Speakers of Ohlone dialects occupied the lands encompassed by Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and San Francisco Counties. One Ohlone triblet, the Carquin, occupied lands on the north shore of the Carquinez Strait in Solano County and probably in the southern part of Napa County.
Alpine Pond — Palo Alto35 bedrock mortars just below Alpine Pond dam. Look on both sides of the creek.Elevation 2184 ft.A heavy-duty work station on the lip of a steep canyon.We’d like to see signs like this in the tribal lands of the East Bay hills.This rock face is so cool we had to include […]
Gossip Rock5 bedrock mortars, possible cupules and incisions.This is one of the rare archaeological sites identified by East Bay Regional Parks. It’s listed right there on the map for Garin/Dry Creek Pioneer Park. Be sure to sit here for a while. Enjoy the south-facing rock and the view of Mission Peak.Jim studies a mortar on […]
Patterson Mound, CA-ALA-328Tuibun village site, Coyote HillsElevation 18 ft.According to Polly Bickel, there are four known shellmounds in this general vicinity of Coyote Hills. For a fascinating, in-depth study of three of them, check out San Francisco Bay Archaeology: Sites ALA-328, ALA-13, and ALA-12. Be sure to look at the Plates that accompany Bickel’s paper. […]
Turtle RockSolstice site.Elevation 2667 ft.Thanks to Joel for identifying this site.According to an Ohlone creation myth, Turtle brought the souls of all living beings from the ocean to the land. He carried them under his shell. At sunset on the winter solstice the cleft in the foreground rock admited a shaft of light that cracked […]
Canada del Cierbo28 bedrock mortars, cupules/anvils, and middenLess than 1/2 mile from Interstate 80 off Cummings SkywayElevation 208 ft.Thanks to Joel for leading us here.Archaeological analysis of this site recovered charcoal and bone more than 4,000 years old. Midden at this site may be from N. C. Nelsons Crockett Mound (No. 254).The expedition heads toward […]
Lake Anza, east side10 bedrock mortars.We’re quite a ways up Wildcat Creek here on a little ridge above Lake Anza.
Sanborn Creek Village — Saratoga19 bedrock mortars in a beautiful site above a creek confluence.Elevation 980 ft.Another one of Joel’s discoveries. Sanborn Road runs right next to this site.A rare celebration of Indian history in the Bay Area hills. Visitors to this site are officially encouraged to explore–amazing. “Mortar” as used in this sign means […]
Welch-Hurst house14 bedrock mortarsElevation 1421 ft.Another one of Joel’s South Bay discoveries. This one is in Sanborn-Skyline County Park.Judge James Welch constructed this log-style house in 1892 (although some sources say 1908) as a summer home for his family. The historic value of the house, according to the National Register of Historic Places, derives from […]
Don Edwards Preserve4 bedrock mortars, possible cupulesElevation 103 ft.Another one of Jeff’s amazing finds.Nearly all the bedrock mortars we’ve encountered in the Bay Area occur on sandstone. These are the only ones we’ve seen in metamorphic chert.A closer look. Note the paired, shallow mortars. Such arrangements are rare. The only others we’ve seen are on […]
Mission San JoseEstablished in 1797 at the Alson village of Oroysom.The mission complex as it appeared prior to its destruction in 1868 by the last great earthquake on the Hayward Fault.Image courtesy of the Bancroft Library.The church and museum at Mission San Jose are open from 10 AM to 5 PM daily except for New […]
