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Shell beads, glass beads, and a shell pendant were recovered.The three shell beads shown
(0-206) were found during monitoring at one location. The red abalone (haliotis rufescense) great horned owl pendant was discovered
immediately beneath mine waste. It displays both modern and traditional manufacture with
biconically drilled “eye” holes and straight drill-bit holes along the sides
(three made with a 1/16 bit and five made with a 3/32 bit).
Keeping to the traditional Pomo system, four holes were drilled along
each side. In Pomo culture, the
number four is very significant. The Pomo had a base 4 counting system and considered sacred
the four directions, the four seasons, and the four earthly states (fire, water,
earth and sky). All ceremonial dances are conducted in sets of four and the dance house has either four roof support poles or two sets of four. Mission period glass beads
(0-202, 203, and 205) were recovered by Tribal monitors from the cemetery area
following a burial that occurred during the project.
It appears that excavation work for the new grave encountered items that
had been left at a previous gravesite. The
large barrel and smaller white and black-glass cane beads were manufactured in
Italy in the 1700’s and brought to California by the Spanish.
Many of the unearthed glass beads were pressed into the wet concrete
covering the new grave. The Elem cemetery has been in use for more than 100 years as is evidenced by this 1906 photo. Most of the individual fenced plots in the photo show a flagpole that once displayed the family’s traditional flag. In areas where fencing is no longer standing, it is often possible to locate past graves by looking for piles of rock. While digging a grave in the rocky soil, heavy rocks are piled next to the hole. Once the burial is complete, this pile of heavy rocks often remains (even if the fencing is lost).
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Send mail to dr.john@wolfcreekarcheology.com with
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