1999 02 18 HPCco" Q C
V
y OF TNt'
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
AGENDA
A Regular Meeting to be held in the Session Room at the
La Quinta City Hall, 78-495 Calle Tampico, La Quinta, California
February 18, 1999
3:30 P.M.
I. CALL TO ORDER
A. Pledge of Allegiance
B. Roll Call
13. PUBLIC COMMENT
This is the time set aside for citizens to address the Historic Preservation Commission on
matters relating to historic resources within the City of La Quinta which are not Agenda
items. When addressing the Historic Commission, please state your name and address and
when discussing matters pertaining to prehistoric sites, do not disclose the exact location of
the site(s) for their protection.
III. CONFIRMATION OF THE AGENDA
IV. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. Approval of the Minutes of January 20, 1999
V. BUSINESS ITEMS
A. Report on Archaeological Monitoring for the Extension of Avenue 48, between
Jefferson Street and Adams Street. AAG - James Brock and Brenda D. Smith
B. Annual Certified Local Government Report for 1998
VI. CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITTEN MATERIAL
VH. COMMISSIONER ITEMS
VHI. ADJOURNMENT
P:\CAROLYN\HPCAGENDA.wpd
MINUTES
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING
A regular meeting held at the La Quinta City Hall Session Room
78-495 Calle Tampico, La Quinta, CA
JANUARY 20, 1999
This meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was called to order by Vice -Chairman
DeMersman at 3:32 p.m. who led the flag salute and asked for the roll call.
I. CALL, TO ORDER
A. Present: Commissioners Irwin, Puente, Wright and Vice -Chairman
DeMersman.
B. Staff Present: Planning Manager Christine di Iorio, Associate Planner Leslie
Mouriquand and Secretary Carolyn Walker.
II. PUBLIC COMMENT: None
III. CONFIRMATION OF THE AGENDA: Staff requested that Business Item F be taken
after Item B as both reports were done by Dr.
Bruce Love. Also, the Item VI., Presentation,
be taken last.
IV. CONSENT CALENDAR:
A. It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Wright/Irwin to approve the Minutes
of December 17, 1998, as submitted. Unanimously approved.
V. BUSINESS ITEMS
t, -��i •i � i,-� �� i� ��. a �� � i- _ i� •. � ,
1. Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand presented the staff report, a copy of
which is on file in the Community Development Department.
2. Associate Planner Mouriquand advised the Commission that staff had
reviewed the Report and concurred with the results and conclusions
recommending monitoring of earth -disturbing activities as a condition of
approval attached to the grading permit.
PACAR0LYN\HPC1-20-99.wpd -I-
Historic Preservation Conunission Minutes
January 20, 1999
3. Associate Planner Mouriquand then introduced Project Archaeologist, Bruce
Love, Ph.D., who offered to answer any questions. He told the Commission
there were currently two full-time monitors on the project and they were
finding quite a few features; such as ashy areas, areas with burned rock, etc.
4. Associate Planner Mouriquand commented on the find of a potential
cremation made earlier in the month, including the media attention it received.
5. Commissioner Barbara Irwin asked about disposition of the human remains.
6. Dr. Love replied there was an agreement with the developer, elders from the
Torres -Martinez Indian Reservation, and Mr. Tony Andreas (Aqua Caliente
Consultant). The agreement was that the remains would be removed. A
100% retrieval of the cremation remains would be done by screening the sand.
The remains would be sent to UCLA to be identified according to gender, age
and if possible, number of individuals. The remains would then be returned
to him to be held until the final landscaping plans were made. Then the
representatives from Torres -Martinez and Sparks Construction and he would
agree on a place to re -inter them in the ground as close as possible to the
original location, but safe from future disturbance.
Commissioner Irwin complimented Dr. Love on the report. She compared it
to a report given at the last Commission meeting and the world of'difference
between the two. She was joined in her compliments by Vice Chairman
DeMersman who thanked Dr. Love.
8. Commissioner Robert Wright noted the approval process "flows" faster when
a report like this is submitted versus reports of lesser quality.
9. There being no further comments, it was moved and seconded by
Commissioners Puente/Wright to approve Minute Motion 99-0011 accepting
the report with a provision of on -going monitoring. Unanimously, approved.
Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand presented the staff report, a copy of
which is on file in the Community Development Department.
2. Associate Planner Mouriquand said nothing of significance had been found at
this site.
P9CAROLYN\1.[PC1-20-99.wpd -2-
003
Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
January 20, 1999
3. There being no further comments, it was moved and seconded by
Commissioners IrwirdWright to approve Minute Motion 99-002 accepting the
report. Unanimously approved.
InterimC. Cultural
.- Site, Highway I I I n. Adams Street,
l . Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand presented the staff report, a copy of
which is on file in the Community Development Department.
2. Associate Planner Mouriquand stated there were a number of subsurface
artifacts found and asked Dr. Love to comment on them.
3. Dr. Love told the Commission virtually the entire piece of property lies within
an archaeological site whose boundaries extend from the west of Adams
Street to the east of the property. Recorded on Page 10 (of the staff report)
are the locations of various concentrations of artifacts on the property.
Extensive testing was done and they came across one area which was
considered to be potentially significant. This area contained large pieces of
fired clay or partially -fired clay as shown on Page 7, Figures 3 and 4. Some
people have interpreted these as parts of old clay floors or as daub, clay that
had been packed into old granaries or structures of some kind, but the use of
this hardened, fired clay is still a question of debate for archaeologists. So this
was quite a find because of the large pieces found that were 3, 4, and 5 inches
across and 2 or 3 inches thick. An innovative approach was used in clearing
the area where the artifacts were located. The brooms, and the whisk brooms
previously used were just disturbing them too much. A leaf blower was used
and was more successful in exposing and mapping the artifacts. Sketch maps
were created of the area (on Page 15) showing more exposed pieces of these
clay items. What was eventually found out (as shown on Page 16) was these
were part of a fire pit. They were not part of a floor. None of them showed
any signs of having been pressed or formed or shaped when they were wet,
but instead they had been picked up from perhaps a lakebed or pond area as
raw clay, brought to the site and used the same way that the native peoples
used rocks in their firepits. In other words, as liners of the pit to keep the
pots up off the sand to allow the fire and the oxygen and the heat to pass
underneath the pots. This is the working hypothesis now as to what these
large chunks of clay were used for. None of them had any indication that they
had been pressed into stick structures or granaries; in other words there were
no impressions of sticks or anything else on the clay. The were examined and
various hypotheses of what this clay was used for was eliminated. The
working hypothesis now is that they were used as fire features. The same way
P:ICAROLYNU;[PC 1-20-99.wpd -3-
004
Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
January 20, 1999
as they used fire affected rocks to line their fire pits with. They are considered
a fairly significant find as far as CEQA criteria for significance is concerned.
That criteria is: if you have something that can answer a research question,
then it becomes significant or important, but at the same time you basically
destroyed the site while you are evaluating it. In other words, the site was
dismantled and taken apart. So, in a sense, all the information there is to be
gotten from it has been collected and therefore, you could say mitigation has
already been completed on that feature because there would be no more
feature left. So, the recommendation would be that even though these fire pit
features (and we found two of them side -by -side) do meet CEQA criteria for
importance, mitigation has already been performed on those by the retrieval
of the data. So, no further action needs to be taken other than monitoring,
during grading, as a final recommendation.
4. Commissioner Irwin asked if there was evidence of a mesquite burn.
5. Dr. Love answered there was one charcoal feature found in one of the
backhoe trenches. It appeared to be natural (shown in Figure 6 on Page 13).
It appeared to be an area where there had been a fire and possibly a rainstorm
had washed the charcoal down into a low area and then the rainwater swirled
around and settled into a little basin. There's no evidence there was cultural
materials with it; no pottery, no chip stone, and no rocks. It appeared to be
natural charcoal that had accumulated in the area.
6. Commissioner Irwin commented she was curious because on Adams near 48th
there was a midden site. There was also evidence of a mesquite burn off and
she had heard others say they felt the whole area was covered by mesquite.
She wondered about the relationship of this dig compared to the 48' and
Adams dig.
7. Dr. Love replied they were finding mesquite burns in the monitoring at
Rancho La Quinta. Some were found during the monitoring of the borrow
area. The difference was there were no artifacts associated with it and no fire
affected rock associated with it. It's just heated, or ashy soil and chunks of
charcoal.
8. Vice Chairman De Mersman asked if there were any other questions or
comments. There being none, the it was moved and seconded by
Commissioners Wright/Irwin to approve Minute Motion 99-003 accepting the
report with the condition that all earth -disturbing activities be monitored by
a qualified archaeological monitor and a final report be submitted prior to
issuance of any grading permits. Unanimously approved.
PACAROLYNU [PC I-20-99.wpd -4-
Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
January 20, 1999
:.. RT-01■. -
Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand presented the staff report, a copy of
which is on file in the Community Development Department.
Associate Planner Mouriquand stated this was a Phase I survey and
evaluation. This is a ten -acre parcel that had been included in an existing
subdivision archaeological survey previously brought before the Commission.
This ten -acre parcel was added to the project. It had not been previously
surveyed and the City now required it. This work was done by Dr. Paul Chace
with the Keith Companies, who found nothing. He looked at the mound
where a home had been previously bulldozed, and inspected all of that. All
of his archival research lead him to the conclusion that this was not a historic
house by the criteria that we use and he is not recommending any further
investigations or mitigation. The remaining area around it had the same
conclusions. The first report was done by Dr. Love and he didn't find
anything and his recommendation was the same. So, the two
recommendations and results coincide.
There being no further comments, it was moved and seconded by
Commissioners Irwin/Wright to approve Minute Motion 99-004 accepting the
report. Unanimously approved.
!1�i ILLS LJ�15!•J �STI.I!u1Z�^nMMIMIN-
_ .rqIT"
Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand presented the staff report;, a copy of
which is on file in the Community Development Department.
2. Associate Planner Mouriquand told the Commission this report was of a
Paleontological investigation for a City capital improvement project for the
Washington Street Bridge widening near Avenue 50. The consultant was
LSA. They did not find anything in the course of their field survey. Their
archival work did indicate what kinds of lakebed sediments that would
typically contain fossil resources are present. Staff has reviewed the
Assessment and had a comment not previously included in the report; the
piling and bridge supports that would be driven down in deep would definitely
be within the lakebed sediment areas and these ought to be monitored. Staff
is requesting that a condition be placed on this project for monitoring of those
piling excavation areas.
P:\CAROLYN\BPC 1-20-99.wpd -5-
Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
January 20, 1999
There being no further comments, it was moved and seconded by
Commissioners Puente/Wright to approve Minute Motion 99-005 accepting
the report with the condition that excavation for pilings and bridge supports
that reach into the lakebed sediments be monitored by a qualified
paleontologist and a report be submitted to this Commission prior to
completion of the project. Unanimously approved.
Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand presented the staff report, a copy of
which is on file in the Community Development Department.
2. Associate Planner Mouriquand said this was for the same project as Item E,
but this is the archaeological report that was submitted. Staff did review it.
There were no cultural resources identified during their survey. Staff does
have two comments as indicated on Page 2 of your staff report. First, and
foremost, the report was submitted in letter fashion and we don't accept them
in this format. Staff has been in communication with this consultant and they
are going to be revising it into the proper format. An additional comment that
their report needs to include is a discussion that the historic Lake Marshall, at
Marshall Road, which is now Washington Street, and a stratigraphic profile
be done on Washington Street much as was done on Old Avenue 52 and what
is being proposed for the Jefferson Street widening project as well.
Commissioner Puente had a question on recordation of Washington Street as
a historic roadway.
4. Planning Manager Christine di Iorio replied it was just a documentation of the
road. 52'a Avenue was actually re -located but Washington will remain as is,
so it's just documenting its history.
5. There being no further comments, it was moved and seconded by
Commissioners Puente/Irwin to approve Minute Motion 99-006 accepting the
report with the two conditions listed below. Unanimously approved.
a. All archaeology reports must follow the ARMR format. No letter
reports will be accepted.
b. Washington Street, formerly Marshall Road, should be recorded as a
historic roadway and a stratigraphic profile be done in the same
manner that the City required 52"" Avenue be recorded for the
Tradition Club project, and for Jefferson Street be recorded, for the
Jefferson Street widening project.
PACAROLYWIPC1-20-99.wpd -6- 1- . - Do-1
Historic Preservation Conunission Minutes
January 20, 1999
Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand presented the staff report, a copy of which is
on file in the Community Development Department.
6. Commissioner Maria Puente referred to the section on Lead Archaeological
Surveyor and asked who appointed this position.
Associate Planner Mouriquand stated the developer hires his or her own
archaeologist, or consulting firm, and then it is the responsibility of the
principal investigator, the lead archaeologist, to make sure he (or she) has a
qualified crew.
8. Commissioner Puente stated she was concerned about the developer hiring the
archaeologist and questioned if that removed their impartiality on the project.
She asked if the City could appoint a second archaeologist to monitor future
projects.
9. Planning Manager Christine di Iorio replied the policy has to be: discussed
with Council. Having our own list of archaeologists isn't something that
we've actually pursued, because we have a Commission certified by the State
Historic Preservation Office to assure these qualifications are met.
10. Vice Chairman DeMersman commented that the adoption of these
qualification guidelines would take care of some of the problems we've had
previously. He also said this spells out the sort of things a developer should
be looking for when he (or she) is going to be hiring a firm; who's going to
be the principal investigator and their responsibility in hiring the rest of the
people to make up their team. It sets it out what qualifications the City
requires.
11. Associate Planner Mouriquand gave the example of Riverside County's
system which was set up a few years ago because they perceived a problem
with objectivity between the developer and the consulting firm. The way they
chose to resolve it was to establish a third -party contract system whereby the
County contracted with an archaeologist or archaeology firm. The; developer
paid the bill, but the County made the selection and oversaw things in order
to separate the consultant from the developer. It became an arduous process.
It involved hiring a person just to manage the contracts and it became a very
burdensome thing to do. I don't think it is necessary, at this time, in our City.
PACAR0LYN\HPC1-20-99.wpd -7-
003
Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
January 20, 1999
12. Commissioner Wright commented it was the word "qualify" that was a
problem to define. There's certainly a lot of qualified archaeologists we've
worked with in the past.
13. Vice Chairman DeMersman pointed out these Guidelines were an important
step because it gives the developers something to look at and say this is what
you need to look for when you're hiring a firm.
14. Commissioner Irwin said she thought the developer would be helped by the
definition of what is expected.
16. Vice Chairman DeMersman asked if there were any other questions or
comments. There being none, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners
Irwin/Puente to approve Minute Motion 99-007 recommending to the City
Council the adoption of the document entitled "Cultural Resources
Guidelines, Appendix B: Cultural Resources Consultant Qualifications".
Unanimously approved
VI. CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITTEN MATERIAL
1. Associate Planner Mouriquand went over the Preservation Advocate News, as well
as another mailer, the Community Heritage Partner. Apparently it's a firm that goes
to communities to develop a customized program. She also commented on
Commissioner DeMersman's letter of resignation.
2. Planning Manager di Iorio discussed the action of the Planning Commission on
Tentative Tract 28964 that went to the Planning Commission and will be going to the
City Council on February 2. The Historic Preservation Commission recommended
Conditions of Approval were included for the Tract with some modifications. Those
being use of hand or mechanized excavation, subject to qualified archaeologists peer
review. Also, the consultant wanted the ability to continue defining the significant
areas as they do excavation that goes into a smaller area and that was something that
was considered and is subject to Community Development approval for the ability to
re -define those significant areas. So, everything else requested as Conditions of
Approval including the zoo -archaeologist, the definition of the Native American
boundaries, and excavation procedure were accepted by the applicant and
recommended to the Council by the Planning Commission.
VII. PRESENTATION
1. Christine di Iorio introduced the presentation of a commemorative plaque to outgoing
Vice Chairman DeMersman and thanked him for his help and expertise.
PACAR0LYNTPC1-20-99.wpd -8-
009
Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
January 20, 1999
2. Associate Planner Mouriquand read the Resolution to Vice Chairman after explaining
that a historical postcard had been scanned and enlarged on the top portion of his
framed document. The Resolution read:
Resolution of the Historic Preservation Commission
City of La Quinta, California
Commending James R. DeMersman for his three years of service as a
Historic Preservation Commissioner
WHEREAS James R DeMersman has served as a professional member of the
Historic Preservation Commission of the City of La Quinta, California, a
Certified Local Government per the State Historic Preservation Office since
his appointment in February 1996 by dedicating his time and devotion to
historic preservation and cultural resource management, and,
WHEREAS during Mr. DeMersman's term some of the major preservation
decisions of the Commission have included the rehabilitation and National
Register Assessment of the Hacienda del Gato and the preservation in place
of prehistoric archaeological site CA-RIV-1179 at the Tradition Club
development, the Catellus affordable housing subdivision, the seismic retrofit
and rehabilitation of the Fisher Building in La Quinta Village, the National
Register assessments of the La Quinta Hotel, Walter Morgan House, Cyrus
Pierce House, and La Sala, and the Phase III data recovery of two
archaeological sites determined to be potentially significant according to
National Register criteria within Tentative Tract Map 28964, and,
WHEREAS during Mr. DeMersman's term the major preservation planning
accomplishment of the Commission consisted of adopting the first citywide
historic resources survey, conducted in 1997, and supported by a grant
awarded by the Certified Local Government Program, and the President's
Award bestowed by the California Preservation Foundation for exceptional
service in preserving California's cultural and architectural heritage, anc4
WHEREAS Mr. DeMersman has honorably served the Commission by
presenting a Commission training session on house museums, serving as Vice
Chair of the Commission, serving as representative of the City oj'La Quinta
at the California Preservation Foundation Conference in 1996, and
participating in several preservation training workshops.
P:\CAROLYN\HPC 1-20-99.wpd -9-
010
Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
January 20, 1999
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Historic Preservation
Commission of the City of La Quinta, California, that James R DeMersman
sefessly assisted staff and citizens by sharing his expertise for the benefit for
the City of La Quinta, and that this Resolution shall be recorded as part of
the official minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission for this meeting.
PASSED, APPROVED, ADOPTED, at a regular meeting of the Commission
the 20' day of January, 1999.
3. Vice Chairman DeMersman thanked the Commission for the plaque and told
them it had been a real pleasure to be a part of this Commission and to work
with the Commission members and City staff. It's amazing what we've
accomplished in three years. Thank you for the pleasure of serving. It's been
a wonderful three years. Keep up the good work.
VII. COMMISSIONER ITEMS: None
III. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Irwin/Puente to
adjourn this meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission to the next scheduled meeting of the
Historical Preservation Commission. This meeting of the Historical Preservation Commission was
adjourned at 4:22 P.M. Unanimously approved.
Submitted by:
Carolyn,lValker
Secretary
P:\CAROLYN\HPC1-20-99.wpd -10-
Oi l
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
STAFF REPORT
DATE: FEBRUARY 18, 1999
ITEM: FINAL REPORT - ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONITORING FOR
EXTENSION OF AVENUE 48
LOCATION: AVENUE 48, BETWEEN JEFFERSON STREET AND ADAMS
STREET
CONSULTANT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL ADVISORY GROUP (JAMES BROCK
AND BRENDA D. SMITH)
BACKGROUND:
During the 1998 construction of Avenue 48, archaeological monitoring of rough
grading for the extension of Avenue 48, between Jefferson Street and Adams Street
was conducted by Archaeological Advisory Group. Three prehistoric archaeological
sites were partially impacted by the project: CA-RIV-4754 (the Burning Dune site), CA-
RIV-6060, and CA-RIV-6092. The monitoring mitigated the impacts to these
resources.
CA-RIV-6060 had previously been investigated in advance of this project with
significant findings (Brock, Smith, and Wake 1999). A cooking feature was the only
find unearthed during monitoring of this site.
Monitoring of sites CA-RIV-6060 and CA-RIV-6092 Resulted in the recovery of small
quantities of pottery and burned clay from disturbed areas of the sites surfaces.
Additionally, a human cremation interment was found at CA-RIV- 6060. An analysis
by a coroner's specialist of the remains determined they were of Native American
origin and subsequently reburied by Cahuilla descendants. Both of these sites were
studied in detail after the street widening project as part of the Village on the Green
residential project (Brock and Smith 1998).
All three of the prehistoric sites date to the Late Pre -contact period (post AD 900) and
appear to be associated with habitation around Ancient Lake Cahuilla.
A large deep trench was dug during the project along the eastern end of Avenue 48.
Monitoring of this trench resulted in the identification of sedimentary layers associated
with the ancient lakeshore.
C:hpc rpt 48"&adams final
DISCUSSION:
Staff has reviewed the report and concurs with the conclusion that the archaeological
monitoring conditions required for this project have been complied with.
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt Minute Motion 99-, accepting the final report on the Archaeological
Monitoring for the Extension of Avenue 48, Between Jefferson Street and Adams
Street.
Attachment:
1. Report on the Archaeological Monitoring for the Extension of Avenue 48,
Between Jefferson Street and Adams Street (Commissioners only)
Prepared by:
Gw� fb. 'SAAA
Stan B. Sawa, Principal Planner
Submitted by:
OL��
Christine di lorio, Planning Manager
C:hpc rpt 48`h&adams final ,_ 013
7`)
Report on Archaeological Monitoring
for the Extension of Avenue 48
Between Jefferson Street
and Adams Street,
La Quinta, California
Prepared for:
City of La Quinta
78-495 Calle Tampico
La Quinta, CA 92253
Prepared by:
James Brock and Brenda D. Smith
January 1999
USGS 7.5' Topographic Quadrangle: La Quinta, California
Length: I Linear Mile
Key Words: La Quinta, Archaeological Monitoring,
Sites CA-RIV-4754, CA-RIV-6060, CA-RIV-6092,
Cahuilla Indians, Ancient Lake Cahuilla
ARCHAEOLOGICAL ADVISORY GROUP
P.O. BOX 491, PIONEERTOWN, CA 92268-0491
Tel: (760) 228-1142 • Fax: (760) 369-4002
E-mail: archadvgrpCaol.com
014
Table of Contents
ManagementSummary ........................................................................
Introduction...........................................................................................
Setting ....................:.....................
....
..........................
............................
.
NaturalSetting ..........................................................................
CulturalSetting.........................................................................
ResearchDesign...................................................................................
Methods..................................................................................................
Findings..................................................................................................
Fieldwork Details and General Findings .............................
Analysis of Recovered Material .............................................
Discussion/Interpretation..................................................................
Management Considerations.............................................................,
SiteEvaluation.........................................................................
Recommendations...................................................................
ReferencesCited..................................................................................
Appendix 1: Personnel Qualifications ..............................................
Appendix 2: Radiocarbon Dating from Feature 1, CA-RIV-6060
Appendix 3: Geotechnical Investigation of Sewer Line Trench
(Harry M. Quinn)....................................................................
List of Figures
Page
..................................... 1
...................................... 1
............................... I....... 4
..............................11....... 4
................................ I..... 5
...................................... 9
...................................... 11
...................................... 12
...................................... 12
...................................... 13
...................................... 19
...................................... 21
...................................... 21
...................................... 22
...................................... 22
....................................... 25
............................... I........ 26
`-1
Figure 1.
General location of the study area...........................................................................
2
Figure 2.
Location of the study area.........................................................................................
3
14
Figure3.
Site plan of CA-RIV-6060.........................................................................................
15
Figure4.
Site plan of CA-RIV-6092.........................................................................................
16
Figure 5.
Site plan of CA-RIV-4754.........................................................................................
17
Figure 6.
Plan of Feature 3 at CA-RIV-4754..........................................................................
Figure 7.
Plan of Feature 1 at CA-RIV-6060..........................................................................
18
015
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
This report presents the results of archaeological monitoring of rough grading for
the Avenue 48 Extension/Adams Street Widening project in the City of La Quinta,
California. Three prehistoric archaeological sites were partially impacted by the
project: CA-RIV4754 (the Burning Dune site), CA-RIV-6060, and CA-RIV-
6092. The monitoring described here helped to mitigate the impacts to these
resources.
CA-RIV4754 had been previously investigated in advance of the project with
significant findings (Brock, Smith, and Wake 1999). A cooking feature was the
only find unearthed during monitoring of the site. Monitoring of sites CA-RIV-
6060 and CA-RIV-6092 resulted in the recovery of small quantities of pottery and
burned clay from disturbed areas of the sites' surfaces. A human cremation
interment was found at CA-RIV-6060. The remains were analyzed by a coroner's
specialist and subsequently reburied by Cahuilla descendants. Both CA-RIV-6060
and CA-RIV-6092 were studied in greater detail after the Avenue 48 project was
completed as part of the proposed Village on the Green project (Brock and Smith
1998).
All three of the prehistoric sites date to the Late Pre -Contact period (post AD 900)
and appear to be associated with habitation around Ancient Lake Cahuilla.
A large, deep sewer trench was dug during the project along the eastern end of
Avenue 48. Monitoring of this trench resulted in the identification of sedimentary
layers associated with the ancient lakeshore.
INTRODUCTION
This report presents the findings of archaeological monitoring during rough grading for road
construction in La Quinta, California. The project entailed the grading and paving of Avenue 48
between Jefferson Street and Adams Street, as well as the widening of the east side of Adams
Street north of Avenue 48 and the improvement of the intersection of Avenue 48 and Jefferson
Street (Figures 1 and 2).
WO N lJ M E T
i ♦ A7�\ _"t.-•..-� � CFI' �J WILD ERNE
to
3 T Ra wR ' Mrvfe �PlJaKf... U 7, C 7
CeMNerY 0 s nil Pal
I I _Is)D
\ 4.- --- Ranch
1'
i` III FR.ac - Myo
g — _ 8...
f j Berm a Dune
\' F 68 `
i ncho Mi'396
IIVI'.�
Yee? 1 —Iis i - - r-- -- - .-`-
ieaei4 �"iu i�, c eE3o .
fP STUDY AREA
It
caftilla Hills
NouNulN ach Ila t
if I La Qui id Esla ul \`
Ran UG TiIR \, r Them
t (( ltit�rl �� •YYIE i P�/m0inl 1 W 1`. TOPfl S. SIH 1
IAN ES
1 L /
ater!e TQRRES AHTIN ARTINE
NDIAN
O �RF ESERVN
0 MILES 10 -.
0 KILOMETERS 15 RED \ RTINE
,,.)IAJf RE RVATI(
Figure 1. General location of the study area plotted on a portion of the USGS Western
United Stales Series 1:250,000 Santa Ana, California map (1959, revised 1979).
2 01
Figur- Location of the study area plotted on a portion of the USGS 7.5' La Quinta,
CaGt _ as topographic-nadrangle (1959, photorevised 1980).
3 0 ts.
The study comprised fieldwork consisting of grading monitoring along with activity associated
with the data recovery excavation of one feature at CA-RIV-4754 (Feature 3) and one feature at
CA-RIV-6060 (Feature 1). Mapping, drawing, and sampling of deposits were also undertaken.
The detailed analysis of this recovered information is presented herewith. The project was
conducted by Archaeological Advisory Group for the City of La Quinta. The City of La Quinta
was the project sponsor and lead agency. James E. Simon Company was the prime contractor.
This study was undertaken in accordance with the cultural resource requirements of the City of La
Quinta. These are intended to fulfill those aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act of
1970 (as amended) which pertain to the management of cultural resources that may be impacted
by development projects sponsored by state or local government agencies, or by private
developments requiring a discretionary permit or license.
This report was prepared in accordance with the recommended contents and format described in
the State's Preservation Planning Bulletin Number 4(a) (California Department of Parks and
Recreation 1989).
The Principal Investigator for this study was James Brock. The field crew consisted of Mr.
Brock, Brenda D. Smith, and James H. Toenjes. Laboratory work was conducted by Brenda D.
Smith. The qualifications of these individuals are given in Appendix 1.
Field notes and other material pertaining to this study are on file with Archaeological .Advisory
Group (AAG Job No. 970813). Curation of the artifacts/ecofacts collected during this study will
be the responsibility of the City of La Quinta.
SETTING
NATURAL SETTING
The segment of Avenue 48 and Adams and Jefferson Streets that comprises the study area is
located in the City of La Quinta, in the Coachella Valley area of Riverside County,, California
(Figure 1). The study area follows along Avenue 48 and Adams and Jefferson Streets where they
form the boundaries of the southern half of Section 29 of Township 5 South, Range 7 East,
SBBM. This property is located on the USGS 7.5' La Quinta, California topographic quadrangle
(Figure 2).
The topography of the study area comprises large aeolian sand dunes. Soil typically comprises
loose gray -tan silty sand.
The elevation of the project area ranges from approximately 40 to 80 feet msl. The nearest
natural water source is the Whitewater River drainage which, now channelized, flows west to east
approximately three-quarters of a mile north of the project area.
4 0iOf-.
The study area would have been slightly higher than the northwestern shoreline of Ancient Lake
Cahuilla (the Salton Sea is the vestige of this lake) during its last high stand. Highstand of this
freshwater lake is estimated to have been about 42 feet msl (12.8 meters). Its last stand is
believed to have occurred during the 1600s.
Native vegetation on the study area consisted of a Creosote Scrub community, containing
creosotes (Larrea tridentata), mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), burrobush (Ambrosia dumosa)
and other stickery scrubs (including Dicoria canescens and non-native Schismus barbatus).
Animal species typically encountered in the area include cottontail, jackrabbit, pack rat, pocket
mouse, coyote, scorpion, Western Shovel -nosed Snake, Sidewinder, Desert Iguana, Side -blotched
Lizard, Loggerhead Shrike, Mourning Dove, Say's Pheobe, Gambel's Quail, Common Raven,
Anna's Hummingbird, Red-tailed Hawk, Lesser Nighthawk, and American Kestrel. Inhabitants of
the area prior to modern times would also have encountered large mammals such as Mountain
Lion and Big Horn Sheep.
The project area falls within the Lower Sonoran Life Zone, as does approximately 60% of
Cahuilla territory (Bean and Saubel 1972:12). This zone extends from the desert floor to the
pinyon juniper belt (about 3,500 feet). The Coachella Valley, due to it placement on the eastern
side of the Peninsular ranges, is blocked from receiving moisture moving eastward from the
Pacific. This blockade results in low rainfall of generally less than 5 inches of precipitation
annually. Not only does this region have little rainfall, but it is also one of the hottest deserts on
the continent, having a mean maximum temperature in July that easily exceeds 100' (Bailey
1966:42).
CULTURAL SETTING
While the regional ethnography of the study area is fairly well accounted for, its precontact
history is poorly understood. Archaeologists have struggled for years to put together
comprehensive chronologies for what is referred to as the Prehistoric Period (time preceding
contact with Europeans) of Native American history. The sequence of prehistoric habitation
presented here is based primarily on the concordance of sequences presented by Warren (1984)
and Warren and Crabtree (1986). Warren's timeframe divisions were based on technological
changes in lithic use (i.e. millingstones and projectile points). His model was originally devised
for the Mojave desert region, but because of basic technological similarities in southern California
Indian cultures it is also applicable to the Colorado desert peoples.
Lake Mojave Period
This period probably represents the earliest phase of human occupation in southern California. It
began by at least 10,000 BC and lasted until around 5000 BC. This period is characterized by
hunting of larger games animals using spears and articulated spear -throwing devices termed
"atlatls." Spear points of this period initially were quite large, lanceolate in shape, and were
oftentimes fluted, having a longitudinal groove along the central portion of the body for
attachment to a spear. Other projectile points such as Lake Mojave, Parman, and Silver Lake
5 020
points, were somewhat smaller (though still large in comparison to later arrow points) and foliate
in shape. Crescents, specialized scrapers, leaf -shaped knives, drills, and some
choppers/hammerstones are other tools which have been identified with this period. Millingstones
typically are not present. The artifact assemblage of this period is indicative of a generalized
hunting and gathering subsistence economy.
Archaeological sites from early on in this period were generally associated with Pleistocene lake
shorelines. As the Altithermal (a warmer and drier climatic period that lasted from 6000 BC to
900B.C.) set in, sites began to concentrate around desert oases, away from receding lakes that
were becoming too brackish for consumption. This movement likely spawned the technological
change that would lead to the Pinto Basin complex.
Pinto Period
The Pinto Period dates from around 5000 to 2000 BC, corresponding roughly to the Millingstone
Horizon in the coastal areas of California. Although desert and coastal peoples shared cultural
traits during this period, desert peoples probably did not have the same dependence on
millingstones as coastal peoples. Seed grinding does not appear to be an important economic
activity yet to the peoples of this period, but the presence of flat slab and occasionally shallow -
basin metates along with matins, indicates growing importance that plant seed resources were
beginning to have. Presumably these peoples were still maintaining a large and small game
hunting and vegetal gathering economy during this period. Pinto points, as defined by Campbell
and Campbell (1935), are the distinctive lithics of this period. These are usually found in
association with heavy -keeled scrapers, and millingstones.
Pinto Basin complex sites are generally found in association with ephemeral lakes, stream
channels, and springs, which to some suggests a break in the Altithermal warming. Presumably
there was a reoccupation of lakeshore areas around 4500 BC and then a retreat back to desert
oases by 3500 BC. This time period is known as the Little Pluvial.
Gypsum Period
The Gypsum Period is believed to date from around 2000 BC to about AD 500. Again, primary
artifacts indicative of this period are projectile points of various types, including Gypsum Cave,
Humbolt series, and Elko series points. The early Gypsum period is characterized by larger
projectile points when use of the dart and atlatl were still common. Later, with the introduction
of the bow and arrow, smaller points become prominent. Manos and metates become more
common, and the mortar and pestle come into use --indicating a developing reliance upon fleshier
seed foods such as mesquite pods and acorns. Presence of Haliotis and Olivella shell beads in
sites of this period provide the earliest evidence for contact between desert and coastal peoples.
Saratoga Springs Period
The Saratoga Springs period lasts from about AD 500 to 1200. During this period the southern
desert region, in which the Coachella Valley lies, deviates from the rest of the desert region due to
6 1 021
heavy cultural influence by the Hakataya, a lower Colorado River group. The Hakataya influence
brings drastic technological change to the peoples of this region. Buffware and Brownware
pottery, made using the paddle and anvil technique are introduced and reliance on the bow and
arrow increases which leads to a new projectile point type called Cottonwood Triangular.
Millingstones, including manos, metates, pestles, and mortars are present in this time period.
Late Pre -Contact Period
The Late Pre -Contact Period spans from A.D. 1200 to contact with Europeans. It is
characterized mostly by continuing regional development, which causes groups to differentiate
technologically, ethnographically, and linguistically. In the Coachella Valley region, Hakataya
influence continues, with Colorado Buffware and Tizon Brownware still present. Desert Side -
notched points have become the dominant point type.
Proto-Historic Period
Desert Cahuilla have inhabited the Coachella Valley region for at least the last 1000 years. They
are a Takic speaking people who are more closely culturally tied with coastal and Colorado River
groups than with most other Mojave desert peoples. First known contact with the Cahuilla by a
European was during the Juan Bautista de Anza expedition in 1774-1776. They were largely
ignored by the Spanish until the establishment of the Asistencias San Ant6nio de Pala (1816),
Santa Ysabel (1818), and San Bernardino (1830). Through these mission outposts the Spanish
managed to indirectly influence Cahuilla religious beliefs and culture. During the Mexican
occupation of California, the Cahuilla were largely left alone by intruders. It was not until 1853
when the Southern Pacific Railroad began surveying the Coachella Valley for a possible railroad
route that the Cahuilla were again bothered. By this point the lands inhabited by the Cahuilla had
become desired by Americans. In response to this, President Ulysses S. Grant began allotting
Cahuilla lands in 1875 to give to American settlers. It was during this period when the removal of
the Cahuilla to government reservations began. Ten reservations were created that affected the
Cahuilla; of these four are in the Coachella Valley.
Ethnography
Many studies of Cahuilla culture have been conducted over the years. Among the most
informative accounts are Bean (1972, 1978), Strong (1929), Hooper (1920), and Kroeber (1908).
Four excellent ethnobiological studies also exist (Ebeling 1986, Barrows 1900, Kroeber 1925, and
Bean and Saubel 1972), as well as archaeological accounts of prehistoric Cahuilla adaptations to
the desiccation of ancient Lake Cahuilla (e.g. Wilke 1978).
The Cahuilla are divided by anthropologists into three subgroups, the Desert Cahuilla of the
Coachella Valley, the Pass Cahuilla of the San Gorgonio pass area, and the Mountain Cahuilla of
the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains. These divisions were based on geographic separation
and dialect differences, but they were not necessarily recognized by the Cahuilla themselves.
Actually, the Cahuilla did not consider themselves to be of one tribe as western anthropologists
have designated them to be. Bean (1972:85) reported that "the maximal level of social
7 022
identification among the Cahuilla was the ?ivi?1yu?a1um, a linguistically and culturally defined
group ... [which] refers to persons speaking the Cahuilla language and recognizing a commonly
shared cultural heritage ... [but] a more precise membership criterion existed at the next level of
group identity." A person's inclusion in his or her moiety and lineage (or clan) was primary to any
tribal affiliation.
The two moieties, or main divisions, of the Cahuilla were the Istam (coyote) and the Tuktum (wild
cat). Moieties were patrilinear and exogamous, meaning that lineage was followed through the
father and that members of one moiety had to marry into the other. Clans were numerous and
were named after or associated with the villages they comprised. Individual clans claimed
ownership over their village and the territories in which they hunted, gathered, and camped.
Territories could be several square miles in extent and were only for the use of a specific lineage.
Mesquite grove boundaries, for instance, were drawn to include specific trees. Everyone knew
who those trees belong to so that if someone from another lineage was found trespassing, a fight
could ensue. But in times of need, areas were shared with other clans. This allowance occurred
regularly with mesquite because these groves do not produce bountiful crops each year. In the
case of crop failure, a neighboring clan would invite the misfortunate person into their territory to
gather.
Historical Background
Some homesteaders were present in La Quinta as early as late 'last century, however the real
origins of modem La Quinta rest with the opening of the La Quinta Hotel in 1926 (Cooper
1976:40). This was a hotel and winter resort with a golf course. It was developed on part of
1400 acres owned by the Desert Development Company (Gunther 1984:286).
Record Searches and Archaeological Background Information
Three separate Phase I surveys were conducted for this project prior to monitoring: (1) a survey
for the extension of Avenue 48 between Jefferson Street and the Emergency Evacuation Channel
(Brock 1997a), (2) a survey for the widening of Adams Street north of Avenue 48 (Brock
1997b), and (3) a survey for a stockpile site north of Avenue 48 between Jefferson Street and the
Emergency Evacuation Channel (Brock 1997c). Record searches were conducted for the first
two surveys through the Eastern Information Center of the California Historical Resources
Information System (CHRIS) at UC Riverside. The records search for the first survey (Avenue
48) was used for the stockpile site study.
The record searches indicated that the project area was in a vicinity of high archaeological
sensitivity. Forty one sites had been previously recorded within a one-half mile radius of the
project area. Of these, 22 were prehistoric habitation sites of varying sizes, typically containing
pottery, chipped and ground stone, bone, charcoal, and thermally -affected rock. Of the other 19
sites, 9 relate to 20`" century activity (homesteads, roads, dumps), 3 are prehistoric pottery
scatters associated with historic refuse, one is a prehistoric pottery scatter, and 6 are classified as
"pending."
8 023
Two sites noted during the records search extended within the area of potential impact for the
road project: CA-RIV-4754 and CA-RIV-5765. CA-RIV4754 was evaluated as potentially
significant and subjected to a Phase III Data Recovery Program prior to initiation of the road
project; the results were significant and substantial (see Brock, Smith, and Wake 1999). CA-
RIV-5765 barely extended into the right-of-way and was not impacted to any significant extent by
the project. The only new resources recorded during the three Phase I surveys for the project
consisted of three isolates (two buffware sherds and a glass fragment) found during the Avenue
48 Extension survey (Brock 1977a).
It should be noted that two of the sites investigated during the monitoring had not been recorded
at the time of the record searches: CA-RIV-6060 and CA-RIV-6092. CA-RIV-6060 was
recorded during the survey phase for the Catellus Project (Demcek 1997) and CA-RIV-6092 was
discovered during the monitoring.
RESEARCH DESIGN
INTRODUCTION
A research design is a guide document to organize research and interpret findings. It provides a
structure from which the evaluation of significance can be made. A research design is usually
regional in scope and based on some type of statistically -based sampling program (see
Binford 1964). A research design generally has the following elements: (1) a theoretical
orientation, (2) research areas, or domains, under which come (3) specific research hypotheses
or questions which have (4) test implications for interpretation of field data.
THEORETICAL ORIENTATION
The theoretical orientation which structures this research design is cultural materialism. Cultural
materialism assumes that decision making by people and groups is based upon economic
considerations. It assumes that behavior, at least in the long term, is rational and therefore
adaptive. It recognizes that people and groups have not and do not always behave in a rational
manner but from the relatively gross temporal perspective of archaeology, such behavior is not
statistically significant.
RESEARCH DOMAINS
The research domains, or topics, which will be considered are chronology, subsistence practices,
settlement systems, and exchange systems. Discussions of these domains are provided below.
Chronology
Chronology is the backbone of archaeology. Establishing the sequence of cultural change
through time is a fundamental concern in archaeology. Unless a site can be placed in a
temporal context, its ability to address the evolution of a cultural system is seriously limited.
9 024
Fortunately, datable material (e.g. charcoal) is relatively abundant on sites in the La Quinta area.
Abundant Late Period sites are present in the La Quinta area. A major concern in La Quinta
archaeology is establishing changes in Late Period settlement and subsistence patterns in
relation to the changes in the water level of ancient Lake Cahuilla. Also, earlier sites are rare.
Any data helping to establish an Archaic Period chronology for the area is extremely valuable.
■ Does the site contain sufficient material for absolute or relative dating?
Test implications: presence of carbon in sufficient quantity to provide absolute dates, presence
of temporally -sensitive artifact types.
• Is there any evidence for an Archaic Period use of the site?
Test implications: absolute (e.g. carbon) date of pre -AD 900 or presence of artifacts (e.g.
projectile points, beads) dated to pre -AD 900.
• Can the site be tied in to one or more of the postulated stands of ancient Lake Cahuilla (see
e.g. Waters 1983)?
Test implication: absolute date(s) that corresponds to a postulated stand of Lake Cahuilla.
■ Is there any evidence for a post -Lake Cahuilla use of the site?
Test implication: absolute or relative date of post -AD 1650, presence of historical artifacts.
Subsistence Practices
The presence of faunal remains, floral remains, and artifacts associated with food extraction and
processing can provide valuable information on the subsistence practices of precontact Native
Americans. Midden deposits can provide a good range of evidence for exploitation of faunal
resources. Also, carbonized seeds from sites could provide evidence of early agricultural
activities, which are suspected to have occurred in the region but, as yet, lack archaeological
evidence. Reconstruction of ceramic vessel forms and the types of ground stone implements
present could provide information on the types of resources being exploited by the site's
inhabitants.
■ Is there evidence of a change in subsistence strategies at the site, particularly ones relating to
the desiccation of Lake Cahuilla?
Test implication: change in frequencies of particular faunal or floral species in stratigraphically
discrete contexts dating to the last stand and later periods.
■ Is there evidence of agriculture? If so, does it relate to changing subsistence practices forced
by the desiccation of Lake Cahuilla?
10 025
■ Is there evidence of what, if any, subsistence activity(ies) was being engaged in at the site?
Settlement Systems
Information on settlement patterns should be present in the information from the site. Data
may present evidence of changing settlement patterns with the different lacustral episodes of Lake
Cahuilla and those caused by the final desiccation of the lake.
• Does the site indicate settlement associated with the exploitation of Lake Cahuilla resources?
■ Can settlement location be related to a particular stand of ancient Lake Cahuilla?
• Is there evidence of a change in settlement patterns pertaining to the desiccation of Lake
Cahuilla?
■ Was shoreline occupation at Lake Cahuilla primarily seasonal or year round (Wilke 1978:14)?
Exchange Systems
Patterns of exchange should be evidenced in artifactual material from the site. Such things as
lithic types, ceramics, and beads present could indicate trade relations with other groups (e.g.
Colorado River or coastal California). The following research questions have been developed to
address this domain:
Are exotic resources present at the site? Do these represent direct procurement or
exchange mechanisms?
■ Is there evolution through time in the types or quantities of non -local resources
present?
■ Is the local catchment area sufficiently diverse in natural resources to discourage trade
relations?
• Is there evidence of the exchange of technologies or ideas, rather than material
objects?
METHODS
FIELDWORK TECHNIQUES
Standard archaeological monitoring techniques were utilized during the project. Daily field logs
were kept by the monitors. On two occasions data recovery excavation was necessary: (1) the
investigation of Feature 3 at CA-RIV4754 and (2) the investigation of Feature 1 at CA-RIV-
6060. Both features were dug in bulk using standard excavation techniques. Soil was excavated
by hand and was screened using 1/8b-inch mesh shaker screens. Both features were and
11 026
photographed and drawn. Surface collection was done by Brunton with 50 meter hand tape or
pacing used for distance measurement.
In accordance with State Historic Preservation Office guidelines, all cultural materials, structures,
features, and objects over 45 years in age were considered for potential cultural resource value.
LABORATORY TECHNIQUES
General
Laboratory work consisted of the cleaning, sorting, cataloging, and analysis of the recovered
specimens. A computer database program was utilized for the artifact/ecofact catalog.
Specimens from the site are numbered with the California State trinomial and a catalog number.
Catalog numbers are five digits. The first two numbers denote the material/analysis category: CA
(carbon), CE (ceramics), CL (clay), CS (chipped stone), FA (faunal). The specimens recovered
have been cataloged into the primary catalogs prepared for the sites (i.e., Brock, Smith, and
Wake 1999; Brock and Smith 1998).
FINDINGS
FIELDWORK DETAILS AND GENERAL FINDINGS
Monitoring of grading and trenching for the project was conducted on the following days in 1997:
8/8, 8/11, 8/12, 8/13, 8/14, 8/15, 8/18, 8/19, 8/20, 8/21, 8/22, 8/25, 8/26, 8/27, 8/28, 8/29, and
9/2. The monitoring was primarily conducted by Brenda Smith and James Toenjes, with Mr.
Brock also assisting. Mr. Brock attended project meetings at City Hall on 7/30 and 8/7, 1997.
On August 11, 1997 Ms. Smith noted a surface artifact scatter and a bum area containing large
mammalian bone. The area was immediately roped off from construction activities and Mr. Brock
was notified of the findings. Mr. Brock came to the site on August 12 and determined that there
was a high probability that the bum area was a human cremation. The proper authorities were
subsequently notified. On the morning of August 13, 1997, Paul Trujillo, the Supervising Deputy
Coroner, and Deborah Gray, a forensic anthropologist, visited the site and confirmed that a
human cremation was indeed found. The cremation was excavated in the presence of Mr. Trujillo
and Ms. Gray and the remains were retained by the coroner for analysis. Following analysis, all of
the remains were reburied by Cahuilla descendents. The cremation was designated as Feature I
of CA-RIV-6060.
During monitoring of construction work along Adams Street on August 14, 1997, a possible
cooking feature was unearthed. This feature was fully excavated the next morning and consisted
of one large slab metate, fire -affected rock, charcoal, and deposits of highly decomposed fish,
reptile, and small mammal bone. This feature was designated as Feature 3 of site CA-RIV-4754.
12 037
On August 21, 1997 a geological investigation was made on the large sewer trench that was dug
along the eastern end of Avenue 48. This investigation resulted in the identification of
sedimentary layers associated with the ancient lakeshore (Appendix 3).
Surface Collection
The majority of artifactual materials from CA-RIV-6060 and CA-RIV-6092 came from the
surface collection conducted during monitoring in areas directly affected by construction
activities. The provenience of the surface materials are indicated in Figures 3 and 4.
Feature Descriptions
Feature 3 of CA-RIV4754 was discovered during monitoring at the site. The feature is located
in between the two defined loci for the site (Figure 5), at a depth of 2 meters below ground
surface. One complete shallow metate and a sherd of brownware were recovered, along with
small quantities of fish, reptile, and small mammal bone. All of the rock associated with the
feature were granitic and thermally -affected. Presumably the feature functioned as a type of stone
cooking hearth. The plan of the feature is shown in Figure 6.
Feature 1 of CA-RIV-6060 was a human cremation interment identified during monitoring. A
portion of the top layer of the cremation, measuring approximately 15 centimeters, was displaced
by heavy equipment. The majority of the cremation remained intact and was excavated as a
feature (Figure 7). The cremation pit was 20 centimeters deep and contained dense charcoal with
larger bone fragments in the middle layer and dense charcoal in ashy sand with small bone
fragments in the bottom layer of the pit. The sides of the pit were slightly fire -reddened. The
recovered faunal material was immediately turned over to the Riverside County Coroner's Office.
Analysis of the remains concluded that cranial fragments and a cervical vertebra fragment
consistent with Homo were present (Gray 1998). All remains recovered from excavation have
been reburied along with remains from the Eagle Hardware project.
ANALYSIS OF RECOVERED MATERIAL
C4-RIV-4754
The only artifacts collected during monitoring of CA-RIV-4754 were a metate and a brownware
sherd that came from Feature 3. The complete metate is a shallow -basin granite specimen that
measures 41 x 28 x 8.3 centimeters and weighs 14968.8 grams. A black staining around the
grinding surface may indicate that the artifact originally had a basket hopper attached.
Retrievable fragments of the heavily decomposing fish, reptile, and small mammal bone were
collected during excavation of Feature 3 and analyzed by a faunal specialist. Thermally -affected
rock and charcoal flecking were not collected. Collection of these items was deemed unnecessary
as notation of their presence and mapping of their locations was determined to be sufficient.
13 028
I
CA=RIV=6060
i
I
0 Meters 30 ��v Edge of I
Oe1 30 R of W
0 Feet 100.Unit 1� i 1 'N
Est. Extent 1 27
Of Site 2.1 o X29
Unit 41Feature 2 *25 036
28e\a 33o035
\ Unit 2-9
\ erFeature 1
so
2X0' 60e 5,
e3 4® f
1422 �0 x g
Ise 20 21 54e C
e 9 13p o_U 73 A
117O 1� A0 *3>
5' \0.11 —
S501W50 1d n8 D
Key:
a 1 Shard
O 1 Clay Fragment x - Thermally Affected Rock
O 2.4 Sherds .
O 2.4 Clay Fragments g - Ground Stone
® 610 Sherds
Q tl10 Clay Fragments f - Faunal Remains
®
11+Sherds
O 11+Clay Fragments
Datum
A
Pole 9649
1
i
1
I
I
I
i
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
m
Figure 3. Site plan of CA-RIV-6060. Specimens collected during monitoring are indicated by letters.
029
14
Datum i
(Util. Pole
a 96493) '
+SSOAN150
l
.6
S50WI00 SSOMM
Trench
SMW12b�
Key:
• Ceramic sherd
x Ground stone fragment
O 1.10 Clay fragments
O 11-20 Clay fragments
0 2130 Clay fragments
Trench
SMW S
/ oil
c °I
•O rUndI
■
i
Q 67080 60L
10,
00 e� O Ott
Qtt
130
OE 0 O
Eat extent '
of site
1 �
I
Note: % Avenue 48
Surface collection C
numbersnetters are CA-RIV-6092
shown, not catalog (LAQ5)
numbers. — — — — — — — — —
Figure 4. Site plan of CA-RIV-6092. Specimens collected during monitoring are indicated by letters.
030
15
Q
16
03.1
mcat
CA-RIV-4754
Feature 3
Plan View
11
nur«Isw+ uwu.ur.naw
+ O +
Figure 6. Plan of Feature 3 at CA-RIV-4754.
CA-RIV-6060
Sixteen ceramic sherds were collected from the surface within the vicinity of Feature 1. All of the
pieces are body sherds, five of which are buffwares and eleven are brownwares. Ten of the sherds
are burnt.
A sample of eighteen pieces of fired, tabular clay fragments were also recovered from the vicinity
of Feature 1. Only a sample was taken due to the large amount of pieces scattered around the
surface. A full surface collection was subsequently conducted for the area during the test phase
for the Catellus project (Brock and Smith 1998).
Likewise, a sample of the thermally -affected rock was collected, although this was the result of
the removal of other specimens by equipment before construction activities could be halted and
was not a decision on the part of the archaeologist. The sample collected consists of five pieces,
weighing 348.3 grams. During excavation of Feature 1, ten additional pieces (174.1 g) of
thermally -affected rock were collected.
17
032
A
1-
Well-defined pit with
dense charcoal and
bone fragmerts
A
PLAN
i t
Burned etay 1
— fmgmenfs
D
o (
Disturbed
I
� II
� I
Burned day
fragments I
40
Extent of charcoal and
Crone fragments after
clearing
CA-RIV-6060
Feature 1
Cremation
Coroner's Ref. No. 9714179
0 20 cros.
T N
1
i I fg
1 / (
Concentration of material
Extent of deposit (charcoal and bone
fragments) as originally located on
/ ground surface
+
SECTION
B
Figure 7. Plan of Feature 1 at CA-RIV-6060.
M
033
Two groundstone fragments were collected from the vicinity of Feature 1.
Two non -human bone specimens were collected from CA-RIV-6060 during the monitoring phase.
One of the pieces came from Locus C and is an unidentified mammalian long bone fragment. The
other specimen was a vertebra from an unidentified fish species.
A human cremation interment was recovered from this site during monitoring. A portion of the
top layer of the cremation, measuring approximately 15 centimeters, was displaced by heavy
equipment. The majority of the cremation remained intact and was excavated as Feature 1. The
cremation pit was 20 centimeters deep and contained dense charcoal with larger bone fragments
in the middle layer and dense charcoal in ashy sand with small bone fragments in the bottom layer
of the pit. The sides of the pit were slightly fire -reddened. The recovered faunal material was
immediately turned over to the Riverside County Coroner's Office. Analysis of the remains
concluded that cranial fragments and a cervical vertebra fragment consistent with Homo were
present (Gray 1998). All remains recovered from excavation have been reburied along with
remains from the Eagle Hardware project.
One radiocarbon age determination has been provided by Beta Analytic from charcoal samples
taken from Feature 1 (Beta-112309, 350 +/- 301313). The calibrated results (2 sigma, 95%
probability) are AD 1450 to 1645. This date range corresponds with a final highstand of Ancient
Lake Cahuilla.
CA-RIV-6092
Twelve brownware sherds were recovered from the surface of CA-RIV-6092 during monitoring.
Six of these are burnt. One sherd from this site had been previously collected and identified as
Isolate 433-7897 (Brock 1997a).
Additionally, forty-five pieces of fired, tabular clay were collected during the monitoring phase.
D I SCUSSI ONANTERPRETATION
A data recovery excavation of CA-RIV4754, known as the Burning Dune site, was done prior to
the monitoring phase for the current project. The excavation yielded much important data
regarding Cahuilla use of the region, particularly in terms of subsistence shifts brought on by the
desiccation of Ancient Lake Cahuilla (Brock, Smith, and Wake 1998). The Burning Dune Site
was initially used as a fishing camp to which fish would be brought, processed, eaten, and
discarded. After the lake's recession, the site was used as a mesquite gathering and small game
hunting area. This interpretation was largely based on presence of huge amounts of faunal
remains, fired clay fragments, thermally -affected rock, and large charcoal deposits within the site
found at varying stratigraphic levels (Brock, Smith, and Wake 1998).
19
034
Finding of Feature 3 substantiated previous interpretations of the site's use as a fishing camp.
Unfortunately, no other data was recovered during monitoring that supported the hypothesized
use of the site as a gathering/hunting area.
Monitoring phase investigations of CA-RIV-6060 and CA-RIV-6092 did not provide significant
research data, proving itself to be limited in extent of addressing research domains. However, this
data did aid in the interpretations of the sites during the subsequent testing phase.
CHRONOLOGY
CA-RIV-4754
Test excavation of this site lead to the placement of it within the Late Prehistoric/Protohistoric
period. This determination was based on the presence of a fairly abundant amount of charcoal
and carbonized material, along with diagnostic artifacts and radiocarbon dates (Brock, Smith, and
Wake 1999). The monitoring phase of this site yielded no additional data in support of this
conclusion due to the lack of datable carbonized remains and diagnostic artifacts.
CA-RIV-6060
One radiocarbon date was derived from charcoal associated with a human cremation interment
(Feature 1) at CA-RIV-6060. The calibrated date (95% probability) is AD 1460 to 1645
(Appendix 2).
CA-RIV-6092
This site produced no material for absolute dating, although it can be assigned to the Late
Precontact period (post AD 900) on the basis of the presence of ceramics.
SUBSISTENCE PRACTICES
Of the three sites investigated during the monitoring process, CA-RIV-4754 was the only one to
indicate any Cahuilla subsistence practices. Although it is as yet unclear how Feature 3 was
actually used, it has been speculated that it was possibly used for cooking of fish (Brock, Smith,
and Wake 1998).
SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS
Other than knowledge of the physical placement of the sites near the shoreline of Ancient Lake
Cahuilla, little information on settlement patterns was gained from the monitoring phase
investigations of CA-RIV-4754, CA-RIV-6060, and CA-RIV-6092.
035
20
EXCHANGE SYSTEMS
No information on exchange systems can be gleaned from the CA-RIV-4754, CA-RIV-6060, and
CA-RIV-6092 monitoring phase investigations, as no exotic materials were recovered from the
sites during this phase.
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SITE EVALUATION
Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act a cultural resource can be regarded
as potentially significant, and therefore potentially eligible for inclusion in the National Register of
Historic Places (NRHP), if it meets one or more of the following criteria:
A. Association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad
patterns of history.
B. Association with the lives of persons significant in our past.
C. Embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic
values, or that represent a significant distinguishable entity whose components may
lack individual distinction.
D. Have yielded or may be likely to yield information important in history or
prehistory.
Under Appendix K of CEQA an archaeological resource is significant if it meets one of the
following criteria: (a) it is associated with an event or person of recognized significance in
California or American history, or recognized scientific importance in prehistory; (b) it can
provide information which is both of demonstrable public interest and useful in addressing
scientifically consequential and reasonable archaeological research questions; it has a special or
particular quality such as oldest, best example, largest, or last surviving example of its kind; it is at
least 100 years old and possesses substantial stratigraphic integrity; or (e) it involves important
research questions that historical research has shown can be answered only with archaeological
methods.
Additional criteria of significance is found in eligibility for the California Register of Historical
Resources (CRHP), which is based upon the criteria used for Federal undertakings whereby
resources are evaluated for their eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places
(see above).
One site impacted by this project, CA-RIV4754, has been previously evaluated as potentially
eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Impacts to this site have been fully mitigated
21 036
by a data recovery program (Brock, Smith, and Wake 1999), along with the. monitoring described
in this report.
Two other sites partially impacted by this project, CA-RIV-6060 and CA-RIV-6092, are believed
to be ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Disturbances to these sites have been
mitigated by the monitoring program described herewith.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The client has successfully complied with the archaeological monitoring conditions required for
this project.
REFERENCES CITED
Bailey, Harry P.
1966 Weather of Southern California. California Natural History Guides 17.
University of California Press, Berkeley.
Barrows, David P.
1900 Ethno-botany of the Coahuilla Indians. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Bean, Lowell John
1972 Mukat's People: The Cahuilla Indians of Southern California. University of
California Press, Berkeley
1978 Cahuilla. In California, edited by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 575-587. Handbook of
North American Indians, Vol. 8, William G. Sturtevant, general editor.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Bean, Lowell John, and Katherine Siva Saubel
1972 Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Malki Museum,
Banning.
Binford, Lewis R.
1964 A Consideration of Archaeological Research Design. American Antiquity 29:425-
441.
Brock, James
1997a Heritage Resource Assessment for the Extension of Avenue 48 Between Jefferson
and the Emergency Evacuation Channel, City of La Quinta, California. Ms. on
file, City of La Quinta, La Quinta, California.
22
Brock, James
1997b Cultural Resources Assessment for the Widening of Adams Street from Avenue 48
North 1000 Feet, City of La Quinta, California. Ms. on file, City of La Quinta, La
Quinta, California.
1997c Cultural Resources Assessment for a Proposed Stockpile Site North of Avenue 48
Between Jefferson Street and the Emergency Evacuation Channel, City of La
Quinta, California. Ms. on file, City of La Quinta, La Quinta, California.
Brock, James, and Brenda D. Smith
1998 Archaeological Investigations for the Village on the Green Project, La Quinta,
California (draft). Ms. On file, City of La Quinta, La Quinta, California.
Brock, James, Brenda D. Smith, and Thomas A. Wake
1999 Investigations at the Burning Dune Site (CA-RIV-4754), La Quinta, California.
AAG Monograph 1, Archaeological Advisory Group, Pioneertown, California.
California Department of Parks and Recreation
1989 Archaeological Resource Management Reports (ARMR): Recommended Contents
and Format. California Office of Historic Preservation, California Department of
Parks and Recreation, Sacramento.
Campbell, E.W.C., and W.H. Campbell
1935 The Pinto Basin Site: An Ancient Aboriginal Camping Ground in the California
Desert. Southwest Museum Papers 9:1-51.
Cooper, Madge E.
1976 La Quinta-The Gem of the Desert. In Heritage Tales of Coachella Valley, edited
by Florence Powell, pp. 40-41. American Association of University Women, Palm
Springs, California.
Demcek, Carol R.
1997 Archaeological Assessment of 40-Acre Parcel in La Quinta (La Quinta Quad),
Riverside County, California. Ms. on file, City of La Quinta, La Quinta,
California.
Ebeling, Walter
1986 Handbook of Indian Foods and Fibers of Arid America. University of California
Press, Berkeley, California
Gunther, Jane D.
1984 Riverside County, California, Place Names: Their Origins and Their Stories.
Rubidoux Printing, Riverside, California.
23
038
Heizer, Robert F., and Thomas R. Hester
1978 Great Basin Projectile Points: Forms and Chronology. Ballena Press Publications
in Archaeology, Ethnology and History No. 10. Ballena Press, Socorro, New
Mexico.
Hopper, Lucille
1920 The Cahuilla Indians. University of California Publications in American
Archaeology and Ethnology 16:316-379. Berkeley.
Kroeber, A.J.
1908 Ethnography of the Cahuilla Indians. University of California Publications in
American Archaeology and Ethnology 8:29-68. Berkeley.
1925 Handbook of the Indians of California. 1976 reprint edition. Dover Publications,
Inc., New York.
Strong, William Duncan
1929 Aboriginal Society in Southern California. University of California Publications in
American Archaeology and Ethnology 26:1-349. Berkeley.
Toenjes, James H.
1998 Consideration of Clay Uses. In Investigations at the Burning Dune Site (CA-RIV-
4754), Avenue 48 Extension Project, La Quinta, California (draft), by James
Brock and Brenda D. Smith, pp. 63-65. Ms. on file, City of La Quinta, La Quinta,
California.
Warren, Claude N.
1984 The Desert Region. In California Archaeology, by Michael J. Moratto, pp. 339-
430. Academic Press, New York.
Warren, Claude N., and Robert H. Crabtree
1986 Prehistory of the Southwestern Area. In Great Basin, edited by Warren L.
D'Azevedo, pp. 183-193. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 11, William
C. Sturtevant, general editor. Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.
Waters, Michael R.
1983 Late Holocene Lacustrine Chronology and Archaeology of Ancient Lake Cahuilla,
California. Quaternary Research 19:373-387.
Wilke, Philip J.
1978 Late Prehistoric Human Ecology at Lake Cahuilla, Coachella Valley, California.
Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility No.
38. University of California, Berkeley.
03q
APPENDIX 1: PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS
James Brock (President/Chief Archaeologist)
• BA (Anthropology), UC Santa Barbara
• MA (Archaeology), University of Durham, Durham, England
• Registered Professional Archaeologist (ROPA Member, formerly the Society of
Professional Archaeologists)
• 18 years of experience as a Principal Investigator on cultural resource management
projects throughout southern California
James H. Toenjes (Archaeologist)
• BA (Historical Archaeology), UC Santa Cruz
• Graduate work in anthropology, University of Tennessee
• 20 years of cultural resource management experience in California
Brenda D. Smith (Research Associate)
• BS in Anthropology, emphasis in California Indian History, UC Riverside
• MA candidate, Native American Studies Program, UCLA
7 years of cultural resource management experience in southern California
25 U�rU
APPENDIX 2:
Results of radiocarbon dating of charcoal from Feature I at CA-RN-6060
26
041
CALIBRATION OF RADIOCARBON AGE TO CALENDAR YEARS
(Variables:estimated C13/C12=-25:1ab mult.=1)
Laboratory Number:
Conventional radiocarbon age*:
Calibrated results:
(2 sigma, 95% probability)
* C131C 12 ratio estimated
Intercept data:
Intercepts of radiocarbon age
with calibration curve:
1 sigma calibrated results:
(68% probability)
350 ± 30 BP
500
a 400
m
200
Beta- 112309
350 t 30 BP
cal AD 1460 to 1645
cal AD 1515 and
cal AD 1585 and
Cal AD 1625
cal AD 1485 to 1535 and
cal AD 1545 to 1635
CHARRED MATERIAL
1500 1600 1700
cal AD
References:
Pretoria Calibration 04rve jar Short Lived Samples
Vogel, J. C, Fula, A., Visser, E. and Becker, B., 1993, Radiocarbon 35(1), p73-86
A Simplified Approach to Calibrating C14 Data
Talma, A. S. and Vogel, J C., 1993, Radiocarbon 35(2), p317-311
Calibration -1993
Smiver, M, Long, A., Kra, R. S. and Devine, J M, 1993, Radiocarbon 35(1)
Beta Analytic Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory
'5 S.W. 74th Court, Miami, Florida 33155 ■ Tel: (305)667-5167 ■ Fax: (305)663-0964 ■ E-mail: betaCa)radiocarbon.com
27 042
APPENDIX 3:
Report on geological investigation of sewer line trench
a
RECONNAISSANCE GEOLOGIC INVESTIGATION ALONG THE OLD SHORELINE
OF "ANCIENT LAKE CAHUILLA" EXPOSED IN A PIPELINE TRENCH ALONG
AVENUE 48 JUST WEST OF JEFFERSON STREET, LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA
QI
Harry M. Ouinn
On Thursday, August 21, 1997 a reconnaissance geologic investigation was conducted in the north
wall of a sewer pipeline trench being excavated along Avenue 48, just west of Jefferson Street in La
Quinta, California. The trench was approximately 15 to 16 feet deep, with the sides benched at about
five feet intervals. The trench is slightly deeper at the eastern end and does ungulate along its route,
however, for the most part the trench has a rather flat bottom. The trench walls exposed a rather
interesting sequence of interbedded sands and silt/clay beds. Of major interest was the presence of
at least two lake stands, one that seems to correlate well with the last high stand at +/- 43 feet above
mean sea level and an older stand at +/- 38 feet above mean sea level (Datum on Figure 1). One
could see the silt/clay beds thinning and interfingering with thickening sands as one moved west in
the trench (Figure 1). The complete opposite was found as one went to the east, where the sands
thinned and interftngered with a rather thick silt/clay sequence. A nearly complete change from sand
to silt/clay could be seen in a lateral distance of about 60 feet. Even though the site appears to have
exposed at least two different lake stands, both appear to have had their shoreline in about the same
general position.
Only the older lake sequence was evaluated in any detail by this study (Figure 1), as it was exposed
in the lowest wall, between the bottom of the trench and the top of the first bench. Five short
sections were measured along the trench (Figure 1). These sections were not continued above the
first bench, as it could have damaged the trench and trench walls to get up to the next set of benches
at the time I was there. The sands exposed in the lower sequence (Figure 1) did not have the high
mica content seen in the upper sequence, was locally bioturbated, and tended to be rather massive.
These characteristics suggest that this sand was deposited in water, as the water will separate out
some of the mica and can allow the sand to be deposited without definable depositional
characteristics. At one of the other shoreline sites evaluated, the contact between the lake sediments
and the blow sand sediments was marked by a thin line of small snail shells separating a massive
lower sand from an overlying highly micaceous, cross -bedded dune sand.
The sands in the upper sequence at sections 1 and 2 were similar to the sands seen below, as they
were not as micaceous as those found in treasured sections 3, 4, and 5. These sands were rather
massive, but were not bioturbated in any of the exposures examined. The sands in the upper
sequence at measured sections 3, 4, and 5 were very micaceous and even exhibited some weak cross -
bedding at measured section 5. The sands in measured sections 1 and 2 appear to have been
reworked by the later lake when it returned to the area. The datum used in Figure 1 appears to be
an unconformity separating two different sequences of lake sedimentation. Measured section number
1 was opposite stake nuinber 78+50.
Mr. Jim Toenjes (site archaeologist) measured his section in the east end of the wall to the top of the
first bench also. He was unable to extend the section to the surface before the trench was closed.
Photographs (slides) were taken at each of the measured section locations and along other portions
29 044
of the wall and a video was made of the eastern portion of the trench. Mr. Toenjes found one small
piece of charcoal in the lower silt/clay section. The sample may be too small for dating, but if a date
can be obtained it would be interesting to see if it correlates with the dates given by Dr. Rockwell
(1995) for different high stands of past lakes in the Salton Trough.
At a lecture given at one of the Coachella Valley Archaeological Society meetings, Dr. Rockwell
(1995) gave the following information for the dates of different high stands on some of the many
"Ancient Lake Cahuilla's": (Ancient Lake Cahuilla high stands based of C„ dates of peat)
A. Last stand AD 1677 (Composite dates for Last High Stand was 1660-1680)
B. AD 1659
C. AD 1450
D. AD 1360
E. AD 1287
F. AD 885
On Monday, August 25th, a second trip was made to the site. Some of the pipe had been placed in
the trench and back filling had started from the east end of the trench. The material examined on the
earlier visit was no longer accessible. The trench had been extended over 50 feet to the; east, so
exposed a new area here. A measured section was done on the south wall at stake location 79+00
so that an elevation could be measured for the top lake bed silts (Figure 2). The top of this silt (Unit
C, Figure 2) was found to be 42.76 feet above mean sea level. Above this silt was a 0.25 foot thick
sequence of parallel, thin bedded sands (Unit D, Figure 2). The depositional features for this sand
suggest that it was deposited in quite water. The overlying unit E, is massive and may also have
been deposited in water, but most likely agitated water. Units F and G are fluvial deposits filling old
channels. Unit. G contains historic materials and appears to [nark the base on the historic period.
Once the silt/clay zone (Datum) was reached in this new eastern exposure, it appeared to extend all
the way down from Units A, B, and C to the bottom of the exposed trench wall. A photo (slide) was
taken of this measured section as well.
Jim Toenjes called Monday night to say that they had encountered some new silt zones at the western
end of the trench. On Tuesday, another trip was made to the site to look at these new exposures.
More of the pipe had been laid and more of the trench had been partially back filled. The materials
found during the first two visits were incorporated in a reconnaissance mapping of the entire exposed
trench, from stake 70+50 to 79+00 (see Figure 3). These new silts started at about stake 73+00 and
unlike the earlier silts which were rather flat at the top, were dipping toward the west. There were
two slit units separated by a sand unit (Figure 3). These silts appear to be well bedded.and were
weathered to a yellow -brown to reddish brown color, probably due to abundant tine grained organic
matter.
FINDINGS
Based on the exposures examined along this sewer line trench, the following interpretations have been
made.
1. The eastern end of the trench appears to have been within the lake area through much of late
Holocene time, as it consists mainly of water deposited silt/clay material from about 4 feet below
045
30
grade to the bottom of the trench. These silt/clay units are gray to gray -brown and contain only rare
scattered carbonized (charcoal?) material.
2. The lake shoreline appears to have fluctuated between the area marked by stakes 76+00 and 78+00
through much of late Holocene time. This area marked the shoreline for at least two episodes of lake
filling.
3. The area between stakes 73+00 and 76+00 appears to have been a sand bar that separated the open
lake on the east from a lagoonal/back bay (?) area to the west. The sands in the area of stake 74+00
exhibit dune sand crossbedding from the top to the bottom of the trench. The dune deposits appear
to be separated by two hiatuses, one about 8 feet and another at about 13 feet below the top of the
trench.
4. The silt/clay units exposed at the western end of the trench exhibit thin bedding, common to
scattered carbonized (charcoal?) material and weather a yellow- to reddish -brown. The color is
indicative of limonitic replacement of organic material.
CONCLUSIONS
This sewer line trench was cut through an old sand bar that separated the open are of "Ancient Lake
Cahuilla" on the east from lagoonal/back bay areas to the west. The last stand of this ancient
freshwater lake sequence was in excess of 43 feet above mean sea level. There had been at least one
earlier lake in about this same position with a high stand of about 38 feet above mean sea level.
MEASURED SECTIONS FOR OLDER LAKE STAND
The following measured sections were used to construct Figure 1:
I. Measured section number 1, east end of the trench (opposite stake 78+50).
0 to 0.25 feet: Sand
0.25 to 0.5 feet: Silt/Clay
0.5 to 0.8 feet: Sand
0.8 to 1.7 feet: Silt/Clay
1.7 to 1.8 feet: Sand
1.8 to 3.3 feet: Silt/Clay
Datum: Apparent unconforntity at top of older lake stand.
3.3 to 3.7 feet: Sand
3.7 to 3.75 feet: Silt/Clay
3.75 to 3.86 feet: Sand
3.86 to 4.6 feet: Silt/Clay
11. Measured section number 2, 11 feet west of number 1.
0 to 0.6 feet: Sili/Clay
0.6 to 0.9 feet: Sand
31 . oq&
0.9 to 1.7 feet: Silt/Clay
Datum: Same as above
1.7 to 2.6 feet: Sand
2.6 to 3.9 feet: Silt/Clay
III. Measured section number 3, 27 feet west of number I
0 to 0.95 feet: Silt/Clay with sandy patches and inclusions, possible bioturbation also present
0.95 to 2.2 feet: Sand, some bioturbation
2.2 to 2.4 feet: Silt/Clay
Datum: Same as above
2.4 to 4.7 feet: Sand, micaceous, lacks bioturbation, possible blow sand
IV. Measured section number 4, 44 feet west of number 1
0 to 2.3 feet: Sand, locally bioturbated
2.3 to 2.75 feet: Silt/Clay
Datum: Same as above
2.75 to 5.0 feet: Sand, micaceous, lacks bioturbation, possible blow sand
V. Measured section number 5, 58 feet west of number 1
0 to 2.2 feet: Sand, locally bioturbated
2.2 to 2.45 feet: Silt/Clay
Datum: Same as above
2.45 to 4.5 feet: Sand, micaceous, possible cross -bedding, probably blow sand.
NOTE: All of the above sections were measured from the bottom of the trench (0) to the top
of the lower bench. The datum used appears to be an unconformity at the top of an old lake
stand.
ADAMS STREET SITE
After the above reconnaissance geologic investigation was completed, another short recohnaissance
investigation was conducted over along Adams Street. The newly exposed cut through the mesquite
dunes does not appear to have any of the burned mesquite zones seen in the original road cut. No
correlations could be drawn between the material exposed in the new cut and that found in the old
cut and during excavation of this site.
HMQ97015.AR2
32 1 U 47
a
w
N
U
Z
w
0
m
w
3
O
J
a
O
F
a
H
y
w
3t
M
F
a
0
aouanbag jaddn aauanbag Jamo-I
m
�
C
w
u
VJ
C
O
L
o
33
,., U 4 8
STRATIGRAPHIC COLUMN
LAST HIGH STAND
"ANCIENT LAKE CAHUILLA"
Unit I: Sand, surface fill, some soil
and some fluvial channel material
SURFACE Unit H: Sand, massive
4'
H
G
3'
F
E
2'
F--Pc--
Unit G: Gravelly sand, fluvial channel filling,
scattered snal shells and metal debris, historic
boundary at base
Unit F: Sand, fluvial channel filling, contains some
scattered charcoal
Unit E: Sand, massive
Unit D: Sand, well bedded in about 1/8th inch beds,
appears to have been deposited in water
===� DATUM: 42.76 feet
1' B
A
0
BASE
UPPER BENCH
Unit C: Clay/silt similar to Unit A
Unit B: Silt with some clay and minor sand,
flat lying, poor to no bedding
Unit A: Claylsilt sequence, flat lying, poor
to no bedding
Note:
Top of Unit D appears to be the last lake deposits at this site.
This places the last high stand of "Ancient Lake Cahuilla" at
+/43' above mean sea level. Unit E may also be a lake
deposit, no bedding present.
Figure 2
34 U 49
0
O
N
alm
W
n
O
>
d
y
o
+
c
r
Y
;o
N
y
CO)
E
0
w
z
L
LL
O
O
P,a
O
+
m
d
0
a
o
y
Jr
=
o
O
W
J
O
a
o
r
*0.
y
'O
C
ccm
Z
o
O
LU
U
o
ft
j
O
m
Q
n
N
N
N
Z
o
Z
O
U
N
m
m
�' m
WCD
4
•+
+
N
m
V
�
Up
C
3
a
W
o
uli
35
M
N
rn
LL
N
C
O
N
m
m
m
lC
CD
N
N
x
m
N
E
O
�,
C
a-.
N
d
N
N
�
R
o
m
O
0
m = m
y
b
C
0
M
U 5 0
CORRESPONDENCE
WRITTEN MA TERIAL
o 5 .'1
STATE OF CALIFORNIA- THE RESOURCES AGENCY
OFFICE OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
P.O. BOX 942896
SACRAMENTO, CA 94296-0001
(916)653-6624
FAX (916) 653-9824
January 15, 1999
Leslie Mouriquand, Associate Planner
Community Development Department
78-495 Calle Tampico,
PO Box 1504
La Quinta, CA 92253
Dear Ms. Mouriquand:
In order to better serve California's Certified Local Governments, the Office of Historic Preservation
recently reorganized its administrative structure to create a new Local Government Unit, which we
hope will better respond to the diverse preservation planning needs of local communities throughout
the state.
This new unit merges existing office programs into one interactive unit staffed by a team of four OHP
staff members, with clerical support from Lilli Kirby, Office Assistant. This team will work in
partnership with local government entities, and in particular with the state's 42 current Certified Local
Governments to ensure that local preservation programs function in a manner best attuned to both
state and local preservation issues and activities. In addition to the Certified Local Government
Program, the four office programs and program coordinators incorporated into the new Local
Government Unit include: HUD/Section106, Lucinda Woodward; CEQA, Carol Roland; California
Register, Jenan Saunders; and Survey, Jan Wooley.
One of the benefits of obtaining CLG status is the close working relationship that develops with the
OHP staff, as well as the technical assistance the OHP is able to provide. In an effort to both
reinforce this relationship, and to assist us in becoming more familiar with preservation issues at the
local level, each Local Government Unit staff member has assumed responsibility for administering 10
to 12 individual CI -Gs, as assigned in the enclosed table. Individual coordinators will continue to
address questions pertaining to their particular programs (Survey, CEQA, etc.). Questions of a more
general nature should be directed to Lucinda Woodward, Unit Supervisor. Requests for office
publications will be handled by Lilli Kirby, Office Assistant at (916) 653-4533.
We look forward to expanding and improving our preservation partnership with California's Certified
Local Governments through this new venture and encourage you, as your community's CLG contact,
to share this information about our recent restructuring with the members of your local preservation
commission.
Sincerely,
f�� 1�4
Daniel Abeyta
Acting State Historic Preservation Officer
U5Z
Certified Local Government Coordinators
Lucinda Woodward
(916)653-9116
Carol Roland
(916)653-9514
Jan Wooley
(916)653-9019
Jenan Saunders
(916)653-9432
San Francisco
San Jose
Oakland
San Diego (City)
Redwood City
Santa Clara (City)
Highland
Burbank
Danville
Los Altos
La Quinta
Glendale
Vallejo
Tustin
Riverside (City)
Long Beach
Alameda (City)
Pasadena
Sunnyvale
Yolo County
Monterey (City)
Palo Alto
Santa Monica
San Diego County
Santa Cruz (City)
Saratoga
Redondo Beach
Tuolumne County
Marysville
Napa (City)
San Clemente
Monterey County
Colusa (City)
Davis
Oceanside
Ventura County
Sacramento (City)
Los Gatos
Escondido
Santa Cruz County
Fresno (City)
West Hollywood
Berkeley (pending)
Ontario (pending)
Eureka (pending)
053
STUDY TOURS T
?OUStWorthy
yam
NATIONAL
. Traveler
f-HiSTORIC PRESERVATION—
Volume 1 "30 Years of Distinctive Travel Number I
Grand Tour:
s
Study o
Grand 3
ame
of
_I. 9 LIy n
Rialto Bridge, Venice I Photo: Ida Singelenherg
elcome to the first issue
of the National Trust
Study Tours Trustworthy
Traveler newsletter!
Created exclusively for you,
our National Trust travelers,
Trustworthy Traveler will
arrive on your doorstep twice a
year to keep you on the pulse
of Study Tour happenings.
We hope that Trustworthy
Traveler proves to be an
enlightening and useful source
of information that captures
your interest and encourages
your participation. See this
issue's Photo Contest section
for your first opportunity to
contribute!
Trustworthy Traveler will...
• Preview exciting new tour
concepts;
• Inform you about upcoming
promotions;
• Provide insight into your
fellow travelers;
• Acquaint you with our
distinguished Study Leaders;
• Familiarize you with other
National Trust programs; and
• Offer practical information
and answer frequently asked
questions on the issues facing
travelers today through a
regular column.
So read on and call, write, fax
or e-mail us. We hope you
enjoy Trustworthy Traveler,
and look forward to hearing
from you!
Sincerely,
W� jo�y
Ida Singelenberg
Director, Travel Programs
Queen Elizabeth I sug-
gested it to her court-
iers, Shakespeare wrote about
it in The Merchant of Venice
and countless artists, writers
and sons of nobility followed
suit. They packed their
cases —and their senses of
adventure —enlisted tutors and
honed their French before
embarking on the rite of
passage known as the Grand
Tour.
For nearly 500 years, the
search for knowledge and
enlightenment and exposure to
the unfamiliar has awakened
Western man's curiosity.
Wars, plagues and warnings
that the French were "impa-
tient and addicted to gam-
bling," and the Italians had a
"blatant disregard of truth,"
did not prove daunting to the
hearty (and headstrong) trav-
eler. Americans and the
English journeyed by boat, rail
and on foot to discover the
unknown in much the same
way we will —less the enemies
and epidemics! The National
(continued on page 2)
U54
i
a _
We recently asked a
random sample of our
travelers to tell us where their
favorite destinations around the
world were and where they
(and possibly you, too!) would
most like to travel on a Study
Tour in the future. Their
answers were quite telling.
7aA S,lzot�:
1
2
3
4
Baronscourt, Northern Ireland /Photo: Arkadi Salamacha
6 mceocr �74"gere
British Isles
Italy
France
Central & Eastern Europe
Nearly 60% claimed the
British Isles as one of their
favorite places in the world.
Italy scored a distant second,
followed by France and
Central & Eastern Europe.
Where would surveyed Study
Tour travelers most like to
travel in the future? The
&uec't Zadr to Ci 1
Eastern Med
Asia
Italy
British Isles
Eastern Mediterranean,
including Turkey, Greece,
Egypt and Morocco, ranked
number one, with 25% naming
it among their must -see desti-
nations. Next came Asia, with
one fifth of the vote.
Surprisingly, France ranked
third among favorite places
Study Tours Introduces:
"Tour Guide" Catalog
Watch your mailbox for our
all -new, comprehensive catalog
featuring tours from March
through December 1999
& debuting at the end of January!
noss
already visited, but only
seventh on the future destina-
tion list. If you feel that you
have "conquered" Europe and
are looking for new travel
challenges, or if you care to
revisit a favorite haunt, consult
our upcoming 1999 Study
Tours "Tour Guide" catalog.
(Grand Tour, page 1)
Trust is pleased to offer a
flexible, seven -segment Grand
Tour series. Traveling in old-
world luxury aboard the QEH
and Orient Express, we will
even experience Germany's
fabled Bavaria by horse -pulled
coach along castle roads that
remain very close to what they
were 120 years ago. Like
Grand Tourists past, at least
three days will be spent in a
(continued on next page)
(Grand Tour, page 2)
given city in order to establish
a sense of place. Our favorite
study leaders --Olivier Bernier,
Grace Gary and Peter
Lauritzen, among others --will
chart the course of discovery
to Europe's classic cities.
Providing unique travel experi-
ences for our members is of
paramount importance to
Travel Programs Director, Ida
Singelenberg. "We are always
seeking to create different tour
opportunities that our travelers
will love." The National Trust
sought the assistance of Susan
Gullia, Executive Director of
Bellinger Davis, a division of
Protravel international and
longtime friend of Study
Tours, to develop this concept.
"It was a pleasure working
with the Trust to replicate in
modern times the idea of what
the Grand Tour meant at the
turn of the last century and
now," exclaims Ms. Gullia.
The result of our efforts has
yielded a once -in -a -lifetime
Study Tour that will provide a
spectacular finale to this
century and usher in the
millennium.
Create history by rediscover-
ing the past. Join us on the
Grand Tour! For more infor-
mation, see the enclosed insert
or call us at 1-800-944-6847 or
202-588-6300.
* Source: Patrick llelafore's
The Grand Tour
®I®
"High praise goes to
Dwight Young. His
lectures were excellent
and he was great
company too. "
-Tour participant
1998 Black Sea
Cruise
In a relationship with
historic preservation
spanning twenty years,
Dwight Young has de-
lighted National Trust
travelers with his wisdom
and wit as one of our prized
and popular study leaders.
Dwight's breadth of know-
ledge crosses continents.
Whether leading a group
from Washington, D.C. to
Los Angeles by private
train or cruising the
Danube, a Study Tour
experience will be richer
with Dwight at the helm.
But how well do you know
him?
A dizzying sojourn through
the exotic Moroccan
medina in Fez and snorkel-
ing Belize's Blue Hole are
among Dwight's most
beloved travel memories.
Dwight's philosophy —
which he always puts into
Dwigh( Young
practice and encourages
others to do when travel-
ing— is to have time for
yourself. He instructs, "Put
down the camera, step away
from the guide, stick the
guidebook in your pocket
and just be there. Try to
figure out what it is about
this place that's interesting,
what will you remember
and what, twenty years
from now, is going to stick
in your mind. The wonder-
ful thing is, I've always
found something —a mo-
ment, a place, an experience
that makes everything come
alive."
Dwight's passion for
history and architecture and
penchant for communicat-
ing —he pens the "Back
Page," a regular feature in
Preservation magazine —
make him an invaluable
voice of the Trust family
and a study leader
extraordinaire. See the
insert for 1999 National
Trust Study Tours led by
Dwight Young.
STUDY TOURS
NATIONAL TRUST
f-HISTORIC PRESERVATION..
Ivss MASSACaCSE 11 s AVssoE. N W
WASHINGTON. DC 201136
G pT
Djenne, Mali /Photo: Tamar Osterman
Bulk Rate
U.S. Postage
PAID
Baltimore. MD
Permit No. 6106
O1 F E B 911999
CITY FLAl]UIN iA
PLANNING DEPARTMENT_:
Photo ContesU
T WANTED: The next Ansel Adams or Alfred
'v Eisenstaedt for Trusbvorthy Traveler Photo Contest.
Study Tours seeks crisp, brochure -quality photo(s)
for publication in the Trustworthy, Traveler and in
future Study Tour marketing materials. The winning
photo will be chosen from any of the following three
Acategories:
-Destination: photo capturing the essence of a
place visited on a National Trust Study Tour.
_ -Cultural/Societal Flavor: slice -of -life depiction
of a different culture.
-Traveler Interaction: photo of Study Tour
participant(s) in action.
The grand prize winner receives a $100 gift certifi-
cate courtesy of Travel Books and Language Center,
one of the best sources of hard -to -find travel publi-
cations, and has their photo featured on the cover of
our next issue! All entrants will be sent a National
Trust tote bag (great for storing extra film)! Be sure
to include ,your name, address and phone number
along with a brief description of your entry. There
will he future opportunities to win, so send your
'. photos today and good luck!
LiDeadline of entry is Friday, March 12th. Unfortu-
nately, photos cannot be returned.
National Trust for Hiaoric Preservation/L-u mo,thr Tnneler'/1785 Massachuseui Awnuc. NW/Washington. DC 20036-2117/1-81)0-944-N"I 11P j
Uj I
Touring the Trust: Planning for the Future
We begin a series of columns examining various departments at the
National Trust with a look at Planned Giving, one of the Resource
Development divisions that provides the National Trust with the
financing it needs to save America's diverse historic places and
revitalize our communities.
Planned Giving offers three programs that give investors the flexibility
to support preservation while guaranteeing them a source of income
and reducing tax obligations: charitable remainder trusts, charitable
gift annuities and the pooled income fund.
After sharing memorable trips both in Italy and St. Petersburg with
Study Tours, fellow National Trust travelers John and Frances
Pershing chose to make a donation to the National Trust through a
charitable remainder trust. It provides quarterly payments, based
either on a fixed dollar amount or a fixed percentage of the trust's
assets, for life or a pre -determined number of years. At the expiration
of the trust, the remainder of the assets reverts to the National Trust
to support preservation programs. John Pershing attests, "we were
delighted to be able to contribute to a cause we strongly support whille
at the same time increasing our available income."
Similar benefits are available through a gift annuity or the pooled
income fund. Both gifts allow the donor or a designated beneficiary
to receive quarterly payments. The amount of the payment depends
upon the age of the beneficiary and the amount of the gift for a gift
annuity or on the donor's proportionate share of the pooled income
food's total assets. As with a charitable remainder trust, these
programs are particularly advantageous when established with
appreciated securities as they can significantly reduce capital gains
taxes and earn a charitable tax deduction.
For more information on the National Trust's Planned Giving
program, please contact Susan Gutchess, Director of Planned Giving.,
at (202) 588-6175.
058
National Trust Favorite Dwight Young
to Lead Two Study Tours in 1999
Antebellum South aboard the American Orient Express March 9 - 15, 1999
Join Dwight aboard the American Orient Express as it makes its way from
Washington, D.C. to New Orleans with visits to cities uniquely southern and little
changed over time. Prices range from $2,690 - $4,690 not including airfare.
Changing Tides of History: St. Petersburg & the Baltic Countries June 4 - 17, 1999
Spend twelve days in the "white nights" of the Baltic Sea region. From Finland's
capital city of Helsinki, cruise to regal St. Petersburg and the charming cities of
Tallinn, Estonia; Riga, Latvia and Vilnius, Lithuania. Continue to Kaliningrad, the
former feudal seat of East Prussia; Gdansk, Poland and conclude in the fairy tale
city of Copenhagen. Prices range from $4,795 - $7,595 including airfare.
Call us at (800) 944-6847 or (202) 588-6300 for a brochure.
The Grand Tour, 1999
Chapter I - The QEH: A Transatlantic Symposium August 28 - September 8
Chapter II - Royal Palaces & Grand Castles: Paris and the Loire Valley
September 7/8 - 17
Chapter III - Legendary Cities of Central Europe September 16/17 - 28
Chapter IIIA - Coaching in Bavaria September 27/28 - October 3
Chapter IV - Elegant Austria: Salzburg and Vienna October 2/3 - 12
Chapter V - From the Classics to Neo-Classicism: Rome-Positano-Naples
October 11/12 - 24
Chapter VI - Byzantine Splendor: Venice to Constantinople
October 24/25 - November 4
Chapter VII - A Gala Millennium Celebration in St. Petersburg
December 29/30 - January 6, 2000
* Prices for the Grand Tour chapters range from $3,135 to $14,655 not including
159
30 Society for American Archaeology September
Exchanges —
Interarnerican Dialogue
Cuicuilco: Public Protection
of Mexican Cultural Patrimony
4� in an Archaeological Zone
Ana Maria Salazar Peralta
Associate Editor's note:
Many archaeologists may not be familiar with the extent of
research conducted at Cuicuilco and its surroundings over the past
70 years, beyond the references to the famous circular pyramid
mentioned in basic texts and occasional mention of the excavations
by Cummings in the 1920s and Bennyhoff in the 1950s. Most are
totally unaware of how the fate of the site has been politicized since
early 1997 when the nearby Carso-Inbursa construction of a
shopping and entertainment complex on the site of a mid-19th
century paper factory was underway.
Various interest groups tried to alert the public about the
consequences of the construction and associated risk to the adjacent
archaeological zone. Matters came to a head in October 1997, when
approximately 800 neighbors, professionals, students, faculty, and
others —many of whom were signees of a petition expressing
opposition to the construction —found themselves involved as
plaintiffs ma legal battle initiated by a small group of neighbors and
associates. The suit, directed against the president of Mexico and
other authorities, denounced the destruction of Mexican cultural
patrimony represented by Cuicuilco. The effect of the action was a
judicial order to suspend construction, a decision that was ulti-
mately revoked by a higher authority after five days. However, the
Carso-Inbursa consortium responded with counter measures —a
commercial suit for losses incurred against those responsible for the
original action (including most of the 800 signees).
In the midst of the dispute —marked by disparate views of
the role of archaeological sites and the concept of cultural heritage
versus Mexico's political and economic interests —archaeologists
commissioned to oversee the salvage operations required by law
and financed by Carsa-Inbursa struggled to establish and maintain
high research standards in an increasingly politicized atmosphere.
Legal proceedings have begun, initiated by both sides and
guaranteed to have no immediate resolution. Many of the hapless
signees of the original suit have legally desisted from the action on
the grounds that they believed their signatures were destined for
a different purpose. The commercial center, Plaza Cuicuilco, is
bustling and an eight -story tower is close to completion. The
adjacent archaeological zone of Cuicuilco, engulfed in a teeming
urban zone, represents another important test case for the defini-
tion of limits on competing interests that threaten the future of
significant archaeological zones.
Ana Maria Salazar, a social anthropologist, specialist in
issues related to cultural patrimony or heritage, and a resident of
the Olympic Village situated adjacent (and on top of) Cuicuilco,
describes the process in the following article.
Emily McClung de Tapia
The political climate of Mexico City maintained a dynamic state
of tension throughout 1997, colored by the electoral campaigns
for mayor. Simultaneously struggling to establish. democracy, the
Mexico City residents also set the wheels in motion to protect the
endangered cultural patrimony of Cuicuilco.
Publication of plans to develop a commercial and residential
center on the archaeological site of Cuicuilco resulted in numer-
ous demonstrations against the project's investors and the govern-
mental agencies that had modified land -use designations to allow
permits for construction. At the same time, the mild response by
administrators of the Instimto National de Antropologia (INAH)
was questioned. The vulnerability of the cultural patrimony in the
face of accelerating capitalistic ventures was clearly illustrated, as
well as the nationwide threat presented to areas that house re-
sources of archaeological, historical, or artistie value that are being
demolished by the forceful drive for countrywide modernization.
The protection and conservation of the cultural patrimony
necessitates an update of the 1972 federal law on monuments,
archaeological zones, and artistic and historic properties. This
move has been the subject of legislative controversy and discus-
sion. Under the framework of the 1992 constitutional reform,
many laws and regulations were amended to adjust thejurisdiction
and structure of substantive aspects of the free commerce treaty
between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Federal law
governing monuments and archaeological zones did not escape
discussion at that time, and was at the center of the controversy
over privatization of cultural resource administration.
In its current form, federal law prohibits looting of national
cultural resources by economic expansion. Academic groups and
professional associations have energetically opposed reforms and
amendments that promote privatization of cultural resources.
However, the reality of the situation require=_that academics
extensively review the most conflictive aspects of jurisdictional
contradictions with other legislation and regulations on urban
development and construction that weaken the legal authority of
protective agencies such as INAH and the Instituto National de
Bellas Artes.
In addition to the academic groups that are traditionally
concerned with the epistemological and legislative controversies
over the protection of endangered cultural resources, the public
also is concerned about the impact of urban development on the
environment and ecology. A social conscience has developed with
regard to conservation, care and protection of resources, and the
effects of haphazard growth in what is already the largest cityof the
world. The development occurring in Cuicuilco, Delegaeion de
U60
1998 Volume 16, Number 4
31
Tlalpan, with its encroachment on the ecological reserve of
Ajusco—one of the major arteries that supplies the southern part
of the city with water from natural springs and canals —is a case in
point. During the latter part of this century, water sources and
forests have been seriously endangered by the imprudent and
aggressive urban projects implemented by politicians and inves-
tors. With such a situation unfolding, we must seriously question
the future of cultural resources like Cuicuilco. What academic,
social, and political strategies should be implemented to produce
solid legislation that protects research and conservation objectives
for the cultural patrimony against unrestrained urban -commer-
cial developments?
Cuicuilco: The Oldest Civilization
of Central Highland Mesoamerica
According to translations of ancient Nahuatl manuscripts, Cuicuilco
is known as the "place of prayer" or the "place of the rainbow." (F.
Muller, 1990, La cerdmica de Cuicuilco B: Un restate arqueologico;
INAH, Mexico, pp. 11). Currently, Cuicuilco is recognized as the
oldest known civilization of central highland Mesoamerica, with
its remains of an ancient ceremonial center. Only partial archaeo-
logical investigation has been possible because the site is covered
by a dense laver ofvolcanic lava and also because the 20th-century
urban sprawl has extensively damaged the prehispanic metropolis.
Consequently, it is difficult to conceptualize the complexity and
true extent of Cuicuilco.
The remains of Cuicuilco are found in the southeastern
portion of the valley of Mexico. A re-examination of Cuicuilco
data has led us to conclude that its occupation precedes the
emergence of Teotihuacan. Its founders, villagers dedicated to
agricultural activities, developed a complex religious practice
with a sophisticated ritual system that included making offerings
of lithic and ceramic artifacts in their funerary practices. Grave
goods have been dated to the earliest horizon of the Middle
Formative. The site seems to have been abandoned around A.D.
200 after the eruption of a nearby volcano, Xitle, although it was
reoccupied during the Late Postclassic. The majestic lava field of
Pedregal de San Angel surrounds the Cuicuilco archaeological
zone as a result of the violent volcanic eruptions, and covers an
area of approximately 80 km', including the foothills of the
Ajusco mountain range and extending down to the lake shore. In
1956, Wolf and Palerm observed that lava deposits were very
uneven, but reached a depth over 10 in in certain areas —a factor
which has aided in the preservation of Cuicuilco (E. Wolf and A.
Palerm, 1972, Sistema de riego en el Pedregal. In Agricultura y
Civilization en Mesoamerica, Secretaria de Educaci6n Publica,
coleeci6n SepSetentas, Mexico, pp. 100-105).
Currently we rely on the revealing information obtained
from Muller's 1967 archaeological investigations that has en-
riched our perception of the lifestyle and customs of the ancient
inhabitants of Cuicuilco (F. Muller, 1990). According to her
findings, the city was built around a large ceremonial center
(Cuicuilco "A") with an extensive patterned urban zone (Cuicuilco
"B") that included plazas and avenues bordering a series of small,
shallow pools, fed by runoff waters from the nearby hills of
Zaeayuca and Zacalteped. These feature terraces, ceremonial
constructions, fortifications, and irrigation ditches and canals,
built prior to the time of Aztec control. The 1990 archaeological
finds at Cuicuilco "C"—consisting of a circular pyramid con-
structed within a plaza, with smaller structures associated to an
agricultural system —were destroyed for the construction of Parque
Cuicuilco, a three -tower office complex.
Not only is Cuicuilco an important archaeological site, but
it has a wealth of cultural and folk traditions. Culturally, it offers
a diverse and rich panorama of the multiple occupations that have
left their imprints throughout the centuries. The cultural, ritual,
and festive customs that were practiced at Cuicuilco have, since
the arrival of the Spaniards, nourished a long history of oral
traditions that are still present in the contemporary communities
of the area. With the passing of time and the chaotic urban
development, the expression of these traditions has recessed into
the smaller districts, but they are still present in the agricultural
cycles, equinox, and solstice festivals as well as those festivals
dedicated to patron saints.
Adults in the districts surrounding Cuicuilco and the Loreto
y Pefia Pobre factory recall wonderful stories of their childhood
memories. Photographs of factory employees tell of more than a
century of microhistory and collective memory that illustrate
social change in the name of modernization. In the long run, the
notion of the past —for both specialists and the general public —
promoted the first public movement to protect the cultural patri-
mony of Cuicuilco.
Urban Development and Cultural Patrimony
During the 1980s, under the presidency of Miguel de la Madrid, an
awakening of the ecological conscience in the Mexican community
occurred. One of the approaches to resolve the high-level pollution
in Mexico City was to require that industries acquire technologies
with a low pollution index or be permanently closed. In this context,
the residents of the Cuicuilco area were surveyed, which ultimately
resulted in the 1986 closure of the Fibrica de Papel de Loreto y Pefia
Pobre, which had been operation since 1823.
In 1987 an agreement was established to define land use for
that zone and it was deemed a zona especial de desm,rollo controlado
(ZEDEC). Under these terms, the factory and the, grounds were
m be preserved as an example of industrial archaeological remains.
However, it was then necessary to establish a new delimitation of
the archaeological zone to integrate the Cuicuilco ruins.
However, in spite of the presidential decree published in the
1987 Diario Of:cial to establish a new delimitation„ the regulation
law was never implemented. A series of land -use changes were
rapidly approved without consulting INAH or any of the other
agreement cosigners, thus annulling the preexisting agreement.
This action marked the beginning of several presidential initia-
tives that impeded INAH's function to protect., preserve, and
conserve the cultural resources of Cuicuilco.
Changes in land use between 1988 and 1995 were put into
effect with no real public consultation. Presented as changes for
the "public good," they were, in fact, attempts to impose the
perspectives and interests of public officials, investors, and devel-
opers, protected by the complacency of the federal government.
The corruption of public officials that has allowed the develop-
ment of Inbursa (1988), Parque Cuicuilco (1990), and Centro
Comercial y Cultural: Plaza Cuicuilco (1997) is a sociopolitical
reality. However, these officials are neglecting to fulfill their
primary responsibility —to protect national resources.
Because of the lack of governmental responsibility, the force
with which the social conscience was awakened was not surprising.
Contin ued onpage 32
32 Society for American Archaeology September
Continued from page 31—Cuimilto
The constant contradiction of standards and the disregard for
restrictions against urban development catalyzed the community to
organize, challenge the changes of land use, and sue the responsible
legislative bodies —such as the Asamblea de Representantes del
Gobierno of Mexico City —for revoking the original land -use
designations. This suitis one without precedent. The Junta Vecinal,
composed of concerned citizens, initiated the suit, calling for a
revocation of the disregarded legislative reforms that had estab-
lished land -use designations for this urban zone, and it can addition-
ally request a repeal of the new law for urban development.
The feelings of frustration and impotence of the community
group immersed in this social and political struggle led to a
division between factions of the group. Anew community organi-
zation presented another lawsuit against the authorities who
approved the changes in land use and who authorized the con-
struction permits. This suit was directed against the president of
Mexico, the city mayor, the director of INAH, the authorities of
the city urban development program and the local officials of
Tlalpan. This suit only achieved a judge's decree that in the future
all regulations and standards should be observed. It was not
successful in obtaining the desired response —to halt the construc-
tion undertaken by the Carso-Imbursa financial group.
Political candidates were quick to take advantage of the
push -and -pull of the situation, incorporating Cuicuilco and the
protection of the cultural patrimony as part of their political
platforms. The commotion between public opinion and the
not always representative —political powers politicized and mag-
nified substantive aspects of the Carso-Inbursa project. For
example, a distinguished Mexican architect, prompted by the
investment group, publicly declared his approval of the develop-
ment and modernization of the area, denying that it had any
visual impact on the archaeological zones, which were central to
the controversy. Such propaganda infuriated the public and led
a group of intellectuals to survey public opinion. Meanwhile, the
academics echoed the social discontent,
expressing their expert opinions without --
restraint, and exposing the many differ-
ent areas in which the project would
adversely affect Cuicuilco.
The Junta Vecinal, the core of the
social movement, provided an ongoing
and active dialogue through discussion
groups for concerned citizens and af-
fected residents, providing a venue for
direct public expression on how to re-
solve the situation. Their intent was to
avoid further political manipulation and
to honor the wishes of the people them-
selves. This direct dialogue resulted in
the presentation of proposals for the man-
agement of the cultural patrimony, urban
development, environmental impact, and
social and cultural aspects involved in the
undertaking, and in the final agreement
between investors, authorities, and the
community groups of commitments to a
more acceptable project. The final result
called for a redesign of the height of an
office building and elimination of 10 high-
rise residential buildings.
"Not only is Cuicuilco an
important archaeological
site, but it has a wealth of
cultural and folk traditions.
Culturally, it offers a
diverse and rich panorama
of the multiple occupations
that have left their imprints
throughout the centuries."
Not all Rocks Represent the Cultural
Patrimony, nor does all the Cultural Patrimony
Consist of Rocks ...
As a postscript, it is interesting to examine the events from an
anthropological perspective. The 1997 discussion among ar-
chaeologists, public officials, and other interested parties pre-
sented conflicting views: On one hand, the institutional claims
that "the project doesn't affect the culmral patrimony of the
archaeological zone," and on the other, the realization that the
area contains unique resources —the earliest hydraulic system of
the central highlands of Mesoamerica and a stele at the base of
the circular pyramid of Cuicuilco with glyphs associated to the
agricultural cycle (A. Pastrami and P. Fournier, 1997, Cuicuilco
desde Cuicuilco. In Actualidades Arqueologicas, Instituto de
Investigaciones Antropologicas, UNAM, Mexico; M. Perez
Campa, 1998, El gran basamento circular de Cuicuilco. In
Argueologia Mexican, INAH, Mexico).
This controversy over the protection of the national cultural
patrimony impelled us to confront a conceptual paralysis over the
definitions of the archaeological zone, the site, areas adjacent to
the site, visual impact, and scale, primarily because of a paralysis in
the legislation itself. All the protagonists in this drama were left in
an uncomfortable position, but INM3, in particular, demon-
strated that its place in the federal hierarchy has been battered
throughout the past decade, stripping it of any legal authority to
fulfill its mission of protecting cultural resources.
This situation, however, is not a valid justification for its
delayed and inappropriate response. In 1987, when INAH relied
on the strength of the agreement that adjudicated possession of
cultural resources from the Papal Loreto y Peiia Pobre factory
and property, it could have implemented an integrated salvage
andresearch project. It is incomprehensible that such an oppor-
tunity was ignored —indeed, publicly, it
-,,-, ----� appeared that INAHhad simply surren-
dered that right. This contention has
been verified by reviewing the docu-
mentation of the controversy, which re-
veals that the administrative board con-
sistently supported the investors' inter-
ests and ignored its responsibilities to
the community in urban planning and
development.
INAH's presence: is often consid-
ered by developers as the "pebble in the
shoe" —an interference with the
progress of urban and tourist develop-
ment in Mexico. Its public image has
rapidly deteriorated, and, except in a
very few instances, it is not considered
an effective catalyst for the protection
of cultural resources. It appears that its
role has been reduced to the care of a
handful of archaeological zones —pre-
ferred tourist areas which have inordi-
nately high budget allocations for re-
search and conservation.
Meanwhile, the balance of cultural
resources in the nation has been left to
061
1998 Volume 16, Number 4 33
the mercy of looters, deterioration, and prop cIsiyc desn-uction.
On numerous occasions we hoNe documented the proceedings
against the immediate intervention by INAI I —the invtitution
Icgally charged with the responsibilic, lire prntccting and situ
guarding Mexican cultural patrimum'. Such intervention, how-
ever,nolongcrurtries :un'wcipht. fod.ir, INAI I d('rNlnttrin CS:1
Iack of pn It, ssional :utd IcgaI rouqu tanrr nr apph' nny specific
nucusurce li rr cl IV, c prutccuon of ndnval rewu rrrs. It remains
uncnrpo.ecred.
'I'bc pact of ntndcrni Y.atinn and urban dcvclopntcnr adopted
by Lr IN, rnrnem IOh,iuls in the past dcradcs has not adequatek
n,nsidcred rbc e:duc and odiotal tecaltb of tile ccstiges ofprcvious
civilization, —like Cuicuilco—that are found in the urban land-
scape, nor have provisions been made for protection or conserva-
tion. In the social and political development of Mexico, the
protection of cultural patrimony is not exclusively a federal do-
main, but it is also a community responsibility. All Mexicans must
be attentive to the present and must rationally participate in the
planning for the future. This generation of Mexicans is proud of
its values and its national identity; it is threatened by the unre-
strained ambition of investors and developers who put their
personal financial gain before national welfare.
The Mexican public has set a precedent in the history of
Mexican social development by assuming the role of codef alder of
the cultural patrimony of Cuicuilco. It overcame the negative tone
of the challenge and successfully transformed it into a more accept-
able and purposeful action. By staying within the framework of the
legal issues surrounding Cucuilco and demonstrating violations of
INAH standards, the public successfully revoked the land -use
changes and temporarily suspended progress of the Carso-Imbursa
project. Ultimately, the lawsuit obtained a redesign of the original
project, downsizing it to a more acceptable scale.
The academic discussion groups held in 1997 were useful in
providing a venue for all the different factions involved in the
controversy to evaluate the cultural resources of Cuicuilco. With
a broader context to understand the importance of the archaeo-
logical zone, the need to redefine that archaeological zone and add
Cuicuilco to it became more apparent, as well as the need to revise
the 1972 federal law that refers to the protection of national
cultural patrimony yet provides several legal loopholes.
In conclusion, the Cuicuilco controversy has resulted a
public consensus on the need to establish a management program
for the conservation of cultural resources, guided by the highest
ethics and a responsibility to history. The responsibility for
implementation is charged not only to the democratically elected
officials to whom we have entrusted our faith and confidence, but
to the community —which should remain attentive to the social
and historical processes in Mexico —as well. With community
involvement, we can assist the transition to democratic change,
rooted in a solid individual and collective ethic, where the commu-
nity scruples and values can fortify the defense of the nation's
cultural patrimony. In this way, we can produce a model of the
Mexico in which we would want to live during the next century. 0
Ana Maria Salazar Peralta is at the Instituto de Investigaciones
Antropol6giras, UNAM, Mexico.
IF 7 .ram
French Archaeology
in Patagonia and
Tierra del Fuego
Dominique Legoupil
Since its creation of the Societe des Americanistes in 1876, France
has demonstrated a continuous interest in the study of human
populations in Latin America. This interest can be observed through
the research conducted by the Institut Fran,;;ais d'etudes Andines
(IFEA), founded in 1948 with headquarters in Lima, Bogota, La
Paz, and Quito, and Centre Fran�ais d'etudes Mexicaines et
Centramericaines (CEMCA), founded in 1961 with headquarters
in Mexico and Guatemala. These organizations have worked with
numerous scientific institutions, both local and French [i.e., Centre
National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ORSTOM, Ecole
des Hautes Ftudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Musee de
l'Homme, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Universites de
Paris I, III, VII, X, and Universite de Toulouse). These institutions
and the locations of their headquarters reflect the traditional French
interest in great civilizations, during the development of scientific
archaeology in the 19th century.
However, toward the end of the 19th century, some French
researchers became interested in some of the lesser known cul-
tures that didn't share the worldwide reknown of the Maya,
Aztecs, or Inca. Those pioneers were instrumental in developing
research under the sponsorship of the Departement des Sciences
Sociales, Humaines et de l'Archeologie del Ministere des Affaires
Etrangeres Frangais, known as the Misiones Arqueol6gicas. Cur-
rently there are 17 Misiones Arqueol6gicas distributed in Central
and South America: Bolivia (1), Brazil (3), Chile (2), Colombia (1),
Ecuador (2), Honduras (1), Mexico (5), and coastal Peru (2).
J. Emperaire and his wife, A. Laming-Emperaire, are two of
the more prominent pioneering archaeologists in South America.
Emperaire arrived in Chile shortly after World War 11, with the
objective of undertaking ethnological studies among the last of the
canocers of the Patagonian archipelagos Q. Emperaire, 1955, Les
Nomaides de in Mer). Emperaire initiated research to identify the
early occupants of the extreme south of South America and Brazil.
This work was interrupted by a landslide that killed Emperaire in
1958 during his excavations at Ponsomby. His work, however, was
continued by his wife. During the 1960s A. Laming-Emperaire
developed a school of French South American archaeology in Paris,
the EHESS, from which the majority of French prehistorians
interested in working in South America, as well as prominent South
American archaeologists, have emerged. Working with S. Dreyfus-
Gamelon, Laming-Emperaire created the Anthropology Depart-
ment at the Universidad de Concepcion in Chile, in 1966.
The work done by Emperaire in Patagonia was largely a
study of the marine areas including the archipelagos and the
interior seas of southern Patagonia. While the American re-
searcher J. Bird had suggested that the occupation of this region
did not predate 2000-3000 years, Emperaire's use of the then -new
radiocarbon dating, the Englefield site (Seno Otway) was dated to
8000-9000 B.P±1500 years (A. Laming y J. Emperaire,1961,
3oumal de la Societe des Americanistes). During that same time,
Emperaire discovered Ponsomby on the island of Riesco, where
the oldest human occupation was dated to 7000 B.P. Simulta-
Continued on Page 34
0bJ
24 Society for American Archaeology September
Working Together —
Dative Americans and Archaeology:
O A Vital Partnership
Robert Kelly
Acouple of years ago, while speakers at a conference wrestled
with defining archaeology's purpose, my mind wandered to that
day's Ku Klux Klan rally on the courthouse lawn in my small
Kentucky town. That, for me, solved the speakers' conundrum. It
seems too simplistic, but archaeology's purpose today is to play a
role in ending racism. Everything follows from this fact.
In the postmodern world, truth seems to be elusive. As in
Akira Kurosawa's film, Rasbomon, in which an event is retold
through the eyes of four characters, truth arises from multiple
perspectives. But it is the audience, not the participants, who are the
beneficiaries of any insights. Extending the analogy, it is those who
watch archaeologists, our students, and the public, who benefit from
multivocality. Archaeology achieves its goal through education.
Archaeologists in the academy have changed over the years.
I suspect that the first generation of academic archaeologists—
Nels Nelson, Alfred Kidder, and their contemporaries —knew
Native Americans as people, not just as objects of study. Reasons
for this include a humanistic bent in the field, the presence of
Native Americans as laborers on large projects, and the four -fields
approach with its emphasis on ethnography and linguistics.
In contrast, many archaeologists today receive scant training
in the other subfields. Their exposure to ethnology and linguistics
are often limited to a required undergraduate course. Native
Americans as real live people have faded from their experience. I
am embarrassed to admit that in my first five years of fieldwork in
the Great Basin, I never meta Native American. Many archaeolo-
gists actively distance themselves from cultural anthropology,
often because of the excesses of postmodernism, but in so doing,
they distance themselves from the descendants of those whom
archaeology studies. As we became better archaeologists, we
became worse anthropologists. The acrimonious debates that
preceded the Native American Graves Protection and Repatria-
tion Act (NAGPRA) showed just how far some had strayed from
understanding cultural identity —an issue that is central to cultural
anthropology today.
Conversations with colleagues who teach North American
prehistory suggest that most teach the subject as a mixture of
culture history and adaptive change. But as T. J. Ferguson once
pointed out (1996, Native Americans and the Practice of Archae-
ology. Annual Review ofAntbropology 25:63-80), this often does not
mean much to Native Americans. An alternative approach focuses
on prehistory as a historical text that reveals the meanings of
prehistory to Native Americans and speaks more to the cultural
histories of particular tribes.
But the format chosen for prehistory courses depends in
large measure on the constraints of academic programs. In the face
of low enrollments in anthropology courses, enrollment -based
funding formulas leave departments scrambling to wedge their
courses into the general education requirements that many uni-
versities have enacted. At the University of Louisville, for ex-
ample, we worked North American prehistory into a historical
studies slot because of the course's attention to social change. To
teach prehistory as text, the course would have to have been
acceptable to a humanities faculty that would have frowned on an
interloper and blocked the course's approval, to the detriment of
our department's enrollments.
However, I don't regret the course's placement because I
find that examining prehistory as a record of adaptive change helps
combat the unilineal evolutionary thinking that anthropology
abandoned long ago but that remains a major folk -explanation of
cultural diversity. While showing the cultural genius of North
Americas indigenous societies, I also examine the effects of envi-
ronmental change and increasing population density, providing
an alternative to a racialist explanation of the differences between
Native American and European history. For me, then, a scientific
materialist approach is a key tool in fighting raciism.
But there is always room for improvement, and it is some-
times forced upon us. Changes in permitting processes and the
increased control that tribes have over historic preservation have
obliged archaeologists to consult with Native Americans. Through
NAGPRA, many archaeologists have interacted with Native
Americans; without it, relationships between them may never have
developed. In small departments, archaeologists may teach North
American ethnographic survey courses. These experiences pro-
vide academic archaeologists with what many of our predecessors
had: real contact with the real issues of real Native Americans. Any
archaeologist who has experienced these situations has probably
been profoundly changed by their confrontations with unfamiliar
ways of thinking and teaching about the past.
The Material World versus
Native American Beliefs
While multiculturalism is the rage on campuses today, anthro-
pology is often excluded. One reason is that other disciplines'
approaches to multiculturalism are embarassingly naive; dia-
logue seems to be all that is needed. Talking is an important first
step, but what happens when ideas cancel each other out, as they
often do when it comes to human burials?
Science is concerned with evaluating ideas about how the
material world works. It cannot address, for example, the truth-
fulness of religious tenets. I can neither prove nor disprove Hopi
beliefs about the afterlife. To be true to my education as a
scientist, I must acknowledge that since I cannot prove Hopi
beliefs are false, then I must grant Hopis the possibility that they
might be true.
If in the process of doing and teaching archaeology we in
effect tell Native Americans, "Your religious concerns don't
matter," then we are in effect telling them that their religious
tenets are wrong —which we cannot honestly say.
1998 Volume 16, Number 4 25
Alternatively, ifwe claim that Native American concerns are
simply political issues, and we won't be the whipping boys for 500
years of mistreatment that we acknowledge as immoral, but that
we are not personally responsible —aren't we then subverting the
very reason for doing archaeology? Archaeologists cannot use
archaeology to fight racism if in the process they tell someone that
his or her concerns don't matter.
Butwhat about situations where archaeology and traditional
histories conflict with one another? For example, did the ancestors
of Native Americans come from Asia via the Bering Strait more
than 12,000 years ago? or did they originate here, as some Native
Americans argue? Honesty compels me to answer these questions
in the same way I would respond to a Christian fundamentalist
about human evolution. Archaeology is all about things located in
time and space. Religion and traditional histories often place
things in space and time, and these claims can be subjected to
scientific scrutiny, but they fundamentally encode knowledge that
is timeless and spaceless. These non -material claims cannot be
studied scientifically. This most emphatically does not mean that
they are therefore wrong, irrelevant, or uninteresting; it just
means that their evaluation lies in some other realm of inquiry.
Assuming that Native American religions reflect some fun-
damental truths. You will have to make your own decision here,
I've made mine —what does it mean when religion or traditional
histories and archaeology do not agree? What do things that are
rooted in time and space have to say about things that are timeless
and spaceless, and vice versa? What is to be the relationship
between science and religion? These are the ultimate challenges
facing anyone teaching archaeology.
A question of priorities is also raised. Consider this: archae-
ologists claim a burial is important for what it says about human
colonization of this hemisphere. Don't rebury it, some demand,
because the ability to collect new data is our legacy to future
generations. But, and I say this as someone who has excavated and
analyzed many burials —what if in the process of guaranteeing that
scientific legacy we dismiss the concerns of Native Americans and
hand down a legacy of racial tension? Is a better knowledge of the
past worth it? What are we doing this for, anyway?
If we must return every human burial, every artifact, and in
essence, cease being archaeologists, then that may be the sacri-
fice that archaeology must make for a greater good. But this is not
what I think should happen, and it is also not what think most
Native Americans would want to occur. People will continue to
reconstruct the past even without archaeology, and a clear
investigation of the past that demands evidence and argument
open to public critique offers the greatest opportunity to em-
power people and to learn.
New Opportunities for Collaboration
What of the future? Growing numbers of archaeologists have
altered their teaching methods to include discussion of the past's
meaning to Native Americans, the permission and consultation
process, the issues of burials and archaeological ethics, the adjudi-
cation of conflicts between archaeology and traditional histories,
and the recognition that Native Americans, like archaeologists,
have different ideas about archaeology, the past, and science.
More and more field programs emerge as joint efforts
between universities and tribes which simultaneously investigate
the past and the present, gather together new groups of people for
the first time; and bring intellectual and other benefits to tribal
members and archaeologists alike. Examples include Barbara
Mills' Silver Creekproject in Arizona; George Nicholas' program
with the Secwepemc in British Columbia; Keith Kintigh's project
with the Hopi; Joel Janetski's project at Fish Lake, Utah; and Cathy
Cameron's project in Bluff, Utah. In these projects, Native Ameri-
cans are equal partners in project definition, fieldwork, analysis, and
presentation. As these projects continue, we shall see more Native
American archaeologists —a step that promises changes in archae-
ology as important and exciting as radiocarbon dating.
These projects have worked because archaeologists have
approached tribes with genuine interest in the potential for
learning and with the understanding that archaeologists' view of
prehistory is only one way of looking at the past. The medium is
the message. Our methods of doing archaeology is as important
and meaningful as the results obtained from research.
This trend will continue in part because legislation forces it,
but also because archaeologists and Native Americans alike find
this approach fulfilling. For it to continue we must strengthen
archaeology's tie to the rest of anthropology. Although Native
American identity is at the heart of NAGPRA, the legislation is
based on a Western notion of ethnicity. Many archaeologists are
unaware of other ways of establishing identity. In southwest
Madagascar, where Lin Pover and I have conducted ethnographic
work, identity is based on subsistence, and can change from year
to year. Misapprehending ethnicity or other conceptualizations of
the past means that some archaeologists will be baffled by the
animosity that may follow even a close adherence to NAGPRA.
Archaeologists must become better anthropologists.
At the same time, however, archaeologists must become
better analysts of material culture and be honest about what can
and cannot be inferred from archaeological remains. My experi-
ence in ethnoarchaeology has taught me to recognize the differ-
ence between using an inferential argument and letting a precon-
ception tell the story. Academic courses need to focus more
attention on middle -range theory and formation processes.
Administrators also need a broader education to dispel the
Indiana Jones image of the archaeologist. They suppose that to
gain tenure, you must do what archaeologists do: Dig! But more
archaeologists must link projects to outreach programs to be
competitive in academia and in the ever-expanding world of
archaeology. Joint ventures with multiple consultations and levels
of permission is time-consuming, and faculty may find themselves
hard-pressed to conduct sufficient basic research for tenure or
promotion. However, adoption of the Carnegie Institute's ex-
panded definitions of scholarship, which place application and
service on equal footing with basic research, permit faculty to
succeed in academia while pursuing more applied programs, as
long as these criteria are accepted by the university.
In closing I would ask that Native Americans understand
that while archaeologists may trip over their feet and tongues,
most do mean well. Archaeologists don't do archaeology to pursue
the imperialistic intentions of a colonial government, at least not
intentionally. We are archaeologists because we are in love with
the past, with other ways of living and being. We study ruins
scientifically, but we also see beauty and elegance in Clovis points,
Hopewell pottery, and Pueblo Bonito's crumbled walls.
But if Native Americans need to be more forgiving, non -
Native American archaeologists must recognize thatNative Ameri-
cans are individuals, not interest groups; that the interface be -
Continued on page 26
065 r
26 Society for American Archaeology September
Continued from page 25—Working Togetber
tween Native Americans and archaeology is not
a purely political issue; and that we must be
Oprepared to make some sacrifices.
Among others, Randy McGuire (1992,
Archaeology and the First Americans. American
Anthropologist 94:816-836) and Larry Zimmerman (1989, Made
Radical by Mine Own. In Conflict in the Archaeology of Living
Traditions, edited by R. Layton, pp. 60-67. London: Unwin
Hyman) point out that an honest dialogue between Native Ameri-
cans and archaeologists will fundamentally alter the practice of
archaeology. This is happening. Archaeology will become applied
anthropology or it will become nothing. In so doing, we will create
a different, more vibrant archaeology that holds great promise as
a way to create unity rather than division. 0
Robert Kelly is professor ofanthropology at the University of Wyoming in
Laramie.
Continued from page 21—Gender Effects
percent of the total Ph.D.s between 1976 and 1986, not the 36
percent that Kramer and Stark present. While Stark et at. (1997)
reach a similar conclusion to that of Kramer and Stark, it rests in
part on an analysis that perpetuates these methodological errors.
To improve on the test for underrepresentation, I used
essentially the same technique as Kramer and Stark, but I made the
sample of Ph.D. recipients comparable to the sample of profes-
sors. I made comparisons for three chronological periods: the
early 1990s, the late 1970s, and 1967-1996. For the early I990s,
I quantified the women listed as faculty in the 1996-1997 Guide
and received their Ph.D. between 1991 and spring 1996 and
compared this to the number of women who received Ph.D.s from
1991 to spring 1996. I did the same calculation for men. (This is
the same analytical technique used for the institutional effect, but
with the data coded by gender rather than by graduate institution.
I could not assign gender to 18 Ph.D. recipients of this period and
therefore excluded them from the sample.) The results show that for
women, 30 (15.2 percent) of the 198 recent Ph.D. recipients found
jobs, and for men, 49 (17.3 percent) of the 284 recent graduates
found jobs. Stated differently, women received 41 percent of the
Ph.D.s and held 38 percent of the new jobs. Though men have
slightly better chances of finding teaching jobs, this difference is not
statistically significant at either the p = 0.05 or p = 0.10 levels (chi
squared=0.3145, df= 1). Ifwe eliminate part-time and consider only
full-time teachers, then women are better slightly respresented,
holding 40 percent (as opposed to 38 percent) of the jobs.
Conducting the same analysis for Ph.D. recipients in the late
1970s reveals that women were overrepresented in proportion to
their representation among Ph.D. recipients 15 years ago. Women
who received their Ph.D.s between 1976 and 1980 had a 40 percent
chance of finding a teaching job by 1981(45 jobs out of 112 Ph.D.$)
whereas men had only a 30 percent chance (88 jobs out of 293
Stated differently, women received 27.7 percent of the
P10 ),% but. took 33.8 percent of the jobs. Although this disparity is
imo It more substantial than in the preceding analysis, it is still not
ttnHtrally eiynilicant at either the p = 0.05 or p = 0.10levels (chi
4 7. 19146, df 1), 12csiricting the sample of professors to
^+'v tl,,. uuh lull note positions does not affect the results.
{ne VtW 6, PP* toudincd, •12 Ph.D. recipients were of
..•t=+t+.t,«,. W t' nd« 1, uouvvu bada" I percentchanceof finding
a job (199 faculty of 685 Ph.D.$) whereas males had a 37.8 percent
chance offinding ajob (53 5 faculty of 1,416 Ph.D.$). This difference
is statistically significant at the p = 0.005 level (chi square = 10.0643,
df = I). Stated differently, women held 32.2 percent of the doctor-
ates, but only 27.1 percent of the faculty positions.
In summary, the gender effect is a significant factor in hiring
practices for the combined time span of 1967 to 1996, but does not
appear to be significant in either of the two five-year windows
within this span (the each, 1990s and the late 1970s). In fact, female
archaeologists actually had a better chance of finding a teaching
job than men in the late 1970s. There are two ways to account for
this discrepancy: (I) it is possible that hiring practices in the 1980s
and early 1970s were unequal enough to overcompensate for the
parity in the late 1970s and early 1990s; or (2) it is possible that
women, although hired in equal proportions, do not stay in their
jobs as long as men. The results of the 1994 SAA survey support
the second explanation, showing that women are more likely to
hold non -tenure track positions or lower paying positions and are
less likely to receive employment benefits when, compared to men
(Zeder 1997a:75, 86, 101). In other words, I postulate that women
are underrepresented because tenure discrimination or unequal
compensation drives some women into other careers.
Conclusion
The results of this study suggest that there is an institutional effect
on hiring practices; however, it is currently not as strong as it has
been in the past We cannot determine if the fact that highly -
ranked institutions have better employment records is due to the
power of a prestigious name or due to the possibility that students
receiving Ph.D.s from these institutions are "better' archaeolo-
gists. On the other hand, contrary to the conclusions of Stark et al.
(1997), this study suggests that women are indeed being hired in
academia in proportion to their representation among Ph.D.
recipients. However, the gender effect influences hiring practices
in other ways. Even though women might be hired to teach in
equal proportion to the number of women receiving Ph.D.s, the
types of jobs they find are not equal to the jobs held by men,
perhaps causing women to abandon academia more often than
men. Of equal importance is the fact that while there is gender
parity in the student population of SAA, fewer females than males
receive Ph.D.s. Like Stark et al. (1997), I conclude that the chilly
climate toward females begins at least as early as graduate school,
"where conditions both in the discipline and the wider society
affect the proportion of women Ph.D. recipients." Researching
these conditions, as well as the meaning of the institutional effect,
will require scholars interested in the unequal distribution of
archaeological capital to move toward a finer -grained ethno-
graphic approach.
Notes
'I have included emeritus faculty in this sample, but have excluded
faculty without doctorates.
2Professors receiving degrees from Canadian graduate programs and
teaching in Canada were included. In 1986, female professors held 20
percent of full time jobs (Kramer and Stark 1988). In 1992 female
professors held 21 percent of full time jobs (Start; et al. 1997).
Scott Randolph Hutson is in the graduate program at University of"
California, Be,keley.
U66
ert
e
i-
ig
As
n
3t
Aa
he
ts
at
e
to
3
Jay von Werlhof wants to save rock fish traps that
were built between 700 and 1600 AD near what Is
® Scientists want to
preserve the
remaining devices that
were built by Indians
centuries ago on a
precursor to the sea.
The Associated Press
SALTON CITY
Gravel mining and farming have
destroyed most of the granite fish
trapscrafted crafted centuries ago by
Desert Cahuilla Indians on the
western fringes of a precursor of
the Salton Sea, but a few remain
and archaeologists want to save
them.
"They're really a wonderful in-
vention," said Jay von Werlhof,
director of the planned Imperial
Valley College Desert Museum in
Ocotillo, adding that the traps hold
valuable clues about how the Indi-
ans survived in the desert.
More than 100 trap remnants
are believed to cover a swath along
state Route 86 by Salton City, about
160 miles east of San Diego. The
New Mexico -based Archaeological
CAmrvancy Is hoping to raise
1100,000 to buy 360 acres of private
VjJPVW1q_ where the traps
anc F 1 A,Cl m` h • Iuebudy, iwtuA'y Lo
YUCaipdr
c
The Associated Press
now the Salton Sea. The entrance to the traps is
between two larger rocks in front.
were found and give it to the Anza
Borrego Desert State Park for
preservation.
The group has raised about half
the money, but has only until
March before its option on the
property expires.
Von Werlhof, a 76-year-old re-
tired archaeology professor, has
roamed the desert for years cata-
loging dozens of traps and worked
to solve the mysteries behind the
Indians who made them.
"No one taught them how to do
it. They had to figure it out for
themselves;" he said. "They show
that these people were very adap-
tive to the challenges of their
environment."
Desert Cahuilla Indians made
hundreds of the traps on the shore-
line of the now -dry Lake Cahuilla
to catch mullet, humpback chub
and bonytail. The lake formed in
700 A.D. when the Colorado River
changed course and inundated
huge stretches of the Imperial and
Coachella valleys.
When Rood waters forced many
Indians from their Coachella Val-
ley homes, several hundred are
believed to have settled near the
freshwater lake at the foot of the
Santa Rosa Mountains.
Because the Indians probably
had never seen a lake, they had no
experience at fishing, von Werlhof
said. They then taught themselves
how to fish, grouping bowling ball -
size rocks into V-or U-shapes with
open-ended tips in the shallows.
Working in teams, they herded fish
into 10-foot-long weirs.
"They would scare the fish,
which would scoot through the
opening," von Werlhof said.
The Indians then would close off
the gap with a boulder and scoop
up the fish.
The lake evaporated sometime
after 1500, when the Colorado
River again altered its course. The
Cahuilla are believed to have aban-
doned the area and returned to the
foothills. The creations they left.
behind, though, represent more
than just discarded tools, said Lynn
Dunbar, who directs the conser-
vancy's western office in Sacra-
mento.
"These people had to develop
new ways of living off that land,"
Dunbar said. "When you have that.
kind of change in the way people
go about dealing with their envi-
ronment, what they leave behind is
a record of more than just what.
they left behind, but the why4477 riie�
were thinkine." ' d
gets ne
Web sit
By Jeremy Berzon
The Press -Enterprise
After three years c
officials say was a
site, Yucaipa has a n<
in cyberspace, one t
hope will give resid
access to their city.
For the last three ye,
had its Web page t
Enterprise for Econc
lence, a nonprofit orgai
ated by the San Bernar
superintendent of sch
But, city officials say
they wanted to update t
they had to call a techr
Bernardino.
Administrative Sery
Greg Franklin said the
was not updated often,
received a number of
from residents about I
formation.
Community Develop
for John McMains said
"didn't have anything
some PR blurbs. It w
Last week, after a
months of preparatio
unveiled its new web e
Yucaipa.Org. And o
City Council members I
to take a look at it.
The advantage to tl
Franklin said, is that i
Cybertime Network ;
based in Yucaipa, an
hand to help with tecl
lems.
In addition, the cit}
any changes or additioi
without having to call
help.
"It took less than twt
change the City Counc
Franklin said.
The new site, whip
Yucaipa's city symbol
topped mountain, has
section for each city de
explains the role of e,
ment and allows users
mail to each departm
Soon, Franklin said,
cil member will have
account through the Wi
soon, registration forn
of new businesses in Y
be available, he said.
The site will cost the
$600 a vear. Franklin