Society for California Archaeology Annual Meetings, San Diego March 8-11, 2018

Pacific Legacy staff contributed to the Annual Meetings by presenting the following papers:

Arsenault, Mark J.

The Curious Case of Coppervale: Alcohol Consumption in Rural Prohibition-Era California

A series of historic-period sites were evaluated by Pacific Legacy, Inc. during the summer of 2017 in rural Lassen County. One of these sites, known as Coppervale, was occupied beginning in the mid-1860s through the 1930s. The 1936 Division of Highways as-built map indicates that the area contained a dancehall and bar , named the Meadows. The site was used as a mining locality during the nineteenth century and later, after the development of neighboring Westwood, served the Mountain Meadows area as a popular drinking locus. Archaeological excavations identified a semi-discrete deposit associated with Coppervales's twentieth century, prohibition-era dancehall.

Ballard, Hannah S. and Reese, Elena L.

Jones'n for Hot Springs

Smelly, steamy water seeps from the hillslopes and flows in the creek bed. this water shaped the history of Sulphur Creek in Colusa County. Throughout the geothermally active North Coast Ranges, hot springs were important in area's occupation from prehistory to the present. Popular during the Victorian period, hot springs were sought for their curative powers. Sulphur Creek's Jones Hot Springs and its "Fountain of Life" geyser drew victorian bathers to a small mining village. The hot springs of remote Sulphur Creek were a local variant on the larger 19th century trend that has morphed but persisted into the present.

Schell, Samantha S. and Hager, Lori D.

Cremations in Prehistoric Napa and Lake Counties: A Comparison for the Purposes of Identification

Cremations have specific properties that allow for identification as human remains. During excavations and monitoring, cremations can be difficult to identify due to a variety of factors, particularly when hearths and ash lenses are present. CA-NAP-399, dating to 1,990-2,450 BP (500-400 BC) Lower Archaic Period and Initial Late Period had four cremations within a cemetary of 163 burials. Cremations/Features 1, 2, and 3 at CA-LAK-950 dated to roughly 1,200 to 1,00 calibrated BP, Terminal Houx Phase/Mendocino Aspect, or earliest Clear Lake Aspect.

Distinguishing cremations from other features of ash and animal bone is compared between these two sites the goal to better identify cremations in the field and laboratory.