On October 25, 2024, members of the Scotts Valley Display Project Committee (SVDP) met at Scotts Valley City Hall, to lay out a mock-up of the new Scotts Valley Site display. Attending members were Julie Edwards, Sarah Brewer, and Mary Gerbic. Amanda Boesen and her colleague Elina, drove down from the Bay Area with text panels and photos to arrange in the display case. This was our third visit to the display case this year.
Photo 1. Julie Edwards and Sarah Brewer reworking display text.
This meeting helped us to visualize the finished display by putting these temporary labels in the exhibit case. We developed a plan for how the exhibit would flow. We think the eventual display mural has to be smaller than the temporary copy currently in the display. We have Linda Yamane’s permission to use this artwork temporarily, but if we use it for a longer period, we should reprint it at a higher resolution.
Once we had the draft text in place, we decided that we needed to make a few edits, so the text is being rewritten for clarity. We also want to put more emphasis on the people who lived here (Photo 1), and to capture the imagination of visitors. When we are satisfied with the updated text, we plan to share it with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band for their feedback.
The display text will convey what we have learned from recent artifact analysis, radiocarbon dates, and the original report produced by Bob Cartier. The recent artifact analysis and reevaluation of the data was performed earlier this year by Drs. Gabriel Sanchez of the University of Oregon and Richie Rosencrance of University of Reno, Nevada, two noted researchers of Late Pleistocene and early Holocene settlement and technology in western North America.
Items and text mounted on the sides of the display will be oriented toward the visitor for readability (Photo 2). In the center of the back wall, a strip of blue tape marks the location of a clear shelf holding some of the artifacts.
Photo 2. Display case mock-up.
We do not have the shelf yet, and the artifact copies are not painted to look like the originals. The SCAS board agreed to accept the bid provided by Alicia Goode, who designs and paints exhibit models, to paint a sample of artifact casts that were molded from actual artifacts recovered from the 1983 excavation. Additionally, Alicia will create a cast model of a feature located in the floor of an excavation unit that to be displayed in the lower left of the display case. Amanda will deliver the artifact copies to Alicia.
The exhibit space is limited, so too many photos and text would look cluttered. However, there is so much more to learn about the site, and we know people will have questions. Therefore, we decided to create QR codes that the visitors can scan to access more information. We are optimistic that the display project, which has met with unfortunate and unintended delay, is back on track. We will be keeping you appraised of significant developments as they occur.
