Shell
Midden Mounds in Northern Baja California
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Thousands
of years before the Spanish colonized Mexico, there were extensive populations
of endemic people in settlements inland and along the shores we know as
the west coast of North America. There were no international boundary
lines separating the United States from Baja California, Mexico. Tribal
affiliations in the lands from San Diego to Ensenada are known as the Kumeyaay.
Typically, people lived along beautiful, fertile river valleys where they
could hunt and gather plant material for food and products. Living
near a source of water was ideal. Where the streams encountered the
rocky coastline, people gathered abundant shellfish for their food. Semi
permanent locations of coastal settlements were established which lasted
continuously for thousands of years. Archaeological research along
the coast of California supports these statements. When the Spanish sailed
up the coast for the first time, they observed villages full of people
everywhere.
The
process of initial Spanish contact and colonization decimated the endemic
people who had previously flourished on the West Coast. Immunity
to european diseases was absent in these prehistoric tribes of Southern
California. They died by thousands. Social assimilation destroyed what
little remained of their cultures. Little remains except ancient
shell mounds, stone tools and our unanswered questions.
Today,
from Santa Barbara to Ensenada, most of the evidence of these vanished
cultures lies deep beneath the soil, crushed by tractors and earth moving
equipment. Economic forces promoting aggressive and rampant, land
development in both Alta California and Baja California have filled former
village sites with cast concrete foundations. Beautiful stream beds are
traversed by wide asphalt roadways. Now, private, european-style,
land ownership has not only destroyed the beautiful natural environment
of the coastal native people, but rendered the physical remains of their
culture an obscure mystery.
The
purpose of this article is to expose a processes of history -- still unfolding
-- around us today.
These observations begin
on a trip, driving south from Rosarito Beach in northern Baja California,
Mexico, late summer of 1999. On a sea-cliff terrace with a land development
project in process, we observed thick black soil within the road cuts.
This 4 foot deep layer of black soil
sharply contrasted with the reddish surrounding topsoil. Upon closer
examination it became apparent the road building operation with tractors
had exposed an ancient shell midden of the Kumeyaay indians who
are indeginous to Northern Baja California. With only a few hours available
to investigate, we walked the property and surveyed the Shell
Midden Strata. The principal shell material was from the California
Blue Sea Mussle. These endemic people apparently had resided,
at least seasonally, upon the same bluff top for thousands of years, judging
by the depth of the shell deposits. Now a badly polluted spring traverses
the property that is now under development. Many years ago, the spring
provided water for the aboriginal people who gathered shellfish to nourish
their families. The stone tools the indians used are similar to those
found up and down the coast of California. The metate
and mano was used to grind food materials. Flaked
stone tools were used for most chopping and scraping applications.
There was time for recreational activities as evidenced by discoidal
game
stones, although most of the evidence suggests food gathering and preparation
was the principal activity at this place. The blackend soil and
fire broken rock suggests there were many campfires. This area of
prehistoric habitation was 600 yards long and 200 yards wide. We saw no
evidence of any bone in the vicinity, although people lived and died there
for thousands of years. Much of the shell midden material
was being pushed, by tractors, and compacted for fill dirt in the
low areas of the bluff top and canyons. If there were any human burials,
we did not see them. In the state of Alta California, USA, there
would be an on-site archaeologist on a project such as this. As part
of the environmental impact studies, an archaeological survey to identify
and protect cultural heritage would be required by law. It is unknown
whether any consideration for these matters exists Northern Baja California.
Land
development in Coastal Northern Baja California is progressing
at a rapid rate. Changes in Mexican "leasing" laws allow rich Californians
to "own" beach front property in Baja California. Much of the prime
white-water view lots in Alta California are worth many millions of dollars.
The laws regulating land-ownership in Mexico are changing. Individual
investment by U.S.A. citizens in Mexican land can have risks.
From Santa Barbara
to San Diego, California, USA, all of the coastline was inhabited by aboriginal
peoples of numerous tribal affiliations. Land development in California
during the last century had covered most of the prehistoric indian habitation
sites with roadways and concrete. It is now, 100 years later, and
Northern Baja California is subject to the same economic forces that have
ravaged the natural environment of Southern California.
There needs to be Protection
of the natural environment that has long served to nourish, spiritually
as well as physically, the people that call California their home.
(Navigation
suggestion: please go back up to the highlighted
links in the above text and visit the pages illustrating the Black
Soil, shell midden strata , Metate and Mano, Flaked Stone Tools
and Land Development, and view these pages
sequentially.)
Chumash
artifacts at Mission Santa Barbara Alta California
Communication