Back before California built Interstate 8, a team from University of Califor
nia at Los Angeles conducted field testing at a prehistoric site in the
Laguna Mountains (CA-SDI-777) (it had an historic component). I reviewed their
field notes and collections before returning four years later for the California
State Division of Highways to conduct my own tests. The UCLA crew terminated
excavating arbitrary levels when the number of flaked stone artifacts
dropped to three. After reviewing all the geological and soils information and
inspecting the site, I could not understand why they stopped digging at two
meters. My field crew penetrated those layers with sparse artifacts, which we
determined were redeposited river sand that carried a few flaked stone artifacts.
Below and to a depth of 3.3 meters, an older prehistoric component lay
buried. My geology training went into high gear during that test program and we
dug straight to bedrock.
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.
************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour