California has but few characteristic archaeological remains such as are found in the mounds of the Mississippi valley or the ancient pueblos and cliff-dweller ruins of the South. In the shellmounds along this section of the Pacific coast it possesses, however, valuable relics of very ancient date. These are almost the only witnesses of a primitive stage of culture which once obtained among the early inhabitants of this region. Some years ago Professor Merriam recognized the necessity of explori

Fages, the first traveler who passed through the country, from south to north, traveled along the eastern shore of the Bay of San Francisco in 1774, [1] and came upon Indian settlements where he found a friendly welcome. His account of this expedition however, fails to throw any light upon the question whether or not the shellmounds were still occupied at that time. The neighboring creek bears the name of “Temescal” from a region between Berkeley and Oakland through which it passes. [2] This nam

All the publications treating of the shellmounds of central and northern California, which from the nature of their contents are different from those of the coast and the islands of southern California, may be condensed into the following bibliography: The Smithsonian Reports of 1869 mention a collection of artifacts from the shellmounds of Alameda county presented to the Institute by Dr. Yates. [6] J. W. Foster, in 1874, speaks of a newspaper notice concerning a shellmound in the region of San

The work of exploration was commenced by Professor Merriam and the writer in February, 1902, toward the end of the rainy season, and was finished early in May. Captain Siebe, the proprietor of Shellmound Park, gave all possible assistance in the investigation. Owing to the presence of the circle of trees around the truncated top of the mound it was necessary to confine the excavations to a lateral section and a tunnel extending from it toward the center of the mound. However desirable a more ext

The mound consists mainly of a mass of broken or entire shells, ashes, bits of charcoal, and some artifacts. This mass extends far above the surface of the surrounding land and ends two and a half feet below the level of the ground water and two feet below the general tide level of the bay, and rests immediately upon a sharply defined yellowish alluvial clay stratum. There is no indication of a rocky elevation which might have served as an inducement for the original settlement, and would have h

The principal constituents of the mound are the shells. These have nearly all crumbled into small fragments and are slightly mixed with soil, which when damp gives the entire mass the appearance of pure soil. When this is flooded with water the washing away of the sand produces no noticeable change in its volume. This mass has mingled with it bits of charcoal, bones of animals, ashes or cinders, and stones averaging about the size of one’s fist and blackened by fire. [19] Marks of stratification

Shells. —The shell layers of the mound are composed principally of the following species: Oysters, Ostrea lurida . Mussel shells, Mytilus edulis and Mytilus californianus . Clams, Macoma edulis and Macoma nasuta . Many other kinds of shells, including the following species, were found scattered through the mound: Purpura crispata and canaliculata . Cerithidea californica. Helix , two species indet. Cardium corbis. Standella , sp. Tapes staminea. Of these last species, the cockle, Cardium corbis

Shellmounds originate on the accumulated refuse deposited by people who have lived in the place when the heap has formed, and the mounds may therefore be regarded as sites for dwelling places, or abodes for the living, and not as mounds set aside as burial grounds by people living elsewhere in the vicinity. Whenever these mounds were used for burials it was not done in spite of their being dwelling places, but rather because they were such. [37] Many tribes of a low grade of civilization follow

The shellmounds of the environs of San Francisco Bay are almost the only witnesses of a practically unknown period in the early history of this region. [56] They appear to us at first investigation unintelligible, both as regards the beginning and the end of the period during which they served as human abodes. For a solution of the problem before us the most diverse kinds of investigations must be carried on, before the principal facts of this history can be clearly brought out. Shellmounds can

If we attribute to the shellmound an age representing many centuries, cultural differences should be indicated in the successive strata. For it is impossible that the cultural state of one and the same place should have remained stationary for many centuries and, even judging by the mass alone, the mound could not have reached such a height in less than a considerable number of centuries. In attempting to discover possible cultural differences we unfortunately meet with several difficulties. The

*For the final literary form of the second half of this paper P. E. Goddard is responsible. The artifacts, complete and fragmentary, unearthed during the excavation of the Emeryville shellmound are of stone, bone or horn, and shell. [64] In number, the objects of bone and horn about equal those of stone, or if the large quantity of chipped stone in the lower strata be deducted, being mainly workshop chips, the bone specimens are even in the majority. Although shell heaps usually abound in bone i

Stone mortars were among the most common and most useful implements that the ancient inhabitants of the land possessed, being used for the preparation of meal and for other purposes. Correspondingly numerous therefore are these objects, found mostly in fragments, and scattered through nearly all the strata from the second to the tenth. There are three perfect specimens and eleven fragments in our collection, nearly all made of lava. The largest of the mortars, 1-9102, fig. 3, was recovered quite

A great number of these were found in the mound. As regards their shape they fall into two classes, either finished implements or chips from the workshop. As regards the material of which they are made, they also fall into two large separate classes: those of the usual, light stone natural to the place such as flint, chert (in green or brown variety), horn-stone, jasper, etc., and those of obsidian (volcanic glass), which was not to be had in the immediate locality, although it was the preferred

Artifacts of animal derivation appear in great numbers and in a great variety of form among the objects recovered in excavating. This diversity in form is of course partly the result of the different kinds of bone used in their manufacture, partly of their varied manipulation, and partly of the uses to which they were put. There are all grades of elaboration from the most common splinter of bone to the tool whose shape is almost entirely different from that of the bone employed. All the objects

For many kinds of implements antler is particularly valuable on account of its hardness. For this reason a number of implements of this character have been found in the shellmound; they are, however, not so numerous as those of bone. They are usually made of deer or elk antler. Of these there are two principal types. About half of the objects of antler are to be considered as complete implements. These are shown in pl. 8 , figs. 2 a and 2 b , 1-8892, stratum VIII; figs. 3 a and 3 b , 1-8821, fro

Only one object made of tooth was found, viz. , 1-8736, fig. 36, in stratum V. It is a bear’s tooth perforated at the root, serving the purpose of ornament or amulet, and corresponds exactly to the typical illustration of the one from New Jersey; [152] here Abbott emphasizes the fact that such ornaments were the most common among the earlier and present-day Indians. Figs. 34 and 35. × 1/2. Fragments of bones. Fig. 36. × 1/2. A bear-tooth ornament....

The objects of this material mentioned among the grave finds are supplemented by two implements, one of which came from the IInd, the other from the VIIIth stratum of the mound. Both are made of the haliotis shell, the material preferred for ornamental purposes by the Indians throughout the country. Recovered in different strata, they differ completely with respect to their form. Yet, owing to the scarcity of the finds we are not permitted to advance the opinion that the form of one was limited

The first page of the list of publications has been moved to the end of the book.   Part One/page 1 listed in the Contents is not noted in the book.   Footnotes have been relocated to the end of the section in which they are referenced. Footnote numbers 66 , 67 and 139 and associated references are missing in the original text.   Some illustrations have been relocated closer to their place of reference and due to the use of a non-page layout.   "pl. IV" is an undefined reference as there is no p