new acquisition DEVELOPER DONATES PREHISTORIC SITE IN CALIFORNIA

Developer Donates Prehistoric Site in California

The Ponderosa Ridge site is an example of how archaeology and development can co-exist.

Last summer the Ponderosa Ridge site, located east of Sacramento in Amador County, became a Conservancy preserve. Situated on a knoll overlooking Grass Valley Creek, the one-acre prehistoric site was discovered in 1991 during a survey conducted by California State University’s Institute for Archaeology. At that time a small trench revealed an abundance of prehistoric artifacts including stone tools for grinding seeds and other food stuffs and debris from stone tool-making.

“This is a very interesting small site that has all the tools of a habitation site, but no midden,” said Julia Costello, owner of the archaeological consulting company Foothills Resources, Ltd., who lives in the area and helped to negotiate the agreement that preserved the site. “The lack of midden may indicate that the

Ponderosa Ridge

(From left) Archaeologist Julia Costello, developer Bob Reeder, Miwuk Tribal representative Debra Grimes, and the Conservancy’s Western regional director, Gene Hurych stand by a sign announcing that a portion of the subdivision has been designated an archaeological site.

site is very old, in the range of three to five thousand years old, and the midden has eroded or leached away.” The site is thought to have been inhabited by a pre-Miwuk group, but no subsurface testing has been undertaken to determine the dates of prehistoric occupation. The remains of a 1930s homestead is also located on the property.

Following the site’s discovery, developer Bob Reeder was faced with the cost of testing and then perhaps excavating the site in order to proceed with a planned subdivision.

Debra Grimes, the cultural resource coordinator with the Calaveras Band of Miwuk Indians, and Costello proposed deeding the site to a conservation group in lieu of conducting costly test excavations. Negotiations with the developer, a county representative, and Gene Hurych, the Conservancy’s Western regional director, resulted in the site being donated to the Conservancy as a permanent archaeological preserve.

“This is our first preservation in Amador County and we’re very thankful,” said Grimes, who hopes that it can serve as a model solution for developers faced with the high costs of excavating archaeological sites. The subdivision will be built around the site, which will be fenced and monitored by the local Calaveras Band of Miwuk Indians as well as people in the neighborhood. Grimes is working with landowners who are developing nearby property that contains the remains of an extensive prehistoric midden and house structures that may be related to the Ponderosa Ridge site. —Tamara Stewart