Cabrillo Archaeology Field School, Day 4 June 17th 2010. Written by Tiffany

The crew started out this morning at seven thirty a.m. We saw many deer, turkey, and grouse. We headed north to Project Area Two, where we divided into three separate groups. Our goal was to survey the area that had not yet been recorded into the archaeological record. Our group consisted of the following: Dusty McKenzie, Tess, Kelsey, Jenna, Ed, Lauren, John, Candice, and I. The area that we were surveying was at the north end of Project Area Two bordered by Orestimba Creek and Panther Gulch. We surveyed across from East to West in ten meter transects and then conducted a second adjacent sweep from West to East. Anchors had G.P.S. units but we used compasses to keep our bearings.The altitude at its highest point was just over fourteen hundred feet and riddled with quartz and chalcedony chips, which made for a lot of fake-outs. There were many limitations including vegetation, surface visibility, poison oak, downed trees, bees, slope, lack of visibility of other group members and mangled burnt-out trees. Our pickaxes came to many of our rescues throughout the day for keeping ourselves from falling. Our findings in this area were negative of any archaeological sites but due to the many obstacles that disrupted our transits this survey can not conclusively say that none exist.

After we concluded transects of this area we moved on to a smaller clearing just to the northeast outside our project area. Here we found two small chert flakes, two small bone fragments, one most likely a larger mammal and the second bird bone. Lower on the landscape in a rock outcrop Dusty found a bed rock mortar.

We then continued on back to the vans to meet up with the other groups to head back to base camp where we ate dinner and had a group discussion about the day and the articles that we had read over the week.

Cabrillo Archaeology Field School, Day 3 June 16th 2010. Written by: Stephen Hennek

Field school can be a very rough place at times. Last night was no exception; gale force winds came and went through the night as we enjoyed a few burning embers around the fire. At one point the wind blew hard enough to take down the tent that we used to store our food. In our struggle to save it, nylon chairs were singed after being blown into the fire and cups of various liquids were hurled across the campsite. After a rough night of sleep for many of us, we were rewarded by waking up to a beautiful day. After a quick breakfast we had a meeting to share our thoughts on our first few days of field school as well as our focuses for future aspirations for research questions we will address this summer. Dusty talked about the prehistory of the area and how it has mostly been recorded as an area where the indigenous inhabitants exploited the benefits of the resident elk population. So far this has been a hard concept to swallow because most of the site we have surveyed contained subsistent materials, such as hopper stones imprinted with cupules and hand stones. Few lithic scatters have been found, which does not coincide with the recorded history of the area. Dusty concluded the meeting by gifting us our first Marshaltown trowels (a pivotal moment for any aspiring archaeologist).

Day three was spent once again at site CA-SCL-504 finishing up our site maps as well as learning to describe ground stone artifacts, and filling out primary record forms and archeological site records. We spent our lunch enjoying the warm sun, a cool creek, and a few PB&J sandwiches. After lunch we headed to the sites we will be excavating in the weeks to come. Although Annamarie’s driving abilities gave us a few scares we somehow made it to our destination in one piece. Kolin entertained us with his mountain goat finesse as he climbed rock outcroppings and pointed out rattlesnakes that we should probably avoid; whether or not he did is a different matter. After a long day of hiking and playing in the dirt a few of us enjoyed a dip in the local watering hole. The water snakes were not present this time around but Kolin was able to use his toe as bait for the resident fish. Tomorrow will complete out first week of field school, thanks to Dusty and the rest of the crew chiefs, our lives are well on their way to be left in ruins.

Cabrillo Archaeology Field School, Day 2 June 15th 2010. Written by: Christina Spellman

The tasks today included calculating our individual paces and recording/mapping of two sites in San Clemente. First we leisurely walked along a one hundred meter measuring tape. By dividing one hundred meters by the number of steps taken over that distance, we could calculate how to use our stride/pace to map features and sites. A second essential skill required in recording a site is knowing how to use a compass. I learned not only how to record a site today, but also the potential of what a compass can do. In comparison to yesterday, being our first day at the field school, today was gorgeously temperate. Drinking water seemed to be not necessary, yet everyone packed and drank probably 4 liters, obviously a result of learning from the treacherous first day intensive excursion/learning.

After returning to camp, we listened to a wonderful flintknapping demo by Tim Gross. His awesome engagement was challenged by the chilling wind gnawing at our sun drenched limbs, but Tim prevailed, leaving us with lithic info and the curiosity to ask what defines “debitage,” what signifies a chronology of tool use, etc. After two days, the field school is everything I expected and I’m sure much more. Half of the pleasure of the experience is discovering California on a different level than what I knew before and knowing new potential archaeologists.

Cabrillo Archaeology Field School Day 1 June 14th 2010, Written by Emily Zimmermann

Day one of field school was a lot of fun, and also a tough reality check on what dangers the wilderness has to offer. We took a long hiking tour of several sites including a historic site and several prehistoric sites. As we hiked we learned a lot about the native and non-native vegetation. The prehistoric sites would never have jumped out at you; there was a lot of ground cover so things were hard to find, but once we knew where the sites were we found many exciting artifacts and cultural remains. At one site we found some olivella shell beads, some burnt bone, and a lithic scatter. At other sites there were cupules, these small depressions in the rock that some archaeologists hypothesize had ritual or spiritual significance because of their somewhat artful placements. At one site there were at least 8 if not more mortars, all somewhat in a row, spaced about 5-15 feet apart. It was interesting too because many of them seemed intentionally faced down. One student suggested it was to keep them from collecting stagnant water. These were probably used to process plant foods such as acorns. They were likely from the late prehistoric period when acorn exploitation was intensified. The most fun was definitely the swimming hole. We’re looking forward to passing by that swimming hole every day after the dig. As fun as that was, the hike back was pretty rough, up a long steep hill to get back. A few people had to hang back and later we brought them some water. By the time I’d reached the last stretch, I was so fed up I ran up the last 50 feet or so of the hill. When I got to the top I threw up! But I felt so much better afterwards, and at no time was it ever not worth it. Day 1: amazing!