Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [152]
Yet the artifacts of Calico also have their defenders, who give elaborate arguments showing that they were human artifacts, not “geofacts” resulting from natural processes. These archeologists include Phillip Tobias, the well-known associate of Raymond Dart, discoverer of Australopithecus. Tobias (1979, p. 97) declared: “when Dr. Leakey first showed me a small collection of pieces from Calico . . . I was at once convinced that some, though not all, of the small samples showed unequivocal signs of human authorship.” Tobias went on to point out that the presence of naturally broken stones is to be expected, and does not detract from the validity of artifacts that are mixed in with them.
The arguments presented are reminiscent of the controversy over eoliths in Europe. Detractors such as archeologist C. Vance Haynes (1973, pp. 305–310) claimed that the natural banging together of stones in streams and shifting earth can simulate all the alleged Calico stone tools. On the other hand, defenders pointed out that these alleged natural processes did not occur at sites such as Calico, and could not have produced the observed, systematic patterns of lithic flaking even if they did occur (L. Patterson et al. 1987, pp. 91–105).
Geological evidence indicates that the Calico implements lie in an ancient mud flow context. In this regard, Ruth D. Simpson stated: “Natural forces in a mud flow would be expected to give mainly bidirectional random damage to flake edges. It would be difficult for nature to produce many specimens resembling man-made unifacial tools, with completely unidirectional edge retouch done in a uniform, directed manner. The Calico site has yielded many completely unifacial stone tools with uniform edge retouch. These include end scrapers, side scrapers, and gravers. Some gravers have bifacial retouch on points, which can be expected in even unifacial flake tool industries” (Simpson et al. 1986, p. 96). Flake tools with unifacial, unidirectional chipping, like those found at Calico, are typical of the European eoliths. Examples are also found among the Oldowan industries of East Africa. Among the best tools that turned up at Calico was an excellent beaked graver (Figure 3.30). Bola stones have also been reported (Minshall 1989, p. 110).
At an international archeological conference held in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1981, three of the defenders of Calico listed 17 criteria for human flaking which, according to them, were met by the artifacts discovered at the Calico site. Some of these criteria were (1) the presence of ripple lines and force bulbs with bulb scars, (2) striking platform angles under 90 degrees, (3) crushing of striking platforms, (4) no remaining cortex on either striking platforms or dorsal surfaces, (5) prismatic flakes and blades, (6) unifacial edge retouch, (7) flaking on certain edges and not others, (8) well-defined bifacial objects, and (9) specific workshop areas with evidence of stone working (Simpson et al. 1981).
Figure 3.30. Abeaked graver—a stone tool from Calico in southern California, dated at about 200,000 years (Bryan 1979, p. 77).
Herbert L. Minshall stated that in 1985 several of the best small Calico implements were displayed at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Denver, Colorado. Minshall wrote (1989, p. 111): “The tools were finally accepted as manmade, but now the objection was that they could not possibly have so great an age, even though 200,000 years was modest compared to many estimates for the age of the fan sediments.