the eternal frontier: an ecological history of north america and it's people

the eternal frontier: an ecological history of north america and it

In spring 2003, six 1x1 m units were excavated near the jasper outcrop.

The spring and fall 2003, and spring 2004 archaeological field classes from Santa Rosa Junior College, under the direction of Thomas Origer, and a summer 2003 volunteer crew under my direction, have to date excavated approximately 30 cubic m of the site. Since 2003, archaeological excavations have been underway at Jasper Rock, a highly-polished jasper outcrop with evidence of past quarrying. A shellmidden (CA-SON-365/H) is located 100 m south of the boulder.Īrchaeological Investigations at Jasper Rock This site consists of a single jasper (red chert) boulder which stands about 2.5 m tall. Jasper Rock is located 3 km south of Mammoth Rocks. The four loci surround an enigmatic wetland that I believe may represent a relic animal wallow. The other two loci are smaller blueschist boulders (4 and 5 m tall). Two of the loci consist of very large blueschist seastacks (20 and 30 m tall).

The Mammoth Rocks site consists of four loci of rubbing rocks, separated by about 300 m (Fig. The two main sites are referred to as Mammoth Rocks and Jasper Rock. To date, I have located six sites consisting of one or more rubbing rocks, all within an area about 4 km in diameter. The rocks are located on the coast of Sonoma County about 75 km north of San Francisco, within Sonoma Coast State Beach, a unit of the California State Park System. (1) These are features that I believe were used for grooming by now-extinct Ice Age megafauna such as Mammuthus columbi and Bison antiquus. In 2001, I discovered what I believe to be Rancholabrean rubbing rocks on California’s North Coast (Parkman 2002a, 2002b, 2002c).

The eternal frontier: an ecological history of north america and it's people