Archaeogroup - Projects

Title: CA-RIV-7959 or Larry Hill's Personal Pathologies / (10 Images)

While archaeology may seem pretty exciting to many people, much of our work just plain isn't. For instance, writing reports on properties that contain no resources can be drudgery. Sometimes, however, we have investigations that are really fun. A 50-acre property that we surveyed in 2006 in Sky Valley for Desert Skies Development was one such project.

A portion of this property contained remarkably well-preserved "refuse scatters," or in simpler terms, can dumps. The aridity and low salinity of this upper Coachella Valley environment allows for exceptional preservation. The trash scatters represent recreational homestead activity from the late 1950s. In the mid-20th century the Federal government, in its altruistic wisdom, decided to make 5-acre "recreational" homesteads available in the desert, among other places, to the public. In the long run there were some problems with this idea, such as abandoned cabins littering the landscape. But some of these once worthless properties are now worth millions of dollars, for instance, in areas of Rancho Mirage and Cahuilla Highlands. While the actual study area had been part of a large railroad land grant, adjacent areas comprised these five-acre "jackrabbit homesteads" and there are numerous small cabins from that era in the vicinity today.

The can dumps on the property almost certainly represent the activity of the nearby recreational homesteaders. In fact, probably the activity of one particular individual, Lawrence Hill, is represented. These refuse scatters dated to 1957-1958 based on bottle manufacturing information. We are expected by the State to record everything over 45 years old when we conduct a Phase I study. Consequently, these scatters were recorded as an historical archaeology site, numbered CA-RIV-7959. Most can dumps have their artifacts deteriorated to the point where the product labels are not discernable and one can only guess at what they once contained. This site, however, has many specimens where the labels--including even some paper examples-remain intact. The main artifact category is cans (350+ specimens), along with some glass, ceramic, and other metal items. Identifiable products include Sunkist Lemon Juice, Country Club Malt Liquor, Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, Lucky Beer, Brew 102 Beer, Bergermeister Beer, and Budweiser Beer. Among other items there are 20+ Copenhagen snuff lids present. The site falls into five loci which indicate multiple dumping episodes.

Bureau of Land Management records show three nearby recreational homesteads. There has never been any occupation of the actual study area. People at these nearby homesteads were very likely responsible for the creation of the can scatters. Furthermore, given the consistency of the materials in the deposit, probably only one of the homesteads was responsible for the creation of the dump. For instance, the beer cans are opened with only one hole, rather that the more common two holes. Also, the same products appear in the different loci. Two of the three homesteads were granted to women, Mary Gladys Wynkoop and Theresa L. Watson. One was made to a man, Lawrence W. Hill, on April 13, 1956. If we can make an assumption that the refuse indicates activities traditionally associated with men--beer drinking and tobacco chewing. Perhaps the most likely suspect for the creation of the dump would be Mr. Hill. Apparently Larry was having a pretty good time at his little slice of heaven, drinking and chewing and carrying on.

While CA-RIV-7959 can't qualify as significant under applicable regulations, excellent preservation has resulted in a good understanding of the site with only a surface reconnaissance having occurred. It was an amusing visit into the lifestyle of a late 1950s homesteader.

The Discovery of the Coachella Discoidal (by James Brock)

Back in the Spring of 2002 we were hired to do a Phase I cultural resources assessment of a 31-acre property located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Avenue 48 and Calhoun Street in the City of Coachella, in the Coachella Valley area of Riverside County, where a single family residential project was proposed. This property was at 30 feet below sea level and we thought we might find archaeological resources relating to recessional stands of Ancient Lake Cahuilla, a huge freshwater lake that formerly filled the Coachella Valley.

There was a small, late prehistoric period site on the property that had little research value. However, to our surprise, resting by itself, right on the ground surface, near the middle of the property was a discoidal, discovered by AAG staff member Mary Anne Eason. As some of you may know, discoidals are disk-shaped stones, similar to manos (hand-held grinding stones), but are circular in overview and do not exhibit evidence of use in food grinding.

The discoidal we found is made of quartz and measures 10.1 x 9.8 x 3.7 centimeters and it weighs 781.3 gms. It was recorded as an isolate and given the Primary Number of 33-11393. We've been referring to it simply as the Coachella Discoidal. This specimen exhibits linear iron staining on both faces as well as its edge. This has been caused by plow damage and this would indicate that the artifact had been in this formerly farmed located for a considerable length of time.

This find is highly unusual for two reasons. First, discoidals have not been previously found in the Coachella Valley. Michael Moratto in his book, California Archaeology, notes their distribution in southern California ranging from Ventura County to Baja California. They tend to be restricted to coastal areas but have turned up as far inland as the Cajon Pass and Fossil Falls. Second, discoidals are believed to date to approximately 4000 to 1000 BC. These are generally associated with the Millingstone Horizon in coastal southern California. The term Millingstone Horizon was first used by William J. Wallace for the period during which ancient cultures first used milling equipment extensively for seed processing.

Essentially, Millingstone Horizon sites are characterized by an abundance of millingstones (manos and metates), relative lack of projectile points, large core and percussion flaked tools (e.g., scraper planes, choppers), small quantities of faunal remains, and occasionally cogged stones and discoidals.

Discoidals are enigmatic artifacts. Theories about their use range from gaming pieces to club heads to--invariably--ceremonial objects. Whatever the use, our discoidal is a finely made specimen that has withstood the tests of time. It falls within the normal size range for discoidals from southern California.

Given the absence of any known sites in the Coachella Valley that date this far back, this is possibly the oldest artifact ever recovered from the region. Again, we are talking some 3000 to 6000 years old.

Different theories can be put forth for the presence of the discoidal on the property. The most obvious one is that this discoidal provides evidence of early use of the region. This would be Early Archaic Period, or Pinto Period, or as I have just noted, Millingstone Period. The numerous plow marks on the specimen argue for the artifact having been resting on the study area through historic times--it is probably not a recent arrival on the property. This would argue against the specimen having been "planted" the property recently. Alternatively, maybe it is simply an exceptionally round, finely made man-made with an exotic material rarely used for such artifacts.

The discoidal was a weird and exciting find. It made us aware of the possibility of finding further evidence of Archaic period, or can I say it, "Millingstone Period", activity in the area.