Upcoming Events
- SPEAKER EVENT: Victoria Asia Roberson: “The Bioarchaeology of Care.” (December 12, 2024)
In the Spotlight
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez: “Tales (and Tails) from the Bolcoff Adobe: A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Recently Excavated Fauna”
The Bolcoff Adobe is the oldest standing structure at Wilder Ranch State Park. The floor of the Bolcoff Adobe was excavated in an effort to reach the underlying, precolonial indigenous archaeological deposits. Excavators deemed this effort to have been largely unsuccessful, but zooarchaeological analysis shows that some precolonial archaeological remains were recovered.
Jason Field: “The Doghole Ports of Big Sur: Using History and Archaeology to Explore a Frontier Maritime Cultural Landscape”
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, industrial companies entered the rugged frontier mountains of Big Sur and the greater pacific coast in search of lumber, limestone, and other extractable resources. Reliable overland road networks and railroads were nearly nonexistent in these extreme coastal frontiers. The only economically efficient method for importing and exporting machinery or extracted resources was to use schooners and the ocean as a transportation corridor. The doghole port become the vital link between the resource extraction zones, the ocean highway, and the city markets. These constructions consist of conveyance structures, most often a wooden chute or wire cable, which delivered or received cargo from ocean vessels. Using a maritime cultural landscape perspective, this study explores the history and archaeology of doghole ports to expand understandings of settlement and industry in Big Sur. Continue reading
Ryan Brady and Sarah Brewer: “Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology in the City of Santa Cruz: Implications for Past Occupation and Land Use – When and Why?”
Dudek recently completed a cultural resources sensitivity study for the City of Santa Cruz. In addition to compiling information for all archaeological reports and recorded sites within the City limits, we developed a sensitivity model for predicting the locations of past activities. The sensitivity model considered variables such as distance to water, slope, and soil type and provided some surprising results when compared with the existing record. This study has implications for understanding prehistoric and historic land use in the Santa Cruz area and can also be used to interpret or predict more regional trends along California’s Central Coast. Continue reading
John Foster: “Archaeology Underwater: Exploration and Conservation Beyond the Shores of Time”
Foster will present a broad overview of underwater archaeology in California and beyond. Using such examples as Manila galleons, Spanish frigates, Steel-hulled passenger steamers, and WWII tankers, he will describe how archaeology is done in the underwater environment and why it’s important to understand and conserve maritime cultural resources. Underwater sites can produce amazing preservation conditions and important heritage information. It’s been said that the aqueous environment contains the greatest repository of human cultural heritage on earth. New technological advances are making these sites accessible, so what will be the future of the underwater past?
Juliana Quist: “CA-YOL-249: Initial Findings from an Early Middle Period Cemetery Site in the Sacramento Valley”
CA-YOL-249 offered a unique opportunity to investigate a previously unidentified, largely undisturbed, Early Middle Period cemetery site in the Sacramento region. Excavations by Archeo-Tec in 2016-2017 utilized modern field techniques and laboratory technologies to interpret the physical record. In advance of a formal project publication, this talk by Project Manager, Juliana Quist, will present an overview of the site using radiocarbon dating, lithic analysis, osteology, and comprehensive mortuary analysis, and this information will provide valuable contributions to the body of archaeological knowledge of the region.
SCAS Field Trip to Monterey’s Old Whaling Station and the Whaler’s Cabin at Pt. Lobos
Please join members of the Santa Cruz Archaeological Society (SCAS) for a guided field trip in Monterey CA on Sunday, September 23rd. We will be visiting two beautiful local landmarks of archaeological and historic significance. Come learn about the historic, architectural restoration of the Old Whaling Station, and the shore-whaling efforts and processes in the 1800s at Point Lobos. Continue reading
Beth Mabie: “Place of the Spirit Woman Spring Site”
Santa Teresa Springs in South San Jose was once the convergence of oak woodlands and marsh as well as home to Ohlone Thámien-speaking tribal groups. Construction activities in the early 1970s uncovered skeletal remains and artifacts that were recovered by West Valley College, San Jose State University, and local high school volunteers. The collection (CA-SCL-125) sat for decades before being dusted off and analyzed. Come and learn about ’Arma ’Ayttakiš Rúmmey-tak (“Place of the Spirit Woman Spring Site”).
Georgie DeAntoni: “Post-Contact Paleoethnobotany in California: Studying Indigenous Landscape Management Practices Along the Central Coast”
Within California archaeology, paleoethnobotany—the study of plant remains—has most commonly been applied to pre-colonial contexts. However, much can be learned by using paleoethnobotany to study the post-contact period, particularly in examining questions of landscape change and Indigenous resilience. Continue reading
