The Creation of Mounded Landscapes by Hunter-Gatherers: An Integrated Approach to the Prehistoric Shell Mounds of the San Francisco Bay Area

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

The National Science Foundation will support archaeological research on the impressive prehistoric shell mounds that once ringed the greater San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Created by hunter-gatherer peoples beginning about 5000-4000 years ago, the largest mounds, once rising about 9 meters in height and extending more than a football field in size, contained thousands of human burials, diverse kinds of artifacts, and literally tons of food remains. Directed by Dr. Kent Lightfoot and Dr. Edward Luby, a collaborative team of scholars from the University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and a cultural resource management firm will address questions about the function, ecology, and chronology of these archaeological sites. The project will 1) synthesize existing information on recorded archaeological remains (i.e., shell mounds, non-mounded sites, rock art sites) from the region, 2) complete the analysis of a museum collection from the Ellis Landing Site (CCO-295), a large mound excavated in 1906-1908 by an important figure in the history of archaeology, Nels Nelson, and 3) undertake a detailed comparison of Ellis Landing with a significant and recently excavated non-mounded cemetery (ALA-343). The researchers will address how the mounds were constructed, whether they were used as specialized cemeteries, mounded villages or simply as refuse dumps, and how the mound builders may have influenced the ecosystems of the San Francisco Bay Area. The intellectual merits of the project are twofold. First, the study of the shell mounds highlights a broader research issue in archaeology -- the construction of mounded landscapes by native peoples across many areas of North America. The project's integrated approach has significant potential for better understanding the sociopolitical structures, community organizations, symbolic systems, mortuary observances, and cultural practices of Native Americans who constructed mounded spaces. The ultimate goal is to compare and contrast the California shell mounds with other hunter-gatherer mounded landscapes in North America. Only by taking such a comparative perspective can we address why peoples created extensive mounded structures with human burials on the Pacific Coast, the American Southeast, and elsewhere beginning about 5000-3000 years ago. Second, the project highlights the utility of using "old" museum collections in a prudent and carefully considered manner in contemporary archaeological research. The project presents a model for studying a nearly 100 year-old collection by bringing together private sector and academic archaeologists, Native American scholars, museum specialists, and environmental scientists. They will address a suite of research questions through an integrated approach of zooarchaeological, archaeobotanical, sediment, and artifactual analyses, isotopic investigations of shellfish, and radiocarbon dating of stratigraphic units and features. The broader impacts of the project involve graduate student training, outreach with local Native American groups, and public education. The project fosters inter-disciplinary research by supporting graduate students in Anthropology; Earth and Planetary Science; Environmental Science, Policy and Management; Geography; and Museum Studies. The project will facilitate communication between the archaeological community and local native peoples by fostering the scholarly work of Native American members of the research team and outreach with their tribes (Ohlone, Coast Miwok). The public educational component of the project will involve the dissemination of findings through publications, a public conference, and museum exhibits at both UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University.