal morphological changes in modern and ancient Brodiaea corms. Archaeobotanical identification of features associated with these morphological changes allows inferences about the specific seasons in which Brodiaea corms were harvested, a conclusion that has the potential to provide higher resolution seasonality data for geophyte remains recovered in western North America and other areas around the world.

There is growing evidence for human use of geophytes long before the advent of agriculture. Rich in carbohydrates, geophytes were important in many coastal areas where protein-rich marine foods are abundant. On California's Channel Islands, scholars have long questioned how maritime peoples sustained themselves for millennia with limited plant resources. Recent research demonstrates that geophytes were heavily used on the islands for 10,000 years, and here we describe geophyte and other archaeobotanical remains from an approximately 11,500-year-old site on Santa Rosa Island. Currently the earliest evidence for geophyte consumption in North America, our data extend geophyte use on the Channel Islands by roughly 1,500 years and document a diverse and balanced economy for early Paleocoastal peoples. Experimental return rates for a key island geophyte support archaeological evidence that the corms of blue dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus) were a high-ranked staple resource throughout the Holocene.