ANTH 120 Students   (2002)   ANTH 205 Students
 Mapping, Excavation and Wet Screening
CALIFORNIA INDIAN CONFERENCE AT PALOMAR

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PROJECT BACKGROUND:  Palomar plans to construct a new Life Sciences building on top of an ancient Indian site, CA-SDI-5581.  The site was first recorded in 1976 and formal test excavations to determine the site's significance and research potential were conducted in 1999 by Gallegos and Associates of Carlsbad.  The study confirmed that an ancient San Dieguito/Archaic site, dating from 3,000 to 8,000 years ago is present on the proposed building location.   Since the site cannot be avoided during construction, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) provides that impacts to the site must be mitigated.  This is usually done through major data recovery excavations which can be quite expensive.  Dr. Philip de Barros, Director of the Palomar Archaeology Program, decided to move the program's field school from Poway to the site of SDI-5581.  This should result in substantial savings to the university who would otherwise have to hire an outside contractor to conduct the excavations.

Formal excavation began at the site in September 2000 when a series of Shovel Test Pits (STPs) were excavated to establish site boundaries more clearly.  On September 23, a crew of 37 beginning and advanced students, assisted by teaching assistants Greg Van't Land and Laura Anderson, began the excavations of a series of 1x1 m excavation units.   The excavations continued in the Fall of 2001 and the last phase is underway during the Fall of 2002.  Over 50 units will have been excavated by the end of the season.  To date, the site has produced abundant lithic debitage (waste flakes) from stone tool making, some animal bone, a few manos and mano fragments,  and numerous cores and flaked stone tools, including a few dart points and arrowheads.  No human remains have been encountered.   Arrow points include a Cottonwood Triangular point and a Desert Side-notched point.  A few sherds of Tizon Brownware pottery have also been recovered.  The arrow points and pottery indicate the site was reoccupied during the Late Prehistoric Period, perhaps after ca. A.D. 1300 or 1400.  At least 12 pieces of obsidian and some shellfish fragments have been found; both can provide information on trade and site chronology.  The current class includes 40 beginning and advanced students of all ages, two field assistants (Wayne Abrahamson and Scott Hensiek), and a lab assistant (Akesa Kirkpatrick).

Excavations at SDI-5581

Mapping Site SDI-5581
Ed Bowen at Total Station	Close-up of Total Station	Tom Redd Manning Prism
Excavating 1x1 m Units
View of Excavations Facing Northwest	Asa, Mae, and Greg View Excavation Unit	1x1 m Excavation Unit Excavated to 20 cm
Site Overview	Mike and Ian Dry Screening	Craig Doing Side Wall Cleaning
Wet Screening
Overview of Wet Screening Area	Afton, Greg, and Jackie Wet Screening	Wet Screening Close-up

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