CA-SCR-177 facts for kids
The oldest human settlement in Central California is located in Scotts Valley, California, and was discovered in 1978. Archaeological findings from 1983 and 1987 support dates as old as 9-12,000 years, based on carbon dates, geological context, and artifact styles, such as eccentrics (or crescents) and large leaf style projectile points.
History
This ancient settlement (CA-SCR-177) was first recorded in 1978 and later tested in 1980 by Archaeological Research Management. A report was delivered to the Scotts Valley City Council in 1980. The Council disregarded the report and the Mayor, Friend Stone directed the attempted destruction of the site. After appeals by the Santa Cruz Archaeological Society were ignored by the Council, the Society sued (Nov. 1981) to have the Cultural Resource Materials considered under CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act). In Nov. 1982, in an out- of-court settlement, the City of Scotts Valley agreed to change their planning procedures to consider cultural resources more fully in the future, and to fund (via the Society) efforts to document and expand the archaeological sample in the damaged areas to see if the age and significance of the site as stated in the 1981 report were supported.
Excavations
The Santa Cruz Archaeological Society organized for Memorial Day weekend, 1983, what would turn out to be the largest volunteer excavation crew ever assembled for such an occasion. This work supported the previous research and led the City of Scotts Valley to have to fund a large excavation in 1987 as the project development plans were changed.
These volunteer excavations produced artifacts and other data that supported the previous research; including a chert crescent tool and a leaf-shaped chert biface that supported an estimated date of 7-10,000 YBP, and a metate feature, which is one of the oldest dated examples of ground-stone in California.
