Bill,
 
None of those records you described can address the kind of questions we  ask 
about behaviors within the household or in the greater community. Moreover,  
historical records often fail to identify social behaviors concerning dietary  
practices, consumer selection, or many of the very personal things found in  
their privies and trash dumps. The California State Historic Preservation  
Officer wrote off the Ballast Point Whaling Station in 1989 simply because a  
National Park Service historian made the very point you just did without any  
archaeological testing. My 1988-1989 and 1991-1992 investigations revealed a  
Chinese fishing camp, whaling station, and industrial workshops that are simply  
not recorded in the historical record except in the vaguest terms. After I  
publish my current report, I intend to request reconsideration of the SHPO  
finding of ineligibility.
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.