Fall 2008 Excavations at SDI-12510/H in Association With the Vallecitos Water District

ANTH 120 Students      ANTH 205 Students

Fall 2008 Excavation Photos

The Vallecitos Water District, under the management of its General Manager, Bill Rucker, had been encouraging Palomar College to conduct excavations on several sites situated on Vallecitos Water District Land.  Bill has a passionate interest in archaeology and we came to an agreement that Palomar would commence such excavations in the Fall of 2003.  Excavations have been conducted in 2003-04, and now again in 2007-08.

The Water District has been extremely helpful in facilitating Palomar's archaeological field school (ANTH 120 and 205, Beginning and Advanced Excavation).  It has provided a 10 x 20 ft container to store equipment on site, a portable bathroom for students and staff, and a water line from the main buildings up to the site so that wet screening of site deposits can be done on-site.  The District also cleared a 5' wide path from the parking lot up to the two sites we will be investigating, and this year between SDI-12592/H and the centralized wet screening area.  The District has also provided aerial photos and other documentation.

PREVIOUS EXCAVATIONS (1994, 2003-2004, 2007):  SDI-12510/H and SDI-12592/H were the subject of test excavations by Gallegos and Associates in 1994, with Ivan Strudwick serving as Field Director.  They excavated three 1 x 1 m units (two in 12510/H and one in SDI-12592/H) and 28 shovel test pits.  They recorded bedrock milling features A-D at SDI-1250/H and Features A-C at SDI-12592/H.  A report was prepared on the prehistoric Archaic component of SDI-12510/H and the early 20th century trash feature at SDI-12592/H.

In 2003, Palomar began work at SDI-12510/H.  Another 27 shovel test pits were excavated and six 2 x 2 m units were opened up in the heart of the site.  Most of the STPs were sterile, but one contained a large basin metate fragment!  Artifacts included a dart point, a slate pendant, debitage, flaked and ground stone tools, animal bone, and a few pieces of obsidian.  Two additional milling features (E and F) were located.

In 2004, the 2 x 2 m units were continued and six 1x1 and 1x2 m units were excavated.  A major hearth feature was encountered in Unit 7 in 2004 at a depth of 70 cm. SDI-12510/H was mapped by Palomar graduate Koji Tsunoda and Joel Paulson, including prehistoric and historic surface artifacts, all excavation units and shovel test pits, as well as milling features. Test Unit 14 produced relatively abundant historic glass and ceramic artifacts, including purple glass and fragments of a transfer ware cup.

In 2007, Assistant Professor and archaeologist, Jim Eighmey, joined the full-time faculty at Palomar College.  He assisted the Coordinator, Professor Philip de Barros (Dr. D), with the excavation class in 2007 and is running the excavations at SDI-12510/H this year, while Dr. de Barros leads a team at the Sikes Adobe in Rancho Bernardo (SDI-12650H).

In 2007,  we continued to explore both the prehistoric and historic components at SDI-12510/H and expanded the study to include the prehistoric and historic components of SDI-12592/H.  Very little was found at this site:  a couple of prehistoric flakes and a few historic artifact fragments.  The bedrock milling features were redrawn, which led to the exclusion of one feature as non-cultural and the discovery of another milling feature in its place.  Historic artifacts collected to date suggest the two historic components at SDI-12510/H and SDI-12592/H were probably contemporaneous and may be part of the same occupation.  Archival research is underway to resolve this issue. Perry Kroh began work on a title search and also sought to find out when a structure was once on the property at SDI-12510/H.  Other advanced students mapped the bedrock milling features at both sites, including a small slick (Feature G1) found in the first level of Unit 22A. 

This year (2008) we expanded test units into the vicinity of milling outcrops Features A and B at SDI-12510/H.  Gallegos' 1994 Test Unit 2 indicated considerable midden in this vicinity as well several stone tools on the surface.  The Vallecitos Water District cleared a path up to this area so we could avoid walking through dense brush.   A number of units are being excavated there.  Preliminary results are as follows: 1) there is a relatively dense deposit in the upper 20 cm (especially 10-20 cm) that tends to fade out to about 40-50 cm with one unit hitting bedrock with flakes into nooks and crannies up to 70 cm; 2) a couple of rock features (possible base of a structure and/or hearths) were encountered that are continuing to be explored with additional units.  Several stone tools (mano, hammerstone, probable scraper plane) have been found in association with these rock features.  Some bone and charcoal have been found associated with the hearth feature in Unit 39 but no obsidian. A dart point fragment has also been found in a nearby unit.  Three new small milling features have been found: one near Feature G1 (G2), one near the units east of Feature A (Feature H), and one just up the hill east of Feature A (Feature I).  The latter was originally noted but not mapped by Koji Tsunoda in 2004.  Units not finished in 2007 have also been completed and an additional unit is being excavated in an area that had produced numerous historic artifacts in 2004 and 2007.  A second probable dart point fragment has also been found. Joel Paulson returned to assist in the mapping of the new milling features and excavation unit locations.  The historic artifacts are being examined by Wendy Dorenbush.  So far, ceramic makers marks and bottle glass marks indicate occupation ca. 1900-1910+, including fragments of a purple bottle made by the Kerr Glass Company of Portland, Oregon, between 1904-1909.  Advanced student, Marty Jorgensen is continuing archival research on the property.  No structures are shown on the ca. 1900 and 1942 USGS maps, nor on the 1928 aerial photo of the area; however, since the property apparently was occupied ca. 1900-1910+, this is not surprising.

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Descriptions of SDI-12510/H and -12592/H based on information provided in the 1994 Gallegos report:

SDI-12510/H:  The prehistoric component of this site is an Archaic (Millingstone) Period site  The historic component consists of a surface scatter of relatively recent historic artifacts.  The prehistoric component measures 100 x 75 m.  Its scientific significance was evaluated by Gallegos and Associates (1994) using limited test excavations consisting of surface collections, the recording of four milling features, and the excavation of two 1 x 1 m test units and 19 shovel test pits (STPs).  The effort produced 1,022 flakes (waste flakes or debitage), 17 modified flakes (casual tools), 6 pieces of ground stone tools, 4 biface fragments, 4 cores, 3 hammerstones, and one core tool.  The site also produced 84.2 g of animal bone and three pieces of fired clay or daub.  Lithic materials that were imported from some distance to the site include one piece of Coso Volcanic Field obsidian from near China Lake and Ridgecrest and one piece of Piedra de Lumbre chert from northern San Diego County.   A single hearth feature made of fire-altered granitic rocks was found in the 30-50 cm level of Unit 1.  The lack of pottery and small arrowheads, along with the presence of a large dart point or knife fragment and a 6.3 obsidian hydration reading from the Coso obsidian, indicate an Early Period or San Dieguito/Archaic period occupation.  No formal testing was done on the historic materials which consist of a surface scatter of relatively recent glass, metal, and ceramic artifacts.  Historic materials were not encountered below the surface.   The prehistoric component of SDI-12510/H was judged to be a significant cultural resource by Gallegos and Associates (1994) because of the large number and diversity of artifact types, its early time period, and the relatively good integrity of the archaeological deposits.

SDI-12592/H:  This site measures 40 x 25 m in size.  It was tested using surface collections, nine shovel test pits (STPs) and one 1 x 1.5 m excavation unit.  Three milling features with 14 milling elements were also mapped and recorded.  The subsurface prehistoric component consisted of 6 pieces of debitage and 0.1 g of bone.  No subsurface features were noted.  The material may be part of the prehistoric use area associated with SDI-12510/H just to the north.  The historic component is much more substantial. It consists of a concentration of historic artifacts that include glass, ceramics, metal, and leather artifacts to a maximum depth of 10 cm.  This deposit is spatially associated with a bedrock milling outcrop.   A surface collection in a 7 x 10 m area and the excavation of one STP and one 1 x 1.5 m test unit resulted in the recovery of 663 artifacts.   According to Gallegos and Associates (1994), the historic materials represent a single refuse deposit laid down [ca. 1900-1910+].  This site was judged not to be a significant cultural resource, but the entire extent of this site will be investigated by the Palomar College Archaeology Program during upcoming seasons.   A particularly interesting question is whether this site was in fact a part of the prehistoric and historic occupations found at SDI-12510/H.