Mammoth Rub Update - Society for California Archaeology

Advanced Annual Meeting Planning). Former Fort Hunter-
Liggett (FHL) Cultural Resources Manager, Susan Alvarez,
then provided the audience with a brief overview of local
history including the story behind the building in which the
meeting was held—the William Randolph Hearst Hacienda.
Designed by Julia Morgan in the 1920s for Hearst as part of
his massive central coast empire, the Hacienda was deeded
over to the federal government along with the rest of FHL at
the onset of World War II. Listed on the National Register
Historic Places in the 1970s, the building has been converted
into a restaurant/hotel complex, and the data sharing meeting
was held in the restaurant’s bar. We believe this marks the
first time ever that the SCA has actually held an official
symposium within a bar, although drinks were not available
until the close of the session. Despite this not insignificant
obstacle, the formal program began around 9:30 with a series
of papers focused on the archaeology and prehistory of the
local region—the central California coast. Nathan Stevens
(CRMS) began with an excellent summary of an important
Milling Stone component recently identified on the Santa
Ysabel Ranch in nearby Paso Robles. The lower levels of this
site produced handstones, large side-notched projectile
points, and an L2 Olivella rectangular bead along with a series
of radiocarbon dates between 8600 and 9100 cal. BP . While
some stratigraphic mixing with materials from later
occupations was apparent, the site provides excellent
confirmation for the age and character of Milling Stone
expressions in central California—corroborating views
expressed by Roberta Greenwood over 30 years ago at
Diablo Canyon.
Two presentations were then given on the results of
nearby testing projects - one by Terry Joslin (UCSB) and the
other by Jennifer Farqhuar and Tom Garlinghouse (Albion
Environmental). Ms. Joslin described findings from the coast
near Cambria where several middens revealed dense
concentrations of fire-affected rock. She provided a very
thorough discussion of the contents of the features and their
implications for local settlement and subsistence. Farqhuar
and Garlinghouse described findings from a testing program
at Camp Roberts, another military base situated about 15
miles south of FHL, where one Late Period midden
produced a vertebrate faunal assemblage dominated by
remains of small mammals. A production locus for large
bifacial tools identified at another site was also cautiously
attributed to the Late Period although this finding runs
counter to most characterizations of Late Period flaked stone
industries in the region.
Steven Bryne from Garcia and Associates gave an
excellent account of archaeological and historic sources
correlating archaeological sites CA-SLO-353 and –652 in
Price Canyon near Pismo Beach with the village of El
Buchón, a powerful Chumash leader who was mentioned
repeatedly by the earliest Spanish explorers in the region.
Wendy Nettles from Applied Earthworks reported the
results of monitoring and testing completed in downtown San
Luis Obispo over the last year. A large number of artifacts,
faunal remains, and features related to nineteenth century
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Chinese and other communities were identified during the
project. Monitoring and data recovery results from a project in
Seal Beach were then discussed by Andrew York from EDAW,
San Diego. Findings included a series of burials and
cremations dating between 4500 and 1500 Cal. BP, along with
an impressive array of utilitarian implements including bowl
mortars, beads, notched stones, and one extremely wellcrafted
phallic charmstone.
The noon hour brought one of the day’s first highlights, a
sumptuous BBQ put on by local Salinan, John and Doug
Alger, at Mission San Antonio. Many of those who had walked
from the Hacienda to the Mission for lunch were thankful that
vans were available for the return trip.
The afternoon program shifted to localities away from the
central coast, beginning first with a discussion of findings
from the Granddad site in the southern Sierra foothills, where
Drs. John Pryor and Roger La Jeunesse (CSU Fresno) have
initiated a long-term, field school research project. The site,
ranging in depth from approximately 20-130 cm, has
produced substantial tool assemblages representing virtually
the entire Holocene. Tom Burge from Sequoia-Kings Canyon
National Parks then gave an excellent slide presentation on
results from recent high-elevations surveys.
One of the session’s more theoretical presentations was
by Dustin McKenzie (UCSB) who considered the possible
implications of juvenile foraging on the California
archaeological record. He suggested that children’s activities
have not been fully accounted for in most optimal foraging
models and that they could complicate if not confuse
interpretations of economic intensification.
Among the other highlights of the afternoon were two
presentations on research projects in Baja California —one by
Mark Raab from CSU Northridge and the other by Matt Des
Lauriers from UC Riverside. Dr. Raab described initial
results from the Piedra Pintada project in the central Sierra of
the southern Cape region. The project is being developed
jointly with Mexican archaeologists, and while most previous
research in Baja has concentrated on the coastline, this longterm
study will focus on a rich record of rock art, midden
deposits, and shelters in an upland valley 20 km inland from
both the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean. So far, Raab has
managed to establish an excellent physical and logistical
infrastructure in this remote region and has completed initial
testing. Matt Des Lauriers described fascinating results from
several seasons of survey and testing on Cedros Island, 18 km
off the Pacific Coast coast in central Baja, about 400 miles
south of the US border. Findings from this remote island show
an exceptionally rich record including one site with no fewer
than 400 house depressions, and others with dense stratified
deposits rich in faunal materials and tools.
Local Salinan Greg Castro, Jose Freeman and Robert
Duckworth delivered a presentation in which they
challenged the findings from a recent Caltrans study that
defined central coast tribelet names and locations based
primarily on Mission records. The Salinan argued for
SCA Newsletter 38(4)