new acquisition A GLIMPSE OF CALIFORNIA PREHISTORY

A Glimpse of California Prehistory

Lathrop is one of the few intact Central Valley mounds.

The Lathrop Mound, in central California’s San Joaquin Valley, was occupied during the late prehistoric period. The site consists of a mound of midden deposits, at the edge of a walnut orchard.

When the owners of a house, that was built on the mound in 1906 decided to dig a basement, they uncovered ancient remains. The site was recorded by archaeologist James Bennyhoff of the University of California, Berkeley in 1958. He noted the remains, but somehow failed to note the midden. In 1993, Eric Wohlgemuth, an archaeologist with Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., mapped, surveyed, and re-recorded the site in advance of a proposed commercial and residential development covering some 6,000 acres.

An exposed portion of the mound is seen in the foreground of this photograph. The house that was on the mound is no longer standing.

Wohlgemuth found numerous objects, such as beads, stone tools, projectile points, bear claws, and clam disk beads. His data indicate that the Chulamni tribe of the Northern Valley Yokuts inhabited the vicinity in historic times, and may have occupied the site after a.d.1500. Wohlgemuth also found the remains of two individuals that had been disturbed as a result of maintaining the grounds. The weathering of the bones indicated that the remains were ancient and Wohlgemuth, adhering to the preservation laws of the time, left them in place. “The few intact Central Valley archaeological sites being investigated today are mostly buried, older deposits below the plow zone, so preserving the nearsurface Late Period deposit (post–a.d. 1500) takes on even greater importance,” he said.

The Conservancy is leasing the site for $100 a year for the next 100 years from the landowner, the Union Pacific Railroad. The lease will be renewed at the end of that period. The previous lessees, Anthony and Ida Quierolo, relinquished their lease early so that the Conservancy could take possession of the site.

Future excavations will help shed light on the length of the occupation, and the social and political systems of that time period. “After a century of farming, levee construction, and development, very few Central Valley archaeological sites are left, so it’s wonderful that The Archaeological Conservancy can preserve an important midden mound,” said Wohlgemuth. “The artifacts and ecofacts preserved are significant to the scientific community in their vast potential to inform us about Native American use of the riverine and delta landscapes, and in reconstructing the pre-colonization landscape of this region.” —Iris Picat