John,
 
I do not mean to insult you, but the concept
that nothing younger than 1860 as being un-worthy
of a site number is absurd.  I wuld bet that all
Native American sites regardless of their age
would be given a site number.
 
The use of site numbers in California is a step
in the survey process that leads to professional
review of all sorts of evaluations.  If there is
historic context for The Great Depression, World
War II, ethnic economics, etc, then we need to
accumulate data and organize it with site numbers.
 
A site number is just a file number.  There is nothing
special about a recorded site.  Test and Research
Design or dismissal follow basic recordation.
 
I am sorry if I misunderstood.
 
Ron May
P.O. Box 23130, San Diego 92115