Native American Burial Mound and Village Site paved over for Marin County homes

[n2doc]

A treasure trove of Coast Miwok life dating back 4,500 years - older than King Tut's tomb - was discovered in Marin County and then destroyed to make way for multimillion-dollar homes, archaeologists told The Chronicle this week.

The American Indian burial ground and village site, so rich in history that it was dubbed the "grandfather midden," was examined and categorized under a shroud of secrecy before construction began this month on the $55 million Rose Lane development in Larkspur.

The 300-foot-long site contained 600 human burials, tools, musical instruments, harpoon tips, spears and throwing sticks from a time long before the introduction of the bow and arrow. The bones of grizzly and black bears were also found, along with a ceremonial California condor burial.

"This was a site of considerable archaeological value," said Dwight Simons, a consulting archaeologist who analyzed 7,200 bones, including the largest collection of bear bones ever found in a prehistoric site in the Bay Area. "My estimate of bones and fragments in the entire site was easily over a million, and probably more than that. It was staggering."

more
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Indian-artifact-treasure-trove-paved-over-for-5422603.php

[B2G]

1. Did none of these people see Poltergeist?? nt

[Kber]

2. Seriously, right?

Beat me to it.

[B2G]

3. Good luck selling those homes now.

[Kber]

5. It's where you'd put Mom.

Assuming you hate your mom.

[underpants]

10. And Amityville

I think that was part if that story

[truebrit71]

15. My first thought as well!

Well, actually my first thought was WTF, but you get my drift...

[Vashta Nerada]

4. As an archeologist, this makes me ill and angry.

[kjones]

23. Happens all the time.

I'm an archaeologist too. Well, I'm midway through my masters, and I've worked for CRM some.

It's the way it works in the US, and I think we all wish it worked better. As the article says
though, they determined the likely "next of kin", and they decided what to do.
Problems is, determining whose heritage it is seems questionable 4500 years out, and as
you can see, their decision of what to do may have been "influenced."
So yeah, in concept, I think what happened is what the laws say to do, and
I generally agree with those laws. In reality, things aren't always perfect,
I suppose. They make the decisions though, and they made them.

I worked at a site once that we thought had a possibility of turning up remains.
Sure enough a few weeks in, there's the crown of a skull coming out of the unit
floor. Stop all work in the unit, call the respective group. They had us backfill the
burial in place.


Say, where do you work/who do you study?

[Vashta Nerada]

24. I am defending my Master's thesis tomorrow.

I am in central MN and I work in ND, SD. NE, MN, and WI.

[kjones]

25. Oh boy, good luck with your defense!

I'm in MI, LP.
I've worked in MI, IL, IN, OH.

[Marshall III]

26. I'm also an archaeologist (Southeast)...

...maybe we need a forum.

[Vashta Nerada]

30. I love Michigan.

I did some geology fieldwork in the UP/Ontario in the mid 2000s. Ishpeming is a beautiful town and Brimley State Park near Sault Ste Marie is a really nice campground.

[Marshall III]

28. Also archaeologist.

Good luck on your defense and drop me a line if you get towards the southeast. We have an archaeo- happy hour every Friday here in SC.

[Vashta Nerada]

31. I have no knowledge of SE cultural history.

So I'd be pretty useless, although I did have a North American Archaeology class a year ago and we did talk about SE archaeology, but we focused on Poverty Point in LA.

But if I ever do wander that way someday, I'll send you a line.

[truedelphi]

6. I don't get this. I know laws are on the books, and that totally punish the small time

real estate owner, if there are any relics on their property and construction or re-modeling would disturb the relics.

So just what is going on here?

Back in the late eighties, a couple who owned a home on D street in San Rafael, they found four upright buried corpses of native Americans. They offered to comply with any archaeological type of move of the relics etc. But they were basically forced out of their home, and they went into bankruptcy, as the laws that were applied to the couple were so heinously restrictive.

But apparently if you are a Big Monied developer, you can do anything.

[B2G]

7. From the article:

Archaeologists brought in

The development was approved by the city in 2010, but the developer, Larkspur Land 8 Owner LLC, was required under the California Environmental Quality Act to bring in archaeologists to study the shell mound under the direction of American Indian monitors before it could build.

The developers hired San Francisco's Holman & Associates Archaeological Consultants to conduct an excavation, and that firm spent the past year and a half on the site, calling in 25 archaeologists and 10 other specialists to study aspects of the mound. As required by the environmental act, their work was monitored by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, who were designated the most likely descendants of Larkspur's indigenous people.

The American Indian leaders ultimately decided how the findings would be handled, and they defended their decision to remove and rebury the human remains and burial artifacts. "The philosophy of the tribe in general is that we would like to protect our cultural resources and leave them as is," said Nick Tipon, a longtime member of the Sacred Sites Protection Committee of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. "The notion that these cultural artifacts belong to the public is a colonial view."

[truedelphi]

11. So the tribe somehow managed to extract all those remains in such a short period of time?

Nothing to see here, move along...

[B2G]

14. IDK...the article says

they were on site for a year and a half. That's quite awhile...

[Brother Buzz]

16. The on-site American Indian monitors don't lift a finger

ALL the digging and documenting is done by the archaeologists. Generally, the remains are are reburied on site at an out of the way place chosen by the monitors, on the quiet.

[Marshall III]

27. California is rare in that they have state laws, but in much of the country, there may...

...have been done absolutely no work whatsoever. Typically the requirement is triggered by the need for a federal permit (such as wetland impact permit) or federal funds.

Many Indian groups prefer the remains stay in tact, in situ. The Eastern Cherokee her in the southeast have the burials blessed and then covered with impermeable material and the construction goes on (with few exceptions).

[DreamGypsy]

8. It's more complicated than the excerpted paragraphs suggest...

...and it's not only a big, bad developer story.

The developers hired San Francisco's Holman & Associates Archaeological Consultants to conduct an excavation, and that firm spent the past year and a half on the site, calling in 25 archaeologists and 10 other specialists to study aspects of the mound. As required by the environmental act, their work was monitored by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, who were designated the most likely descendants of Larkspur's indigenous people.

The American Indian leaders ultimately decided how the findings would be handled, and they defended their decision to remove and rebury the human remains and burial artifacts.

<snip>

"The city did not participate or oversee any of the archaeological digs or discovery," said Toft, the Larkspur planning director. "The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria managed the oversight along with a qualified archaeologist. We were not apprised or assessed of any significant finds, and in fact we kept out of it."

Greg Sarris, the chairman for the 1,300-member tribe, was far from apologetic about what happened to the archaeological site. It is nobody else's business, he said, how the tribe chooses to handle the remains and belongings of its ancestors.

"Our policy is that those things belong to us, end of story," said Sarris, whose tribe recently opened the Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park. "Let us worry about our own preservation. If we determine that they are sacred objects, we will rebury them because in our tradition many of those artifacts, be they beads, charm stones or whatever, go with the person who died. ... How would Jewish or Christian people feel if we wanted to dig up skeletal remains in a cemetery and study them? Nobody has that right."

The protection of cultural sites has been a prickly topic for decades in the Bay Area, where American Indian shell mounds were once abundant around San Francisco Bay. There is often tension, and there are sometimes courtroom battles, between American Indians, who generally want ceremonial items left alone, and archaeologists who want to collect and preserve ancient artifacts and village sites for science.

At least a "draft report" is being written describing the extensive collection of artifacts that was uncovered at the site...and then moved and reburied.

Sad to lose these signs and history of the Miwok peoples, but sadder still that those people who lived in California for at least 5000 years had the population decimated and their culture destroyed

[truedelphi]

12. In Europe such a treasure trove of artifacts is handled by the nation's government.

There are monies set aside by a government, so that the land can be re-purchased from the Big Monies (or little monied) real estate holder.

Things are actually done in a way that is good for the society.

Here the Big Monied interests can get out from under such a situation. But the small time person who has land where a few bodies or whatever are found, those people go broke, as they cannot afford to make payment for the oversight required by law, as corrupt as that oversight might be.

[DreamGypsy]

19. Below are the relevant portion of the California Environmental Quality Act...

...at least the portion of the 57 pages that I found. Here's the link to the full text (pdf) of the CEQA.

California, at least, appears to respect the remains of ancestors of existing groups of Native Americans. I don't know of European situations where development might encounter the artifacts and human remains linked to existing sub-populations of the country. An excavation in Italy with Etruscan artifacts and bones? Are there any Italians who still claim their Etruscan heritage??? Probably newly discovered Holocaust burial sites get the attention of the Jewish community and benefit from government oversight and financial support.

(d) When an initial study identifies the existence of, or the probable likelihood, of Native
American human remains within the project, a lead agency shall work with the appropriate
Native Americans as identified by the Native American Heritage Commission as provided
in Public Resources Code SS5097.98. The applicant may develop an agreement for
treating or disposing of, with appropriate dignity, the human remains and any items
associated with Native American burials with the appropriate Native Americans as
identified by the Native American Heritage Commission. Action implementing such an
agreement is exempt from:
(1) The general prohibition on disinterring, disturbing, or removing human remains from
any location other than a dedicated cemetery (Health and Safety Code Section 7050.5).
(2) The requirements of CEQA and the Coastal Act.
(e) In the event of the accidental discovery or recognition of any human remains in any
location other than a dedicated cemetery, the following steps should be taken:
(1) There shall be no further excavation or disturbance of the site or any nearby area
reasonably suspected to overlie adjacent human remains until:
(A) The coroner of the county in which the remains are discovered must be contacted to
determine that no investigation of the cause of death is required, and
(B) If the coroner determines the remains to be Native American:
1. The coroner shall contact the Native American Heritage Commission within 24
hours.
2. The Native American Heritage Commission shall identify the person or persons it
believes to be the most likely descended from the deceased Native American.
3. The most likely descendent may make recommendations to the landowner or the
person responsible for the excavation work, for means of treating or disposing of,
with appropriate dignity, the human remains and any associated grave goods as
provided in Public Resources Code Section 5097.98, or
(2) Where the following conditions occur, the landowner or his authorized representative
shall rebury the Native American human remains and associated grave goods with
appropriate dignity on the property in a location not subject to further subsurface
disturbance.
(A) The Native American Heritage Commission is unable to identify a most likely
descendent or the most likely descendent failed to make a recommendation within 24
hours after being notified by the commission.
(B) The descendant identified fails to make a recommendation; or
(C) The landowner or his authorized representative rejects the recommendation of the
descendant, and the mediation by the Native American Heritage Commission fails to
provide measures acceptable to the landowner.
(f) As part of the objectives, criteria, and procedures required by Section 21082 of the
Public Resources Code, a lead agency should make provisions for historical or unique
archaeological resources accidentally discovered during construction. These provisions
should include an immediate evaluation of the find by a qualified archaeologist. If the find is
determined to be an historical or unique archaeological resource, contingency funding and
a time allotment sufficient to allow for implementation of avoidance measures or
appropriate mitigation should be available. Work could continue on other parts of the
building site while historical or unique archaeological resource mitigation takes place.

[Xithras]

13. How the heck did that happen in MARIN?

Marin county has been one of the most preservationist regions of the country, and has been so since the 1970's. They are so paranoid about being turned into San Jose that every single housing development has to jump through a series of hoops, public votes, and hearings that can take years. There have been instances where developers have spent millions of dollars to push developments through, only to lose all their money when one of the final steps brought up a roadblock. Even George Lucas, multibillionaire movie maker and Marin local, couldn't get approval to build a handful of low impact buildings on his huge estate.

Given that history, it's mindboggling to think that they were able to build a housing development on a burial mound.

[truedelphi]

17. Big Money, Big Money, Big Money.

Scads of corruption in that county.

For awhile former BOS member Gary Giacomini held total sway over what did and didn't happen in Marin. (He apparently knew where all the bodies were buried.)

I moved out in 2005. Couldn't say whether Giacomini is still there, but he was like a troll you could find every time you flipped over a bit of rotting wood. The Quarry situation, kickbacks on every situation imaginable. (On kickback situation - not all kickbacks in this day and age are in form of sacks of money exchanged in a back alley at night. Many "kickbacks" are in the form of seeing to it that your law firm is always chosen over any other law firm, when a situation is going to be overseen by lawyers or involve a case in court.)

[Enthusiast]

18. They have done this all over Ohio.

Of course some mounds have been preserved, but many were destroyed without a second thought.

[newfie11]

20. Horrible!!!

Typical in this country though. Nothing can stand in the way of (so called) progress. It's all about Money and to hell with historical preservation.

[joeglow3]

29. You need to read the article

What was posted above is misleading.

[Generic Other]

21. This would have triggered a halt in work in my state

Natives and Archaeologists would have been all over that site in a nanosecond! Couldn't they allow for the systematic excavation before building multimillion dollar homes on an Indian burial site of such significance?

The homeowners may find out what it means to disturb the dead. Bad juju, feng shui, vibes, etc. Sheesh. Wait until the cutlery starts flying across the kitchen and embedding itself in the wall behind your head!

[NYC_SKP]

22. This happened in California, Marin. You can bet that all laws were observed.

The bad juju would come from a bunch of Anglos or whatever sifting through people's ancestors' remains without their consent.

Read the article, leaving the material in situ is the choice of the Native Americans there.

[Generic Other]

32. They didn't leave it in situ

It was removed to another location. I gather this does not mean picked up like a brownie out of a baking pan and set gently somewhere else, but more likely shoveled out by bulldozers. I just think messing with the site at all was wrong. The developers may have convinced the tribe ($$$) to make a deal for ancestors resting places, but it doesn't mean the spirits aren't swirling in the dust of the deal. You're right. I didn't read the article before saying they should at least be sure to have archaeologists involved.

Still I think anyone disturbing ancient burial sites in such callous fashion should expect to awaken spirits. Building on top of old burial sites might be legal in this case, but it is not creating a place of positive energy to live. I don't say this out of superstition. I just would find it hard to feel at home in such a place. Maybe I am just being weird. Living on an old midden made of shells and old fishbones is not the same as a place of the dead. I am surprised the tribe allowed it to happen.

Disturbing the site seems ill-advised. As for the value of the potential knowledge lost, that part is sad. Better to leave it for another generation with less invasive more advanced ways of gleaning information. But that is too late now. Only spirits left. Bad juju.