zyxw RADIOCARBON, Vol 55, Nr 1, 2013, p 185–199 © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona A HIGH-PRECISION CHRONOLOGY FOR TWO HOUSE FEATURES AT AN EARLY VILLAGE SITE ON WESTERN SANTA CRUZ ISLAND, CALIFORNIA, USA Christopher S Jazwa 1,2 • Lynn H Gamble 3 • Douglas J Kennett 1 ABSTRACT. We establish a high-precision radiocarbon chronology for 2 house depressions at CA-SCRI-333, a large pre- historic village on the western end of Santa Cruz Island, California, USA. SCRI-333 is a large mound composed of a shell midden with more than 50 house depressions evident across its surface. We develop a chronology of occupation and activity for 2 of these depressions (6 and 32) based on a stratified sequence of accelerator mass spectrometry 14 C dates. Carbonized twig and marine shell (Mytilus californianus) samples were selected from well-defined stratigraphic sections. Analytical error for these measurements is ±20 14 C yr. We use a Bayesian statistical framework to propose an age model for the deposition of 2 features that may be associated with house construction. These data indicated that the features were not contemporaneous and suggest that house construction may have been sequential during the site’s occupation, a hypothesis that needs to be tested further. The methodologies used in this study have the potential to increase the chronological precision of household archae- ology at SCRI-333, on the northern Channel Islands, and around the world. INTRODUCTION One of the greatest challenges facing archaeologists working at sites with multiple residential fea- tures is determining if the features were contemporary. Sites with multiple houses occupied at the same time are different than those with houses constructed sequentially over a long period of time. Superficially, they may appear similar, but they may represent completely different economic, social, and political phenomena. The combination of high-precision accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C dating (±15–20 14 C yr) with calibration and modeling within a Bayesian statistical framework can be used to determine if features were contemporary. Ultimately, the precision and accuracy of these chronologies hinge upon stratigraphic observations made in the field and the selection and dating of appropriate materials below, within, and above strata. In this paper, we establish a chronology for the stratigraphy associated with 2 house depressions at El Montón (CA-SCRI-333), a large mound site on the western end of Santa Cruz Island, California, near Fraser Point (Figure 1). This site, which is situated near the highly productive Forney’s Cove, contains more than 50 depressions previously interpreted as house features. The deposits represent human activity extending from the Middle Holocene (5920–5540 cal BP, 2) through the Late Holocene (825–665 cal BP, 2; Table 1; Wilcoxon 1993; Glassow et al. 1994; Kennett 1998). We collected a combination of organic (carbonized twigs) and carbonate (California mussel shell) sam- ples during excavation along with 3-dimensional provenience information to maintain the spatial relationships between the samples within the stratigraphic section. Analytical error of the radiocar- bon dates is ±20 14 C yr (Beverly et al. 2010; Kennett et al. 2011). We use the stratigraphic relationships between samples observed in the field to model the calibrated age for a distinctive stratum interpreted previously by Wilcoxon (1993) to be associated with house construction in 2 surficial depressions. We determine that at least 285 yr separate the deposition of these 2 features. More generally, we argue that high-precision AMS 14 C dating combined with Bayesian statistical modeling can be used to address chronological questions related to human set- tlement patterns (e.g. Kennett et al. 2011, 2012; Culleton et al. 2012; Kennett and Culleton 2012). 1 Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA. 2 Corresponding author. Email: jazwa@psu.edu. 3 Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. 185