new acquisition

Developer Donates Important Archaeological Site

Village mound site is one of very few remaining along the Sacramento River.

What was long known as a local landmark to residents of the Pocket area of south Sacramento has become the Conservancy’s latest preserve in California. Souza Mound, a major village site that was occupied for more than 2,000 years and may have had as many as 500 inhabitants at its peak sometime prior to A.D. 600, was recently donated to the Conservancy for permanent preservation by Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopoulos of AKT Developments, Inc. One of the few Sacramento River sites still in existence, it has tremendous research potential.

“Very few of the large mound sites along the Sacramento River have ever been excavated, and the majority that have been were excavated in the 1930s when archaeological techniques and analyses were considerably less refined,” explained archaeologist Melinda Peak of Peak & Associates, Inc. “The acquisition of this significant site is to be considered a major event for archaeology. Not only is it estimated that there are over 1,000 human interments at the mound, the site contains an impressive array of artifacts and ecofacts that can be used to unravel the past panoply of human activities in this area,” adds Peak.

The Souza Mound site was first recorded in the 1930s when the mound stood as high as 15 feet, rising abruptly from the flat fields surrounding it. At this time two houses had already been built on the mound, one of which still remains, and the Sacramento River ran just west of the site. Over the years the site saw partial leveling for development, and in 1984 a developer cut into the mound with mechanical equipment, revealing a number of human burials.

Peak & Associates was contracted to salvage the disturbed midden, and they recovered the skeletal remains of 125 individuals that were turned over to the Native American Heritage Commission. Limited study of the site revealed that, despite past disturbances, it is very well preserved. It contains evidence of a wide range of human activities, including food preparation, tool manufacture and maintenance, human burials, and probable ceremonial expressions. More extensive research at the site could help to establish the cultural and temporal chronology of a poorly understood area of the Sacramento Valley.

Gene Hurych, the Conservancy’s Western Region director, stands at the edge of Souza Mound. The site was occupied for more than 2,000 years. The site is located on two residential lots. While Tsakopoulos’s donation of one lot represents half of the site, the Conservancy is hopeful that the other half, which is owned by another developer, will be donated for preservation in the near future. —Tamara Stewart ✪ Souza Mound