A New Understanding of an Arch Site - by Violet N.

On July 4^th our survey crew re-located a site. They site was recorded as being a possible rock shelter with an unrelated shell midden and a portable mortar fragment. The record included a sketch map that was not oriented in any logical direction. The location description was difficult to follow and three drainages were searched before finding the site. We had already stopped directly searching for the site when we came across a lithic scatter. Our crew chief walked down the side of the hill and found the shell midden and possible rock shelter. Actually finding the site was anticlimactic, for the rock shelter was just a small cave in a rock outcrop. We decided to wait to record the site until the next day when we would have more time.

On July 5^th our crew returned to the site to update the previous record. We began surveying the site looking for artifacts and the boundary of the midden. We quickly realized that the midden was much larger than the initial site map indicated. The site occupies the side on a ridge at roughly a 45 degree slope. A drainage runs down the site creating a ditch. We marked the site and began mapping the outer boundaries. Pacing became difficult due to the steep slope, loose soil, and dense brush. The new boundaries, including the upper lithic scatter, ran 100 meters along the north/south transect and 55 meters along the east/west transect. After our sketch map was complete, our crew chief began mapping the boundary points with GPS unit. While doing this she saw the cutbank of the drainage that had been flagged for the exposed midden.

Up to this point, the midden had been on the surface and mainly small broken shell with much soil mixed in. The bottom of the cutbank exposed densely packed abalone shell with very little sol. The soil above the 30 cm of shell was incredible dense soil, the result of a landside. Above the landslide soil was the shell midden material that covered the surface of the site. This abalone pavement indicates a previous occupation of the site. Similar abalone middens usually date to the middle Holocene, several thousand years before present. Until further research is done, little more can be said definitively about the age of the abalone pavement.

Today’s survey and rerecording of the site has completely changed the nature of the site. The previous record understated the scope of the site and the resources present. The new record indicates a much longer occupation, and a more dynamic settlement pattern. The preservation and management of resources is dependent upon a full knowledge of what resources are actually present. Without this survey, the site was likely to be dismissed and overlooked. Now, the site can be handled in the appropriate, respected manner.