By snoadmin
Records show that the new site for the updated Outpost Grill and Café, now under construction, will partially cover an area known to contain ancient remnants of a Native American community.
Soon after human remains were found on the 22-acre lot near Beach Drive on the western end of campus, an area now known as Puvungna, archaeologist Keith A. Dixon conducted an archaeological survey in 1977 in the Vivian Engineering Quadrangle area, eventually finding evidence of an ancient community.
That surveyed area included the grassy lawn between the Vivian Engineering Center and SSPA Building where the new Outpost building will be expanded onto by about 60 feet past its original boundary, which did not traverse onto the surveyed site.
A later investigation, conducted between 1993 and 1994 and recorded in 1997 by Matthew A. Boxt, under the heading of the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation, achieved similar finds of archaeological artifacts from an ancient community at the same Vivian Engineering site.
According to the 1997 report, a small creek once ran through the area and there was evidence of inhabitants dating back to 1400 that occupied what is now the Vivian Engineering Quadrangle.
Construction on the old Outpost building began in 1979 – two years after the 1977 survey – and boundaries were set flush against the west-most end of the area deemed by excavators to be part of the ancient community, not traversing the archaeologically significant area.
Due to concerns over the cultural remains, permits obtained for construction stipulate that a “qualified archaeologist and Native American representative/monitor will be onsite during all ground disturbing activities,” that “all construction personnel are to be informed of potential discovery,” and that construction staff be educated before construction about what to do in the case of an archaeological find.
The collection of artifacts and evidence of previous inhabitants in the archaeological records, called Midden Trace D, were present in the 55 soil augers tested for artifacts in the survey.
According to the survey, Midden Trace D was present during the Late Period, and among the discoveries made were “signs of prehistoric Native American utilization [including] food residue (e.g. molluscan, fish, and faunal debris), ground stone artifacts identified with plant food processing (e.g. mano and metate fragments), and projectile points associated with hunting.”
The study continued by saying “Midden Trace D represents a seasonally utilized food processing consumption station; it was not a permanent settlement. Roughly 900 pieces of tertiary chert and chalcedony flakes and quantities of burned and charred animal bones and shells suggest that task groups worked, camped, and ate locally procured food here,” between 1400 and 1700 A.D.
According to the site record, 14 radiocarbon measurements indicate that foraging peoples used this site from around 1420 to the early 18th century.
In the remarks portion of the 1997 record, it is noted that Midden Trace D was remarkably intact, and that the site retains considerable research potential.
“Midden Trace D is one of the most interesting and thoroughly investigated archaeological sites found to date in the eastern Long Beach locality,” the record reported. “The site is generally in a good state of preservation and a significant percentage of Midden Trace D remains a valuable asset, for the purposes of Native American heritage, national patrimony, as well as future research and teaching.”
George Scott, an associate cultural anthropology professor, believes that cultural finds at the site should be preserved.
“As an anthropologist, I think it is important to preserve native heritage,” Scott said. “I realize the importance of development, but it must be weighed against the loss of heritage.”
The new Outpost’s project manager, Sam Mori, was not available for comment.
