The Site
The West Berkeley Site (CA-Ala-307), located at the junction
of Second Street and Hearst Avenue in the City of Berkeley, California,
was one of the last of the great shellmounds which up to a relatively
few years ago lined the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. It had
survived only because part of it was wedged tightly between two old
factory buildings (P1. 1). The midden lay only a few yards from the
north bank of Strawberry Creek, near the stream's entrance into
San Francisco Bay. Just to the west stretched the broad tidal marsh
which separated the bay shore from the wide expanse of water beyond.
Much of the tidal land has long since been filled in.
The original dimensions and exact limits of the shellmound
could not be determined because most of it had been removed. Land
formerly overspread with the accumulated aboriginal refuse now lies
under paved streets, railroad tracks, factory buildings, and storage
yards. The mound seems to have covered an elliptical area, conserva-
tively estimated at 350 X 600 feet, with its long axis paralleling
Strawberry Creek. The portion remaining measured 45 X 100 feet.
Approximately one half of the northern part of this had been scraped
off and crushed limestone dumped on its surface. Over the years,
the limestone had become consolidated into a hard stratum, three
to four feet thick. At its highest point the shellheap rose 15 feet
above ground level and extended three feet below. Once it had been
higher for the peak had been cut down and leveled to serve as the
base for a water tank.
In 1950, when the West Berkeley site was threatened with
total destruction to make way for industrial expansion, the University
of California Archaeological Survey undertook a large-scale excavation.
Work began on May 22 and continued without interruption until
September 6. During December of the same year the northern part of
the mound was leveled and the midden material carried away. While
this earthmoving operation was in progress a quantity of artifacts and
several burials were salvaged. Finally, in the spring of 1954, the
old building covering the site's northwest corner was razed and digging
was done beneath the floor (Appendix V).
The Geographical Setting
Even though the land in the immediate vicinity has been
drastically altered, it is possible to describe the natural surround-
ings as they must have been when the West Berkeley midden was occupied
for there is nothing to indicate a marked change in the physiographic
and climate conditions. The eastern shore of San Francisco Bay is
bordered by a broad sloping plain, broken here and there by isolated
2
hills or ridges. Widely separated valleys, containing small streams
which normally flow at all seasons, cut across the flattish terrain
in an east-west direction. The plain extends gently upward to the
Berkeley Hills, a prominent range, 15 miles long and 10 miles wide,
with an even crest and a steep, dissected western slope. This rather
rugged hilly block, aligned northwest to southeast, is not lofty.
The highest points on the main ridges are Bald Peak (1930 feet),
Grizzly Peak (1769 feet), Round Top (1750 feet) and Redwood Peak
(1608 feet). Streams have etched deep, narrow valleys between the
hills.
The climate is mild, with long dry summers and relatively warm
winters. For January the average temperature falls near 49?F; for
September, the warmest month, it is slightly above 63 (Hambridge 1941:
783; Dale 1959:13). Most of the 23-inch annual precipitation falls
during the winter, with the greatest amount for any month usually
coming in January. Snow and hail are rare and unimportant in the
bay region. Two extremely significant weather factors are fog,
more frequent in the summer than in the winter, and cloud cover.
Since they act as a screen to reduce the amount of sunshine, the
fog and clouds strongly affect the temperature, rate of evaporation,
and relative humidity. The mean annual cloudiness falls between 50
and 60 percent. Climate alone might indicate just two seasons -
wet and dry - but there are enough variations in the weather and
changes in the plant cover and so on to give abundant evidence of
four (Smith 1959:11-13; Gilliam 1962:12-61).
The bay area was never heavily wooded. Much of the plain
had a covering of grass, interrupted by occasional groves of Coast
Live Oaks and patches of brush. Vegetation became dense only along
watercourses, which are fringed with Yellow Willow, California
Laurel, California Buckeye and Coast Live Oaks: Hills remained almost
bare of trees except in protected canyons, but a few miles to the
southeast, the Oakland Hills had extensive redwood forests, of
which vestiges remain. Oaks were the outstanding trees and provided
the aboriginal peoples with acorns, an important foodstuff.
At the time West Berkeley was inhabited the native fauna was
abundant and diversified. Of the more than two hundred different
species of mammals found in California, seventy-five lived in the
bay region (Berry and Berry 1959:5). Deer and Tule Elk roamed the
plain and foothills and the California Grizzly was fairly common.
Among the lesser species were three kinds of rabbits and a variety of
squirrels, rats and mice. There was a wide range of carnivores
including coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions as well as weasels, badgers,
raccoons and skunks. Into the bay came several sea mammals, the
once abundant Sea Otter, seals, sea lions, dolphins, and porpoises.
Low marshy areas attracted a great abundance of waterfowl, both year-
round dwellers and seasonal visitors. Clams, oysters, mussels and
many other kinds of shellfish lived in the sand-mud flat intertidal
zone and the offshore waters teemed with fish, both large and small.
3
Obviously West Berkeley was an excellent location for
aboriginal settlement. The immediate neighborhood provided a plentiful
and diversified supply of natural foods and the exploitation of these
was fairly easy. Strawberry Creek furnished a steady, though during
the summer and fall months, a meager supply of fresh water. Essential
raw materials - wood, plant fiber and stone - lay near at hand. The
generally mild climate contributed to the favorable situation.
Previous Archaeological Investigations in the San Francisco Bay Region.
The numerous shellmounds, the only conspicuous remains left
by the local Indians, attracted the attention and excited the curiousity
of early settlers in the bay region. As long ago as the 1850's,
collections were being made of stone mortars, arrowheads, bone awls,
shell beads and other objects found on their surfaces, turned up by
the plow, or unearthed during roadbuilding or other construction
activities. Systematic investigation of the middens did not begin,
however, until the early years of the present century. The formative
period saw the introduction of controlled excavation and site survey,
the two essential fieldwork procedures.
West Berkeley was one of the first bay shellmounds to receive
scientific attention. During 1902, E.L. Furlong, working under the
direction of John C. Merriam, conducted limited excavations at the
site for the University of California.   The 265 artifacts acquired
as a result of this digging were deposited in the Museum of Anthropology
but Furlong's field notes apparently did not accompany the collection.
Two years later, Joseph Peterson resumed the exploration, excavating
at the site's northeast corner.1 A report was prepared and filed in
the Museum of Anthropology (Peterson 1904). Representatives of the
Department of Anthropology continued to dig sporadically at the site.
Local collectors also cut into the mound and a few of their artifacts
eventually found their way into the Museum's collections. Other
cultural and skeletal remains were uncovered and turned in by construction
workers.
The Emeryville site (CA-Ala-309), perhaps the deepest (more
than 32 ft.) and certainly the most famous of the Bay middens, was also
first examined at this time. Work at the mound, located about two
miles south of West Berkeley, was begun in 1902 by Max Uhle. Uhle's
investigations were limited in scope and the number of specimens
recovered was small, but he nonetheless proposed 10 distinct strata
and suggested certain cultural changes (Uhle 1907). While the
Emeryville shellmound was being scraped away in 1924 to convert the
area into a factory site, a considerable quantity of artifacts and
1 The exact location of these excavations could not be
determined. They were probably carried on in an area now [1951] under
a brick building.
4
human skeletal material was salvaged. After the removal of the upper
portion of the deposit by steam shovel, controlled excavations were
made by W. Egbert Schenck and L.L. Loud in the undisturbed lower
levels. A final report appeared in 1926 (Schenck 1926). Schenck
concluded that different groups of people from nearby interior regions
lived on the mound seasonally to gather shellfish and hunt sea otter
and that not all of them were identical in culture. The data,
however, were regarded as too sketchy to permit an extensive reconstruc-
tion of the site's cultural history.
In 1906, N.C. Nelson carried on limited excavations at the
Ellis Landing shellmound (CA-CCo-295), four and one-half miles north
of West Berkeley in Richmond, Contra Costa County. This site
covered a greater area than Emeryville but was shallower, attaining
a maximum depth of 30 ft. During the removal of the deposit in the
following year, Nelson collected artifacts and skeletal remains.
Finally, early in 1908, he sank a shaft to the bottom in search of
clues to the culture represented in the lower strata which lay below
sea level. Nelson published a description of the site and its
contents in 1910. Aside from certain additions to, and some changes
in, artifact forms, he observed that essentially the same type of
culture prevailed from the bottom of the refuse heap to the top
(Nelson 1910 :-402).
Of considerable importance was N.C. Nelson's detailed
archaeological survey, completed in 1908. Four hundred and twenty-
five shellmounds, located with few exceptions, near the open bay
were recorded and mapped (Nelson 1909). Probably many middens had
already disappeared without a trace; a few escaped Nelson's notice.
The final investigation of this early phase of shellmound exploration
came in 1915 when L.L. Loud recoveted material from two shellmounds
(CA-CCo-298 and CA-CCo-300) at Stege, in the city of Richmond, while
they were being destroyed.  In a short report, which appeared some
years later (Loud 1924), a few differences between the two shell
heaps were noted. The smaller abounded in bird bones, bone implements,
ash layers, and calcined shells -- materials which were almost entirely
absent in the larger midden. There seems to have been a difference
in stone implements as well with a higher percentage of mortars and
pestles in the small site, and a greater proportion of stone net-
sinkers in the larger. The variations were interpreted as being due
to relative age as well as environment. Following this work there
was a long interval during which other bay middens were partially
excavated or materials were collected from them during the earth-
moving operations but, except for brief notes on a site at San Bruno
in San Mateo County (Drake 1948), no descriptions were published.
It should be noted that, aside from San Bruno which lies on the west
side of the bay, all sites reported upon were situated on the east
shore and only a few miles apart.
The search for adequate means of dating the San Francisco Bay
shellmounds consumed much thought and energy during this early
exploratory phase. In order to determine their approximate antiquity
archaeologists consistently sought a reliable basis for calculating
5
the rate at which the refuse heaps accumulated. N.C. Nelson roughly
estimated the age of the Ellis Landing midden on the basis of probable
daily deposition, primarily the day-to-day accretion of shellfish
remains, as 3000 to 4000 years- (Nelson 1909:345-346). Final
occupation was assumed to have preceded by only a short time the
discovery and occupation of the country by whites (Nelson 1910:
401). E.W. Gifford later applied a more refined quantitative
technique to the study of the composition of twelve Bay mounds,
including West Berkeley, Emeryville and Ellis Landing, and of three
middens elsewhere in California. Age estimates were made for only
the last two -- Ellis Landing (3500 years) and Emeryville (3300-3700
years) (Gifford 1916:13). Schenck calculated that the accumulation
at Emeryville had taken place in a relatively short period, perhaps
1000 years or less (Schenck 1926:298).   These analyses were directed
toward ascertaining the time elapsed between first occupation of
the shellheaps and the time of their abandonment. They were not
essentially concerned with relative chronology.
The pioneer investigators applied themselves primarily to
the task of building up a body of data, rather than to the interpre-
tation of the bay region's cultural history. Beyond the observation
of slight differences between sites and minor changes of content
within shellmounds, the problem of sequence or developmental change
was not seriously considered. Actually the notion seems to have
gradually emerged that the local prehistoric cultures remained static,
or at best, changed slowly. This was due in part to the earlier
explorations having been conducted without a sense of genuine
scientific problem but even more to the great size of the middens
and their simple and limited artifact inventory (Kroeber 1936:108).
Contributing to the difficulty of reconstructing history was the
small amount of carefully conducted. research. The first comprehensive
effort to piece together the regions' aboriginal past and to provide
a chronological framework came in 1948 when R.K. Beardsley proposed
a cultural sequence for the San Francisco Bay area and the Marin
County coast to the north (Beardsley 1948, 1954a, 1954b). This
interpretation was based on an examination of artifacts accompanying
burials from the published sites and of others not yet described in
print. The technique of burial analysis had earlier been applied in
the lower and middle Sacramento River Valley, where a threefold
sequence of prehistoric horizons -- Early, Middle (formerly termed
Transitional) and Late -- had been worked out (Lillard, Heizer and
Fenenga 1939). Beardsley fitted the San Francisco Bay and Marin
coast sites into the classification developed for the interior.   Local
variations of manifestations of Middle and Late horizons were recog-
nized. The lower levels of Emeryville were assigned to the Middle
period; the remainder to the Late (Phase I). Ellis Landing, Stege,
and West Berkeley were ascribed to the Middle horizon. No sites
of the distinctive Early culture were recognized, though the occurrence
of a few specific Early cultural items was noted. It was assumed
that the bay and coastal cultures equated typologically with those
of the interior and placed within the same horizon were contemporary.
6
This chronological scheme is probably correct in broad outline
for it seems logical to expect that something corresponding to cultural
development in the interior must have taken place on the bay and
coast in view of the geographical proximity and established trade
relations of the two regions. It is essential, however, to realize
how sketchy, from the point of view of real evidence, the associations
and tie-ups and, therefore, inferences are, because classification
schemes, once published, are often followed without question by other
investigators or with a forcing or straining of the data. As
indicated, the bay sites were assigned to the various horizons on
the basis of burial associations alone. In the Emeryville shellmound,
of the 700 interments recorded, 83 had grave goods and of these only
48, roughly 7 percent of the total, were utilized because the remainder
lacked depth data or diagnostic artifacts. The number of burials
from other shellmounds was even smaller. The assignment of sites to
horizons on the basis of burial accompaniments alone probably has
more validity for the interior, where 70 percent of the graves contain
artifacts.
The twenty years which have elapsed since the publication of
Beardsley's cultural sequence have witnessed the excavation of a
number of San Francisco Bay shellmounds and their placement within
the suggested chronological framework. The most prolonged digging
has gone on at the Patterson midden (CA-Ala-328), located about three
miles south of Alvarado in Southern Alameda County (Davis and Treganza
1959). This big, productive shellheap contains materials ascribable
to both the Middle and Late periods. The earliest component
(Patterson facies) antedates the Middle horizon manifestation at Ellis
Landing and Emeryville. The results of several field sessions,
conducted for the most part between 1935 and 1959, at the Fernandez
mound (CA-CCo-259) in Rodeo Valley, Contra Costa County, have been
summarized (Davis 1960). Three main archaeological components,
ranging from Middle through the final phase of Late horizon, were
distinguished on the basis of burials and their accompaniments.
Two Marin County sites have been partially explored and their contents
described.  Test excavations at the first, the Thomas shellmound
(CA-Mrn-115) situated on the bay shore north of San Rafael, revealed
that the upper portion of the refuse deposit contained artifact types
diagnostic of Late times whereas the group of objects from deeper
down could be fitted into the Middle period (Meighan 1953:4-5). A
smaller shellheap (CA-Mrn-20) at Strawberry Point on Richardson Bay,
an arm of San Francisco Bay, produced an artifact assemblage which
demonstrates that the site's major occupation came in a time of
transition between the Middle and Late horizons (McGeein and Mueller
1955).
Of extreme importance were investigations at two localities
which yielded cultural materials of greater antiquity than any
previously reported for the bay region. A salvage operation carried
on at University Village (CA-SMa-77), near Palo Alto in San Mateo
County, resulted in the discovery of a unique series of artifacts
which were assigned to an early San Francisco Bay period (Gerow 1968).
7
A second rescue effort at three sites in the interior drainage area
of Contra Costa County led to the recognition of five temporal
components (Frederickson 1965). The deepest habitational stratum
at one of the three sites, Stone Valley (CA-CCo-308) in Alamo,
yielded 93 artifacts, all compatible with the Early horizon though
the burial posture differed.
Archaeological work has gone on at additional shellmounds,
most often while they were being leveled and their sites given up to
residential or industrial developments. But aside from the descrip-
tion of a deeply-buried midden near Walnut Creek (Heizer 1950) and
two sites south of Alvarado (Rackerby 1967), no reports on any of
these has yet appeared in print. Many more shellheaps have vanished
without any record of their contents having been obtained.
There have been other recent developments. Quantitative
studies of the constituents of aboriginal middens have been refined
(Cook 1946; Cook and Treganza 1947; Gifford 1949; Greengo 1951;
Follett 1957). Quite apart from considerations of the shellmounds'
antiquity, these careful analyses have furnished useful facts on
the diet and eating habits of the bay region's prehistoric inhabitants.
Radiocarbon determinations have provided absolute dates for several
of the mounds, including Emeryville, West Berkeley, Patterson and
University Village (Heizer 1959). And interpretation has not been
wholly neglected. A treatise on native California settlement
patterns contains a brief examination of conditions in the San
Francisco Bay area (Heizer and Baumhoff 1956:37-38). Exploitative
economics and culture change in Central California, including the
bay region, have been scrutinized (Gould 1964) and the use of rocks
and minerals by the local Indians detailed (Heizer 1951). Finally,
the entire archaeological story has been popularly recounted in an
imaginative manner (Suggs 1965).
Such briefly, is the history of prehistoric research around
the shores of San Francisco Bay.   That progress has been slow and
spotty is obvious. There never has been a sustained, planned program
of shellmound exploration and, even though a considerable body of
knowledge has gradually accumulated, no adequate conception of the
region's past has been gained. The 1950 West Berkeley excavation,
the results of which are described in the following pages, add concrete
data and fill in at least one important gap in the archaeological
record.
Excavation
Although the mound had already been greatly reduced in size
when digging began, enough remained to give a fair sample. When the
growth of weeds and litter of factory debris covering the surface had
been removed, an area at the south end was staked out in five-foot
squares. A cut 20-25 feet wide was then carried in along the site's
major north-south axis. The material was removed with shovels in
8
arbitrary 12-inch layers until the underlying sterile stratum was
reached. The excavation then was carried an additional foot down
to make certain nothing was overlooked. When a trench was completed,
the next five-foot section was cut down, the open trench being used
as a place to deposit back dirt.  The over-all plan had to be altered
occasionally to avoid undermining factory walls or railroad tracks,
to follow out special features, or for other reasons. In order to
obtain as full information as possible, four trenches were excavated
entirely with trowels instead of by the shovel method.
The area excavated comprised approximately 1,175 square feet,
worked down to depths of 9 to 18 feet according to the thickness
of the deposit. Roughly, about 14,000 cubic feet of midden received
examination. In addition to the main trench, a 10-foot square pit
was cut through the overburden of limestone at the north end and
carried down through the midden deposit to sterile soil. This was
the section later leveled to ground surface by earth-moving equipment.
Deep auger borings were made in the base of the midden at several
points. These probings showed that a heavy but well-drained yellow
clay extended down about 3 feet, where it merged with a damp layer
consisting of clay mixed with rounded pebbles and angular fragments
of sandstone.
Profiles taken across the excavations at five-foot intervals
showed a marked soil difference, which divided the deposit into two
layers. The bottom of the mound rested upon an underlying clayey
material free of artifacts and shell, a compact yellow alluvium
doubtless derived by wash from the nearby hills. The undisturbed
yellow soil graded upward into a darker zone, different in texture and
appearance, still compacted but containing shell, charcoal, artifacts,
and human and animal bones. This layer extended from the sterile
base to a maximum height of about 12 feet and shaded gradually into a
dark gray softer mass of shell, soil, ash, and organic matter, the
more typical midden deposit, which reached to the surface. The
uncompacted portion of the shellheap attained a maximum thickness of
about six feet. Pockets of shell and ash were irregularly dispersed
throughout but widely spread lenses were not found. The upper one
to two feet consisted of a disturbed powdery layer of low artifact
content. A typical section of the deposit where the layers were
most clearly marked is shown in Plate 2. West Berkeley's internal
structure proved to be strikingly similar to that described for the
Ellis Landing shellmound (Nelson 1910:374-375).
Artifacts
San Francisco Bay middens characteristically yield a small
quantity of artifacts, tending to furnish only about one item, whole
or broken, per cubic yard dug (Kroeber 1925:25). West Berkeley
proved no exception; only 3,412 man-made objects were collected,
9
including those found by Furlong, Peterson, and others.    Besides
prehistoric implements, the excavation yielded broken china, bottle
glass, nails, and various other evidences of white occupation. Surface
disturbances resulting from recent digging of supports for the water
tank and from other activities displaced some of the latter to depths
of 1 to 2 feet. This represents entirely a post-Indian accumulation;
none appears to be "contact material" in the sense of having been
obtained by the Indians from Europeans.
The artifacts, while not abundant or spectacular, are fairly
diverse. Their frequency is given below. Fragments are included
along with whole objects.
List of Artifacts from West Berkeley
Chipped stone
Projectile points
Knife blades
Flake scrapers
Pecked and ground stone
Mortars
Pestles
Net-sinkers
Anchor (?)
Chisel
Unworked stone
Hammers tones
Abrading stones
Anvil
Slingstones (?)
Prismatic flakes
Quartz crystals
Awls
Flake rs
Spatulas
Spatula-like implements
Daggers
Notched scapulae
Notched ribs
Fishhook
Split mammal bone tools
Mammal rib tools
56
18
136
78*
69
360
2
1
Core scrapers
Choppers
Charms tones
Pendants
Ring
Plugs
Bars
52
3
1
46
3
16
98
48
11
6
2
15
2
1
60
11
Whale vertebrae
containers
Bone pins
Bone needles (?))
Bone pendants
Mammal bone bead
Bird bone beads
Bird bone tubes
Bird bone whistles
Fish vertebrae beads
Misc. bone objects
1 The uncertain extent of the areas excavated by earlier
investigators makes compilation of average artifact yield per cubic
yard of midden removed unreliable, so none is attempted.
* Including fragments (see descriptive section).
Stone
Bone
58
20
46
3
1
2
2
3
7
3
4
1
3
3
8
15
10
10
Antler
Wedges                          52
Flakers                        35
Punches                          7
Curved blades                    7
Animal Tooth
Sea lion tooth pendant          1
Canid tooth beads or pendants 20
Shell
Mussel shell scrapers (?)       4
Limpet shell bead or pendant(?) 1
Olivella shell beads        1,547
Abalone shell beads            413
Abalone shell pendants          36
Baked Cl~
Baked clay ball                 1
Textiles
Basketry                         1
Matting                          2
Cordage                 Impressions Only
The artifact content was extremely sparse in the upper two to
three feet of the deposit. This can be attributed, in the main, to
recent disturbance, though the possibility of a more rapid build-up
of the refuse cannot be overlooked. A decided decrease in numbers of
articles also occurred as the bottom of the shellmound was approached.
Stone
Lithic artifacts form a high percentage of the West Berkeley
specimens. They can be grouped initially into two main categories:
objects manufactured by a chipping technique and those produced by
pecking or grinding. A third minor group is made up of unworked
stones and minerals presumably used by the aboriginal inhabitants or
collected as curiosities.
Chipped stn
Except for a fair quantity of rather amorphous scrapers,
chipped stone specimens were not particularly plentiful. In general,
the workmanship is good though a great deal of percussion flaking is
observable. The materials consist of various cherts, obsidian, basalt,
slate, and a quartz-like stone. There are nearby sources for all of
these (Bowen 1962) except obsidian, the closest known outcroppings of
which lie in Napa, Sonoma and Lake Counties, some miles north of San
Francisco Bay (Heizer and Treganza 1944:304-305).
11
Projectile_points -- Fifty-six flaked stone objects which may
be termed projectile points were found. They are too large and heavy
to have been used on arrows and the majority would have been most
serviceable as dart tips. Four classes of points can be recognized.
a. Stemmed: leaf-shaped, contracting stem -- (20 specimens,
9 obsidian, 8 chert, 3 slate). In general this is a heavy point with
defined shoulders, ranging from square to sloping, formed by lateral
notching (P1. 3, a-c). One has only a single shoulder but this seems
to be a roughly reworked broken specimen rather than a special form.
Regularly, the stems contract to a rounded tip, though in a few
instances they vary toward parallel-sided. None is barbed; the edges
are somewhat beveled. The points differ in size, the range being
from 5 to 8.6 cm. in length, 1.8-3.3 cm. in maximum width, and 5-12
mm. in thickness. Average dimensions are: length 6.9 cm.; width
2.45 cm.; thickness 7.4 mm. Stems are relatively short, measuring
1.0-2.3 cm. with an average of 1.6 cm. The stems of two specimens
retain traces of adhesive.
b. Stemmed: leaf-shaped, expanding stem -- (8 specimens,
5 obsidian, 2 chert, 1 quartz-like). These weapon tips have broad
U-shaped side notches and rounded bases (P1. 3 d-f). One aberrant
piece has a rudimentary basal notch. The eight points are somewhat
smaller than the preceding. The length range is 4.1-7 cm., average
5.4; widths very between 1.9 and 2.6 cm., with an average of 2.3 cm.;
thicknesses are from 6 to 10 mm., average 8 mm.
c. Stemless: leaf-shaped, convex base (8 specimens, 5
obsidian, 2 chert, 1 basalt).   The greatest width of specimens of
this class comes about one-fourth up from the base (P1. 3 h,&).
Thence the blade tapers to a long sharp point at one end and to a
blunt-pointed, sometimes almost rounded, butt at the other. Dimensions
are:  length 4.2-8 cm., average 5.8 cm.; width 1.8-2.3 cm., average
2.2 cm.; thickness 5-10 mm., average 8 mm.
d. Stemless: leaf-shaped, concave base -- (1 specimen,
obsidian). A squat missile tip has a broad and shallow basal notch
(P1. 3 i). This specimen, manufactured almost entirely by the
percussion method, has a deep indentation on either edge about half-
way down the blade. It measures 5.3 cm. in length, 3.6 cm. in width,
and is 9 mm. thick.   It appears to be a retouched fragment of a
large blade.
e. Unclassifiable tips and median fragments. Twenty-one
unclassifiable fragments were unearthed. Twenty are of obsidian and
one of gray chert.
Except a single specimen, unearthed at a depth of 20 inches
in disturbed slough at the midden's southern border, all the projectile
points were recovered below the 6 foot level. No clean-cut strati-
graphic differences in classes is noticeable, though three of the
four leaf-shaped, convex-based specimens for which there is depth
provenience came from above the 8-foot level (Table 1). Aside from
this form, which occurred at Emeryville and Ellis Landing, the West
12
Berkeley points are not duplicated in nearby shellmounds. The only
examples analogous to the large-stemmed variety are two obsidian
points from the deeper portion of Ellis Landing (Nelson 1910: P1.
44, Figs. 1,4). A vaguely similar but smaller specimen was obtained
at Emeryville (Schenck 1926: P1. 486); its depth is unknown. In
size and outline, the West Berkeley specimens show more resemblances
to interior Early horizon points than to those recovered from Bay
sites (Heizer 1949:20-23, Figs. 11-14). The Valley toolmakers also
exhibited a preference for obsidian, the most frequently used material
at West Berkeley, but often resorted to the use of stones less amenable
to fine chipping. Weapon tips are more numerous in the interior
settlements where they frequently accompany burials.
Table 1
Projectile Points
Length (cm.)         Width (cm.)     Depth
Form            No. Max. Min. Aver.      Max. Min. Aver.    (in.)
Stemmed, leaf-
shaped contract-   18   8.6   5      6.9    3.3   1.8    2.4   96-192
ing stem
Stemmed, leaf-
shaped, expand-     8   7     4.1    5.4    2.6   1.9    2.3 168-192*
ing stem
Stemless, leaf-
shaped pointed      8   8     4.2    5.8    2.8   1.8    2.3   72-192
base
Stemless, leaf-
shaped, concave     1   5.3    --     --    3.6    --     --     --
base
Unclassifiable     21    --    __     __     __    __    ---   72-202
fragments
Total              56
* 1 specimen from disturbed slough at depth of 20 inches.
13
Knife blades -- Twelve long, heavy blades and six fragmentary
specimens, probably used as knives were recovered. They are all
leaf-shaped and chipped over both faces.
a. Leaf-shaped, pointed base -- (6 specimens, obsidian).
These large bipointed specimens are characterized by,fine, often
diagonal flaking over both surfaces (P1. 3 I,k,l). Their edges
have been delicately retouched, giving a neatly chipped border with
shallow serrations. A lenticular cross section is basic.   In size,
range is from 10.1 to 14 cm. long, from 2.7 to 3.8 cm. wide, and 7
to 9 mm. thick. Average dimentions are 11. 5 cm. long, 3 cm. wide,
and 8.5 mm. thick.  Two of the five whole specimens were associated
with burial 32; another pair, located in adjoining pits at the same
level, may have been with this interment. An incomplete example was
collected during filling-in operations in the same general area.
Large, symmetrical implements of this kind may well have served as
ceremonial objects or treasures, prized works of skilled craftsmen.
b. Leaf-shaped, squared base -- (7 specimens, obsidian).
These long and narrow specimens have squared bases, thinned by removing
several longitudinal flakes and by grinding or polishing from each
side (P1. 3 m,n,). The two whole specimens measure 9.7 cm. and 13.5
cm. in length and have maximum widths of 3.1 cm. and 3.0 cm. Each is
about 10 mm. thick. The flaking is somewhat less skillfully executed
than in the group described in the preceding paragraph, with numerous
percussion scars visible on the surfaces. The borders are not
serrated.
c. Leaf-shaped, concave base -- (1 specimen, obsidian).
This knife blade has a deep, rounded concavity at the base (P1. 3 o).
This is more or less straight-sided, though slightly asymmetrical.
Flaking is rather coarse on both surfaces. The specimen is 8.6 cm.
long, 2.3 wide, and 1 cm. thick.
d. Leaf-shaped, stemmed -- (2 specimens, obsidian). Some-
what similar in form to the contracting stemmed projectile points though
larger, are two obsidian blades. One has sloping, ill-defined shoulders
(P1. 3 p); on the other the shoulders are essentially square. Their
stems narrow toward a round base. The largest of the pair measures
2.7 cm. X 10.5 cm. and is 9 mm. thick; the second is about 1 cm. shorter.
Their provenience is unknown.
e. Leaf-shaped, notched and stemmed -- (2 specimens, chert).
Two exceptional specimens made of a white chertlike material were
taken from the same grave that yielded the pair of bipointed specimens
(burial 32). Both have corner notches, though they are not deep on
one of the examples (P1. 3 1,r) . Well-defined side notches occur on
the more complete blade. Originally, both appear to have had narrow
stems, probably contracting, though on one it has been broken away.
The blades are broad and flat with toothed borders. The largest has
an over-all length of 15 cm., is 45 cm. wide and 7 mm. thick; the other
measures 4.8 X 12 cm. and is 6 mm. thick.
14
The small number of knife blades makes statements concerning
their vertical distribution somewhat unreliable, but certain depth
differences can be noted (Table 2). The bipointed form remained
limited to the upper 44 inches of the deposit; the pair of white
blades was also obtained from this level. The squared and thin-based
variety occurred between 96 and 126 inches, and the single concave-
based specimen for which there is depth information came from 157
inches. Two large doublepointed blades accompanied a burial at
Ellis Landing (Nelson 1910:389). This is a form usually attributed
to the Middle horizon (Beardsley 1948:11). The hollow-based knife
found at some depth in the West Berkeley midden, is also considered
a typical Middle form of the interior and coast (Heizer and Fenenga
1937:386; Lillard, Heizer, Fenenga 1939:P1. 24, Figs. 1 and 2;
Beardsley 1948:11). The only specimen analogous to the white, side-
notched blades, comes from a site in the Lodi region of the northern
San Joaquin Valley (Schenck and Dawson 1929: P1. 91, c). However,
some bearing a general resemblance have been recovered from Middle
and even Late period Valley sites (Lillard, Heizer, and Fenenga 1939:
P1. 24, Figs. 3,4,24,25).  Chipped blades with a squared and ground
base are characteristic of the interior Early horizon settlements
(Heizer 1949:Fig. 11,  -t).
Table 2
Knife Blades
Length (cm.)          Width (cm.)     Depth
Form         No. Max. Min. Aver.      Max. Min. Aver.    (in.)
Pointed base     6   14    10.1  11.5    3.8   2.7   3     44
Squared base     7   13.5   9.7  11.6    3.1   3     3    96-126
Concave base     1    8.6   --    --     2.3    --  --    157
Stemmed          2   10.5   9.5  10      2.8   2.7  2.7+   --
Notched and      2   15    12    13.5    4.8   4.5  4.6+  44
stemmed
Total       18
15
Scrapers -- Flaked objects which could have functioned well for
scraping were abundant. Although a few are well-formed and carefully
chipped, most of them consist of flakes or cores with little or no
modification beyond the sharpening of one edge. The edging was
usually done from one face by the percussion method. Chert was the
most frequently used raw material, with quartzite and other stones
being utilized only rarely.   Scrapes of obsidian or sections broken
off from obsidian points or blades were occasionally made into scrapers
but this material appears to have been far too precious for regular
use in manufacturing these simple service tools.
a. Flake (136 specimens). These comprise irregular flakes,
usually fairly thick, struck off so as to give a sharp edge, which was
then retouched. The tools are very diverse in form and size and could
have been divided in a number of descriptive classes, with the vast
majority falling into the category of "side-scrapers." But that these
differences have any far-reaching significance is doubtful, since the
form seems to be due to the chance shape of the flake struck off.
The flake scrapers vary in length from 2.1 to 7.2 cm., averaging about
4.3 cm. Widths are from 1.4 to 6.1 cm. with an average of 2.9 cm.
In thickness there is a range from an exceedingly thin specimen,
only 3 mm. thick, to one 2.5 cm. The average thickness is about 1.3
cm.
b. Core (58 specimens). Both thin and somewhat heavy cores
were utilized in fabricating these tools. Large primary flake scars
are visible on their surfaces with secondary finishing normally limited
to one edge, usually about one-third of the core's periphery. On 54
examples the working edge has been produced by the intersection of
somewhat irregular flutings with a flat plane surface resulting from
removal of a large flake below; the remaining four lack the flat
undersurface. The smallest specimen measures 2.2 X 1.5 cm. and is
1.1 cm. thick; the largest is 5.3 X 7.5 cm. with a thickness of 1.6
cm. Average dimensions are: length 5.5 cm.; width 3.8 cm.; thickness
2.0 cm.
The vertical distribution of scrapers (Table 3) indicates a
somewhat higher incidence in the middle and lower levels. The apparent
lack of a specific standardized form makes comparison with other
sites difficult and, furthermore, the data on scrapers from San
Francisco Bay sites is sketchy. Uhle regarded a number of irregularly
shaped tools from deeper levels at Emeryville as scrapers or choppers
(Uhle 1907:65). Schenck, however, reported only two such articles
but plentiful chips of chert bearing no evidence of retouching
(Schenck 1926:243). No scrapers are mentioned for either the Ellis
Landing or Stege sites.   The seeming scarcity or, in some sites, the
absence of scrapers is perhaps due to a search for a defined shape
and an unwillingness to accept crude, partially chipped objects as
man-made tools.
16
Table 3
Vertical Distribution of Scrapers
Depth (ft.)   Flake Scrapers   Core Scrapers
0-1             0                 1,
1-2             1                 1
2-3             2                0
3-4             6                1
4-5             2                0
5-6             7                0
6-7             6                5
7-8             6                5
8-9             3                9
9-10            3                 8
10-11            8                5
11-12            6                5
12-13            6                6
13-14            9                 6
14-15            6                5
15-16            6                0
16-17            2                0
17-18            0                0
18-              0                0
Total     79               57
Choppers -- (20 specimens, quartzite). These implements cannot
easily be distinguished from core scrapers, except that they are larger
and heavier. There is no reason to doubt that, although their main
function was hacking or chopping, they served also for cutting and
scraping. Their shape is that of good-sized, untrimmed cores with a
sharp edge formed by striking off large flakes from one side only.
The tools' borders regularly show signs of battering or wear.
They range in size from 15.2 cm. X 8.2 cm. to 8.3 cm. X 5.7 cm.
Choppers were evenly distributed throughout the debris, occurring from
the surface to a depth of 17 feet.
Pecked and Ground Stone
There was no dearth of articles manufactured by pecking and
grinding but apart from a few ceremonial and ornamental forms, the
objects are simple in nature and little care was lavished on their
production. The region supplied the prehistoric inhabitants with
an abundance of suitable raw materials.
17
Mortars -- Stone mortars were among the more common household
implements. Materials used most frequently in their manufacture were
basalt and hard sandstone; a few specimens were fashioned of meta-
morphosed stones. Mortars are difficult to classify because the
forms vary a great deal and many of the specimens either retain the
natural shape of the rock or seem to have received their shape
through being used. They can be divided into five descriptive groups.
a. Semispherical (19 specimens). These fairly symmetrical
mortars have convex, thick side walls. The entire outer surface is
normally smoothed, though not really shaped, by pecking. The vessel
lip is thin and rounded, occasionally grooved or scalloped and the
inner cavity is broad, round, and fairly deep. A rounded bottom is
characteristic. None is entire but it is possible to estimate the
diameter of several of the 19 specimens. They show a range from 19
to 30 cm.; average cavity depth is about 13 cm.
b. Oval (8 specimens). Similar to the above but made from
flatter stream or beach cobbles are eight fragments of rather irregular,
convex-sided mortars. Their surfaces have been only slightly modified,
pecked here and there to remove irregularities. The interior consists
of a shallow oval depression. Their rims are broad and rounded; their
unshaped bases tend toward flatness.   Three fragments were fitted
together to form a vessel with a diameter of 22.6 cm. and a height
of 17.6 cm. The cavity has a depth of 14.3 cm.
c. Unshaped (7 specimens). Made from rounded boulders, these
mortars have rough natural surfaces. The two largest specimens,
found inverted over the pelves of burials, are included in this group.
Each weighs well over 100 lbs. One has a diameter of 37.1 cm. and
a height of 25.5 cm.; the cavity is 20.5 cm. deep. The other specimen
has a diameter of 45 cm., a height of 32 cm., and a cavity 19 cm. in
depth. Their grinding depressions are broad and bowl-shaped; bases
are irregular; rims are modified only by use. Fragments of five
smaller specimens possess estimated diameters of 15-22 cm.
d. Cylindrical (4 specimens). Four sections of what appear
to be deep, nearly straight-sided mortars were found. The exterior
surface of each has been carefully finished. Rims are thin and well
rounded. Exact dimensions could not be determined.
e.  Unclassifiable fragments.   Twenty-six recognizable but
unclassifiable mortar fragments were obtained. Several show smoke-
blackening, presumably from use as firestones.
"Paint" mortars -- A special group, often referred to as
"ipaint" or "medicine" mortars because of their small size, is repre-
sented by eight specimens. Two distinct varieties can be recognized.
a. Cylindrical (5 specimens). This first group appears to
have been made from broken ends of cylindrical pestles. Their sides
slope slightly inward to a rounded base. The lip is rounded and thin;
18
the grinding concavity is relatively shallow. The mortars have
diameters of 6.7-7.9 cm., stand 4.6-6.0 cm. high, and have cavities
2.3-2.4 cm. deep.
b. Semispherical or oval (3 specimens). Three mortars
have been fashioned from smooth pebbles. Their edges tend to be
somewhat square; their bases have been flattened by pecking. In
overall dimensions they exceed the other group, ranging from 9.2 to
11.2 cm. in diameter, from 6.7 to 7.1 in height. Cavities measure
from 2.8 to 2.9 cm.
Depth information on mortars, owing to omissions and errors
in field recording and in museum cataloging, is too spotty to permit
precise statements concerning stratigraphic differences, though a
few suggestive distributions can be mentioned. The semispherical
form, by far the most abundant, occurred quite generally from near
the surface to the lowest level, with about the same frequency at
all depths (Table 5). The cylindrical mortar fragments were all
secured from below 7 feet, with two lying near the bottom of the
deposit. Three "paint" mortars, for which there is depth provenience,
came from between 5 and 8 feet.
Table 4
Mortars
Diameter (cm. )
Form                No.  Max.  Min.  Ave r.   Depth (in. )
Semispherical           19   30    19    23         36-204
Oval                     8   --    --     22.6       192*
Unshaped                 7   45    15     32       120-156+
Cylindrical              4   --    --    --         84-204
"Paint" Cylindrical      5    7.9   6.7    7.3        --
Semispherical+           3   11.2   9.2  10.4       60-96
* Depth data for 1 specimen only.
+ Depth data for 2 specimens only.
19
Counterparts of the West Berkeley mortars, with the possible
exception of the large cylindrical form, have been recovered from other
Bay shellmounds. The semispherical variety was present at Emeryville,
though not numerically dominant; the oval and large unmodified forms
also occurred (Schenck 1926:245-247). The commion Emeryville mortar,
a large well-finished container with a flat bottom, flared sides, and
beveled rim, generally considered to be a late type, was lacking at
West Berkeley. Semispherical mortars were obtained at Ellis Landing
(Nelson 1910:385). Miniatures were unearthed at Emeryville, Ellis
Landing, and Stege (Uhle 1907:Fig. 4, 44; Nelson 1910:Pl. 42, Fig. 2;
Loud 1924:364). Small mortars are regarded as a feature of the Middle
horizon culture in the Delta region (Lillard, Heizer, Fenenga. 1939:78).
Around San Francisco Bay, mortars and pestles appear to have consider-
able antiquity, with some forms continuing in use over a long period.
No convincing proof of the precedence of the milling stone over the
mortar, has been found, a shift noted elsewhere in California.
Except for the mention by Uhle (1907:46) of three doubtful milling
stone fragments from Emeryville, and a statement that flat grinding
slabs are known from Middle horizon sites around San Francisco Bay
(Beardsley 1948:10), no implements of this type have been reported.
Pestles -- Pestles are made from a variety of stones, all
apparently of local origin. Most are of compact, fine-grained sand-
stone, but igneous rocks were also used. All degrees of finish from
roughly pecked or even natural surfaces to smooth and highly polished
faces are evident. Ornamental specimens, decorated with rings, knobs,
or flanges, are absent, however. The pestles fall into four classes.
a. Cylindrical (44 specimens). Characteristically round in
cross section, though at times elliptical, these pestles are carefully
worked and highly polished. All are short, 10.6-12.6 cm., averaging
11.4 cm., and stout, with diameters 5.3-7.6 cm., averaging 6.07 cm.
Their ends, originally flat, have become rounded through use. This
was by far the most numerous type.
b. Conical (13 specimens). This somewhat longer variety
tapers from a broad base to a blunt point at the grasping end.   The
striking base is rounded and battered from wear. Like the preceding,
these implements are regularly circular, or nearly so, in cross
section, but less care was used in their fashioning. The longest is
16.6 cm., the shortest 13.3 cm.; diameters ranged from 6.2 to 9.1
cm. The scarcity of whole pestles makes the averages of 16.0 cm.
in length and 7.5 cm. in diameter somewhat untrustworthy.
c. Conical, small (9 specimens). Because of their small
size and careful construction the pestles in this group are considered
to have had a specialized function, such as grinding pigment.   Like
the conical pestles they taper to a blunt point. Both ends generally
show the effect of pounding and one pestle has hematite adhering to
its base. The specimens measure 11.3-12.5 cm. in length with an
average of 11.9 cm.; diameters are 4.0-4.7 cm., averaging 4.2 cm.
20
d. Unmodified cobble (3 specimens). Conveniently shaped
beach or stream cobbles were not regularly employed as pestles.
A single complete specimen and two broken ones make up this category,.
Both ends of the first, entire pestle, which measures 13.6 cm. in
length and has a diameter of 8.4, appear to have been functional.
Table 5 shows the stratigraphic position of pestles.
Table 5
Depth Distribution of Pestles
Depth (ft.)   Cylindrical   Conical    Conical, small   Cobble
0-1
1-2            1
2-3            2
3-4            1
4-5            2                          1
5-6            2
6-7            1                          2
7-8            2
8-9            1
9-10           2
10-11           2
11-12           1
12-13           3           1
13-14           2           4
14-15           1
15-16           1
16-17
17-18                       2
18-19           2
It can be seen from the table that the cylindrical type was evenly
distributed throughout the deposit. The less numerous conical
pestles had a scattered occurrence with none found about 6 feet. The
others are too few to have any real significance. Apparently several
forms saw contemporaneous use.
The short cylinder, the prevailing West Berkeley pestle, was
the most abundant form at Stege and was also well represented at
Emeryville (Loud 1924:363-364; Schenck 1926:248). The conical or
tapering variety, numerically the most important at Emeryville,
occurred with less frequency at Stege. Crude cobbles were utilized
at both sites and paint pestles are reported for Stege. Few details
on the Ellis Landing specimens are given (Nelson 1910).
21
Net sinkers -- The most numerous objects from West Berkeley
consist of notched or grooved stones, 360 of which were obtained.
They comprise ordinary beach or stream pebbles, unworked except for
notches or grooves pecked into them at or near their centers.
Presumably the stones were tied to fishing nets to weight them down.
Smooth and rounded sandstone pebbles were generally selected, though
the shellmound people occasionally used irregular stones. Two types,
notched and grooved, can be distinguished. The two varieties inter-
grade and apparently were used simultaneously, since they were found
at the same levels and occurred together in caches. Four caches of
42, 9, 7 and 3 sinkers were uncovered. The largest of the caches
also contained a pestle and several mortar fragments.
a. Notched (211 specimens). These are flattish stones,
more or less oval in outline, notched at opposite corners to keep
an encircling line from slipping. In weight they range from 2 to
15 oz., averaging about 7 to 8 oz. This was the most abundant form.
b. Grooved (149 specimens). More rounded or spherical
stones were selected for this group of sinkers, each of which was
slightly grooved transversely. Rarely, a small pestle was girdled.
Their weight varies from 5 to 16 oz. with an average slightly above
8 oz.
A tabulation of the vertical distribution of 253 of these
objects indicates their absence or extreme rarity in the upper nine
feet of the refuse with greatest relative frequency between 10 and
15 feet. There was a gradual decline in numbers toward the bottom
of the deposit.
Net Distribution of Net Sinkers
Depth (ft.)              Number
0-1                     0
1-2                     0
2-3                     0
3-4                     0
4-5                     0
5-6                     0
6-7                     2
7-8                     0
8-9                     2
9-10                    9
10-11                   32*
11-12                   24
12-13                   48
13-14                   81+
14-15                   36
15-16                   13
16-17                    4
17-18                    2
Total     253
*Includes cache
+Includes cache
of 9
of 42
22
The major concentration of net sinkers in the midden (9-16
feet) corresponds with the most abundant occurrence of bones of the
white sturgeon and green sturgeon (Appendix B). This suggests
that these large food fishes were the ones taken in nets weighted
down by notched and grooved stones. Bony elements attributable to
the two species gradually diminish, like the net sinkers, in the
upper levels of the midden.
Stone sinkers have been reported for several San Francisco
Bay mounds. The larger Stege shellheap yielded many specimens; the
smaller one, fewer (Loud 1924:362). At Ellis Landing a fair number
were recovered from the upper 4-5 feet of the deposit, but sinkers
were absent in the middle levels. When excavation was carried below
the waterline, they appeared again and continued to the bottom
(Nelson 1910:387). Only one specimen, a grooved sandstone pebble,
was recovered at Emeryville (Schenck 1926:264), but this object
may well have been picked up elsewhere.
The variation in relative frequency of this type of artifact
in Bay mounds has been noted several times. Sites where sinkers
occurred in abundance were regarded as unusually favorable spots
for fishing. Loud, however, suggested the possibility of cultural
and, presumably, temporal variation in the sinkers' presence
(Loud 1924:363), an assumption which seems to be correct.
On the Marin seacoast notched and grooved stones are common
in sites attributed to the Middle horizon (Beardsley 1948:12), but
it is reported that they were used little, if at all, in the later
times.  Sacramento Valley sites generally lack stone sinkers but
they seem to occur in Late horizon (Phase I) times.
Anchors (?) -- Two grooved stones, weighing 2 lbs., 9 oz.
and 6 lbs., 3 oz., are seemingly too large to have served as net
sinkers and can probably be considered boat anchors.   The first has
a longitudinal groove; on the second, the rough groove is transverse
to the stone's long axis. A large girdled stone also came from one
of the Stege mounds (Loud 1924:363).
Chisel -- A chisel or wedge-shaped object of sandstone
shows a working which was beveled by pecking and grinding from both
sides. The tool's butt end is flat and scarred. Its dimensions
are 3.1 by 11.5 cm.
Ornaments -- Stone objects for personal adornment were
uncommon at West Berkeley. There are several distinct types.
a.  Pendants.  Three thin, oval pendants, made from grayish-
green steatite, were found at the neck of Burial 71, 112 inches from
the surface. The pendants' upper and lower borders are deeply, and
apparently ornamentally, notched. Each specimen bears a single
perforation, drilled, from both faces, near one end. The pieces range
in size from 1.5 to 1.8 cm. and are 2 mm. thick. A similar, though
23
incomplete, specimen was found at Ellis Landing (Nelson 1910:399, P1.
45, Fig. 4). From the West Berkeley site also came a flat, rectangu-
lar pendant of darker steatite, drilled close to one end.   The base
of this specimen is missing so its complete length cannot be deter-
mined. Somewhat similar but tapering toward the base is another
fragmentary pendant of hard white stone. This is elliptical and
thin near the upper drilled end and rounded toward the base.
b. Ring -- A ring-shaped ornament of grayish-green steatite,
3.1 cm. in diameter, came from the ear region of burial 70, 85 inches
beneath the surface of the mound. A spot of asphalt on the rim
retains an impression of a thin, 2-ply cord. The article is too
small for a bracelet and too large for a finger ring.   It had been
placed with the burial in such a way as to suggest that it hung
suspended from the ear lobe by a string. Ring-shaped ornaments are
common in Middle horizon sites in the Delta region.
c. Ear Plugs -- Two smoothly-worked objects of fine-grained
sandstone were recovered, one on the surface, the other 35 inches
below. They are almost cylindrical in form, having only slightly
different diameters at opposite ends. Their bases are squarely cut
and one is pitted in the middle. This latter specimen also has
a shallow encircling groove near its center. The largest of the two
measures 2.2 cm. in length and one end has a diameter of 2.5-2.7 cm.,
the other end a diameter of 2.7-2.8 cm.  The dimensions of the second
are:  length, 1.7 cm., diameters 1.8-2.0 and 2.1-2.3 cm.
The purpose of the objects is not clear though it has been
suggested that they were worn as labrets or as earplugs (Uhle 1907:
59-60). Similar objects were found at Ellis Landing (Nelson 1910:390),
and three were recovered at Emeryville (Schenck 1926:253-254).   They
are generally made of local sandstone. A special feature of the
Sacramento Middle horizon culture, south of Carquinez Strait, is the
occurrence of steatite labrets and earplugs like the sandstone specimens
from San Francisco Bay sites (Lillard, Heizer, and Fenenga 1939:78).
Bars. This designation covers a miscellaneous group of
elongated ground stone objects, none of which is perforated. Two
long, narrow rectangles of green serpentine, well smoothed and
polished, were found at depths of 88 and 100 inches. The largest is
11.3 cm. long, 1.5 cm. wide, and 6 mm. thick; the smaller measures
8.7 by 0.6 cm., with a thickness of about 1.3 cm.  A short bipointed
rod of brown serpentine is elliptical in cross section with one end
highly polished and the other scarred with a series of longitudinal
grooves. This object is 5.1 cm. long, 8 cm. wide, and 5 mm. thick.
The specimens may be related to the cylindrical "pencils" or rods of
the lower Sacramento region.
Charmstones. The "charmstones" of California archaeology are
well represented. These problematic objects, made by pecking and
grinding, range from simple flattish ovals to elaborate "phallic"
forms. Most of them are highly polished and symmetrical but a few are
rudely shaped. A wide variety of materials, from relatively soft
steatite to hard igneous rock, were utilized in their manufacture.
24
All of the materials seem to be of local origin, obtainable within a
radius of a few miles from the settlement.
Thirty-eight charmstones have a biconically drilled hole near
one end. Often the pierced end is also notched or roughened by
pecking, presumably to allow for a firmer attachment of a suspension
cord.
a. Oval (28 specimens). The most abundant group is
essentially alike in their general oval outline but differ in details
(P1. 4, a-d). In cross section the 16 completed specimens range
from flattened lenticular to almost circular. There is some variation
in size, though this is not great. The longest specimen is 12.1 cm.
long; the shortest 6.0 cm.; the average length for the group is 8.6
cm. Diameters vary from 3.1 to 4.6 cm., the average falling near 3.8
cm. The perforation is drilled 1.5-2 cm. from one end. The majority
have been made from blue amphibolite schist. One unique green
micaceous schist specimen has incised grooves or scratches running
diagonally around its body. Twelve unfinished charmstones have
rougher surfaces with beginnings of perforations visible as small
pits on one or both sides. Why these objects were not completed remains
conjectural; only one seems to have been broken in process of manufac-
ture.
b. Biconical (3 specimens). The three charmstones making
up this group are round in cross section, tapering toward each end
(P1. 4, i,n). A large hole is drilled biconically 2.3-3.2 cm. from
one tip. The largest complete example is 13.8 cm. long and has a
diameter of 2.9 cm.; the other whole one measures 13.3 cm. by 3.2 cm.
Two, including the fragmentary specimen, are fine-grained sandstone;
the third is a greenish granular schist.
c. Biconical miniature (2 specimens). Like the preceding,
these two objects have their greatest diameter at about the center
and taper toward each end (P1. 4, i,k).   They are, however, much
smaller and squatter, measuring 4.1 and 3.9 cm. in length; diameters
are 1.6 and 2.1 cm. Soft yellow-gray steatite and green schist were
used in their manufacture.
d. Trianguloid (1 specimen). A pendantlike charmstone of
gray steatite has a flat broad base which tapers to a squared tip
(P1. 4, im).  It is drilled 1.3 from the smaller end and a groove
runs across the top. Square olivella beads have been affixed with
asphaltum to one face. The article has a length of 6 cm.; its
greatest width is 1.9 cm.
e. Phallic (4 specimens). Four charmstones are easily
recognizable as pahlli, though differing in size and details of
construction. A double-ended green, micaceous schist specimen, 7.1
cm. long and 3.9 wide, has a large perforation in the expanded central
portion (P1. 4, _). A second, of hard green stone, is cylindrical,
with a perforation and groove near one end (P1. 4, h). The other
two are incomplete (P1. 4, f,l). One is a highly polished portion of
25
a rather small charmstone, broken at the perforation; the other
consists only of the sculptured tip.
A small, heterogeneous group of eight unperforated charmstones
was recovered. A considerable proportion of them reveal traces of
asphalt at the upper end and a few still show marks of twisted cord,
which was wound about the stone and held fast by the sticky adhesive.
a. Spheroid, flat base (1 specimen). A globular specimen of
hard igneous material has a flattened base and a narrow ungrooved stem
which flares slightly toward a squared tip (P1. 4, r). The entire stem
is coated with asphalt, though no cord impressions remain visible.
Its length is 8 cm., its diameter 3.9 cm. The tip is 1.5 cm. long.
b. Spheroid, rounded base (1 specimen). This rather crude
charmstone has an elongated and rounded stem smeared with asphalt
(P1. 4, a). The stem is not grooved but cord markings are present
in the adhesive. Made from a green granular schist, it is 4.6 cm.
long and has a diameter of 3.4 cm. The stem measures 2 cm.
c. Plummet (2 specimens). Manufactured from a heavy green
stone, the first of two plummet-shaped specimens is the most symmetri-
cal of all the charmstones (P1. 4, o).  Its greatest diameter, 3.5 cm.,
occurs below the center; thence it tapers to a pointed base. The
upper portion narrows to a flattened tip, which has an encircling
groove 1.2 cm. from the end. Asphalt, extending from the groove to
the top, is impressed with 20 rows of fine cord and a few grains of
hematite adhere to the adhesive. The second specimen has a similar
outline but is less symmetrical (P1. 4, p).  It has two grooves near
the apex; a deep notch over the tip is filled with a mixture of asphalt
and cordage. Soft gray steatite was the material selected for the
fabrication of this specimen.  It has a length of 7.8 cm. and a diameter
of 3 cm.
d. Miscellaneous fragments: Four tapering tips are round in
cross section.  One is grooved.
The vertical distribution of charmstones in the midden indicates
a clear-cut stratigraphic difference. The undrilled specimens ran from
near the surface to a depth of seven feet whereas perforated examples,
except for one recovered at four feet in disturbed slough, remained
restricted to the lower levels, 7 to 16 feet below the surface.  This
distribution, demonstrating the temporal priority of perforated
charmstones, agrees with the evidence obtained from other Central
California sites.
These distinctive prehistoric artifacts were present in other
San Francisco Bay shellmounds. More than 70, all apparently from the
upper layer, were obtained at Ellis Landing; 42 from the larger Stege
mound, and 40 at Emeryville (Nelson 1910:388; Loud 1924:365-366;
Schenck 1926:254-264). Four oval specimens from Emeryville's
deepest levels were drilled and notched. Perforated stones also
26
occurred at Ellis Landing and Stege but their depth is not reported.
Charmstones are numerous in lower Sacramento Valley sites where they
remained important ceremonial objects from Early to Late horizon
times. Early charmstones, often of phallus form, almost invariably
have been bored through near one end, whereas most examples from the
later cultures are not drilled (Heizer and Fenenga 1939:385-386).
Certain of the West Berkeley perforated stones are identical or
very similar to those obtained from Early horizon settlements. The
undrilled Bay specimens resemble Middle horizon forms (Heizer 1949:
Fig. 7-10; Lillard, Heizer, and Fenenga 1939:Pl. 14, Figs. d-f).
Charmstones often come from graves into the interior, while around
San Francisco Bay they generally turn up in the refuse without
association.
Unworked or Slightly Modified Stone
Many additional stone items were recovered, all of them
natural forms modified only by use, if at all.
Hammerstones (52 specimens). Twenty-nine of the hammers
consist of smooth unworked beach or stream pebbles with one or more
battered edges. Hard sandstone and basalt pebbles, which do not
fracture easily, were principally used. Twenty-three angular
specimens of chert or similar materials have been scarred on all
surfaces. A more modified series of 32 oval and discoidal stones,
all of compact sandstone, were employed for striking. Some have
the shape of a short, flattened pestle. A few show slight workmanship
in the form of deliberate pecking along one or two edges, presumably
to give a more rounded or symmetrical outline. Marks of use as a
percussion instrument are visible on one or two edges.   Hammerstones
were evenly distributed in the mound from near the surface to 18 feet.
Abrading stones -- Pieces of stone used to fashion, sharpen,
or polish other objects, were not numerous. A single "awl-sharpener"
has several long shallow grooves on both surfaces. Presumably
abraders of whetstones are a soft fine-grained section of sandstone,
scratched on one side, and a micaceous schist pebble with an extremely
smooth and slightly concave surface. Several irregular fragments of
sandstone with worn and flattened faces appear to be portions of
polishing or grinding instruments.
Anvil -- A flat slab of sandstone, 18.8 cm. long, 17.7 cm.
wide, and 3.3 cm. thick may have functioned as an anvil. It has a
small pit near the center of one surface but is otherwise unmodified.
Slingstones (?) -- Four caches of semispherical or oval
pebbles contained 17, 15, 8 and 3 specimens.   Three isolated pebbles
were also collected. All are of the same material, a grayish, hard
sandstone, and of approximately the same size and weight. The size
range is from 4.6 to 6.7 cm. with diameters of 3.7 to 4.2 cm.   In
weight they vary from 1-3/4 to 4-1/4 oz. with an average of a little
over 3 oz. Most were quite clean, only a few showing traces of
27
fire-blackening. They are not too heavy to have served as slingstones
and their general form suggests such usage. A few are battered on
one or both ends, perhaps indicating secondary employment as pecking
tools.
Quartz crystals -- Among the most interesting unworked stone
objects are quartz crystals, 16 complete specimens of which were found.
All are small, the largest being 6.7 cm. long, and none reveals any
modification, though one has been burned and melted. It is well
known that the quartz crystal played a prominent part in the magico-
religious life of the recent California Indians and their presence
here suggests that it occupied an analogous position in the prehistoric
period.  Small quartz crystals were obtainable in Alameda County,
south of the present city of Livermore, and elsewhere in the Bay
region (Bowen 1962:13).
Prismatic obsidian splinters -- Three slender, obsidian
prisms of natural origin were found in a cache at a depth of 150
inches along with 2 stemmed points and 11 quartz crystals, an agate
pebble, and a mass of powdered hematite. This association suggests
a medicine bag or fetish bundle. One prism has been retouched so
that it is leaf-shaped and bipointed, with a diamond cross section.
The other two exhibit dull surfaces, produced by burning. Two including
the reworked specimen, are 7.2 cm. long, the third measures one cm.
shorter. Prismatic obsidian splinters, sometimes referred to as
"tinklers" or "bangles.," are regarded as typical of the Coastal Province
in Middle horizon times, where they are sometimes found in large
numbers near the skulls of burials (Beardsley 1948:13).  Triangular
pieces of obsidian, the facets of several of which appeared to be
ground smooth, where reported from Ellis Landing (Nelson 1910:289).
They are absent from the Interior Province during the Middle horizon
times, although they occur in both the Early and Late periods. The
recent California Indians attached obsidian prisms to dance skirts.
Miscellaneous minerals -- The West Berkeley collection contains
a number of rock and mineral specimens, presumably picked up because
of their attractive color or peculiar form.  Included are several
iris agate nodules, which could have been secured from rock outcrops
in the Berkeley Hills, irregular pieces of quartz, an opal geode
and a quartz geode broken open to get at the quartz crystals contained
in it, and a small stony meteorite. Unworked brightly-colored stream
pebbles were commonly met with in the refuse. All of these items
were picked up and carried to the site by the Indians and perhaps
retained merely as curiosities though their employment in some magical
or religious rite cannot be entirely ruled out.
Pigments -- Three kinds of pigment -- hematite, limonite, and
a peculiar white substance, possibly diatomaceous earth -- are repre-
sented. In color, the former ranges from a brownish-red to a rich,
dark red hue. Powdered hematite was found sprinkled over burials
and isolated patches of it also occurred. Four lumps or balls,
probably remains of prepared cakes of paint material, were found.
28
The closest source of hematite lies in the Oakland hills, only a few
miles away (Wallace 1947:272). Yellow-brown limonite is less abundant
with four irregular lumps and a scattering over one burial. Several
chunks of raw ore containing hematite and/or limonite were noted.
There is one large (4 X 6 cm.) piece of a chalky substance that may
have been the source of white paint. Apparently it was molded into
a lump while damp, for finger marks are still visible on its surface.
Bone
The West Berkeley site was well supplied with bone artifacts.
This material was used generously in the production of utilitarian
objects, less frequently, for ornamental and ceremonial items.
Awls -- A rather general category of single-pointed imple-
ments, are clearly predominant among the bone articles. Not a partic-
ularly well-made lot, they generally show high polish from use and
some give evidence of constant resharpening of their points. Frag-
mentary specimens have become frequently calcined or otherwise damaged
by fire and many were recovered from ash deposits. Awls can be
separated into five groups.
a. Deer or elk cannon bone, split head (26 specimens). These
flat, rather heavy bone awls were by far the most common. The
proximal or distal end of the bone was split at the division of the
articular surface and in some the end was partly worked down or
ground almost flat. The shaft, which often shows the characteristic
cannon bone channel, was tapered to a sharp point. The awls range
in size from 10.6 to 18.4 cm.
b.  Deer or elk tibia, split head (4 specimens).  Though the
tibia bone is well adapted for making awls, it seems to have been
rarely used. The four tibia awls are slightly bowed owing to the
natural curvature of the bone. They possess long and rounded tips
and their butt ends remain unmodified except for the original cutting.
The specimens vary in length from 13.1 to 17.2 cm.
c.  Carnivore ulna, head intact (6 specimens). Awls made
from carnivore bones all seem to be fashioned from coyote ulnae.
Practically all that was done to make serviceable implements was to
sharpen one end of the bone. The length range is 10. 8 to 15.5 cm.
d. Mammal leg, bone splinters (14 specimens). This group
includes a miscellaneous assortment of pointed tools with a rough
angular appearance. They show little modification save for their
smooth tapering points, and part of this may have resulted from
wear. The butt ends are irregular. It is impossible to identify
the bones utilized in making these tools as all distinguishing
marks have been broken or cut away. Most appear to be fragments of
deer or elk long bones, with an occasional piece made from a rib.
The specimens very greatly in size, the shortest being 3.8 cm. long
and the largest, 10.4 cm.
29
e. Bird bone, midshafts (6 specimens). These awls were made
by removing the end of a bird bone and splitting the shaft obliquely,
then grinding the tapering end to a point. Apparently both wing and
leg bones of large marine species were utilized, though this is not
certain since all identifying characters have been removed. The bird
bones are rather small, 5.4 to 9.5 cm. long, and fragile. They may
have served as clothing or hair pins rather than as piercing tools.
f. Unclassifiable tips and medial fragments. Forty-two
remnants of mammal-bone awls were recovered. All show smoothed and
polished surfaces.
In addition to purposefully shaped implements a number of
naturally pointed bones could have been employed as awls or perforators.
Ten deer splints (vestigial outer metatarsals) show signs of use and/or
sharpening. Four have perforations at the distal end; four are not
drilled; two are too fragmentary for determining their original
condition. Sting ray spines with the barbs worn or ground off probably
saw service as piercing tools. A number of unmodified barbs were
also found.
The distribution of awls through the midden was quite uniform
(Table 6) and the forms recovered are well represented in nearby
shellmounds (Gifford 1940:161). Split-headed cannon bone awls proved
the most numerous at Emeryville and Ellis Landing; tibia and splinter
tools were also present in fair numbers (Schenck 1926:214-217; Nelson
1910:392). Awls are rare in Early horizon settlements of the Sacramnto
Valley with fortuitous splinters, split tibiae, and specimens fashioned
from coyote ulnae reported (Heizer 1949a:26). In the later Valley
cultures bone awls become abundant and diversified.
Table 6
Bone Awls
Form                     Number   Length (range) (cm.) Depth (in.)
Cannon bone, split head        26          10.6 - 18.4        48-169
Tibia, split head               4          13.1 - 17.2       60-170
Ulna, head intact               6          10.8 - 15.5        52-173
Splinter                       14           3.8 - 10         52-194
Bird Bone                       6          5.4 - 9.8        120-178
Unclassifiable fragments       42              ---            12-174
Total              98
30
Flakers -- Next in numerical importance among the bone
artifacts are flaking implements with their working ends rounded and
irregularly scarred. Some may have functioned as gouges or punches
rather than as flakers and many originally seem to have been awls
put to secondary use after their points had become dulled or broken.
Both land mammal and sea mammal bones were used in the fabrication of
these tools.
a. Deer or elk cannon bone, head intact (5 specimens). The
complete distal or proximal end of the cannon bone was retained to
serve as a handle on each of the five implements. All are relatively
rough with little surface finish. They range in length from a short,
stubby 6.5 cm. specimen to a long-bladed one, measuring 14.2 cm.
b. Deer or elk cannon bone, split head (5 specimens). These
are identical in form to awls made from the same bone except for the
tip, which is blunt rather than pointed. Their shafts are not so
well shaped or polished as those of the awls, however, which gives
them a cruder appearance. The shortest is 10.8 cm., the longest 14.0
cm.
c. Deer or elk ulnae, head intact (4 specimens). Ulna
flakers, found so frequently in archaeological deposits throughout
California, are represented by four examples. The head of the deer
or elk bone remains entire, apparently to function as a handle. A
single carnivore ulna was similarly fabricated. The tools are short,
9.2 to 12 cm., sturdy, and the tip, as is common in implements of
this type, is well worn.
d.  Sea mammal tibiae, head intact (2 specimens).    The distal
ends of two sea otter tibiae have been fashioned into flakers.    The
bones were employed without splitting the head; only the shaft was
cut or broken to form the working end. The flakers are relatively
short, measuring 8.4 to 9.3 cm.
e. Sea mammal penis bones (3 specimens). To judge from
their scarred tips, three sea otter penis bones saw use as flaking
tools. The bones are otherwise unmodified. They measure from 1.1
to 13.4 cm. in length. One has a coating of asphaltum on the proximal
half.
f. Mammal leg bone splinters (26 specimens). Split fragments
of mammal leg bones were fashioned into short (5.7 to 9.3 cm.),
relatively sturdy flakers. All appear crude with the butt end rough
and unfinished. A few of the 26 specimens may be tips of larger
specimens rather than complete tools.
g.  Mammal rib sections (3 specimens).   On each of these
tools, the rib was cut obliquely to make a beveled working edge. The
butt is broken away. All may have been made from sea mammal ribs.
Complete lengths could not be determined.
31
Flaking tools were present in the deposit from the surface
to a depth of 14 feet 1 inch (Table 7). No obvious stratigraphic
separation between the various classes can be detected. Specimens
fabricated from sea mammal tibiae were limited to the upper 7 feet
but there were only two of them, far too few for their occurrence
to be really important. Mammal leg bone splinters with rounded
scarred tips all came from near the surface. Rib flakers were
represented in the three to eight and a half-foot section of the
deposit, but again there are not many. Ulna tools with heads intact,
two of which have specific depth data, are reported from 11 feet and
13 feet 8 inches.
Table 7
Bone Flakers
Form                No.    Length Range (cm.)   Depth (in.)
Deer or elk, cannon
bone, head intact         5          6.5 - 14.2        59-169
Deer or elk, cannon
bone, split head          5         10.8 - 14.0        24-186
Deer or elk ulna,
head intact               5*         9.2 - 12         132-164
Sea mammal tibia,
head intact               2          8.4 -  9.3        33-84
Sea mammal penis bone      3          9.8 - 10.1        48**
Mammal leg bone
splinters                26          5.7 - 9.3         0-15
Mammal rib section         3             ---            36-84
Total          48
** Depth information for 1 specimen only.
* Includes 1 specimen fabricated from carnivore ulna.
32
The cannon bone flaker with the head left intact is the form
most frequently found in San Francisco Bay shellmounds; ulna flakers
are also fairly common (Gifford 1940:170-171). Implements fashioned
from sea mammal tibiae are less abundant but have been reported for
Emeryville and one of the Stege mounds. Utilized penis bones were
obtained at Ellis Landing and Sausalito (CA-Mrn-3) in Marin County.
A single specimen manufactured from a rib is reported for the
Sausalito mound. These tools appear to be rare in the delta region.
Spatulas (17 specimens). Formed by splitting large bones
of deer or other large mammals and grinding them flat, these broad
objects have rounded ends (P1. 5, n,p). Their edges are somewhat
beveled and their butt ends squared. Carefully shaped and highly
polished, the articles show no signs of rough usage and to what
purpose they may have been put remains unknown. They have been
referred to as strigils or sweat-scrapers. Eleven were recovered
from the lower levels of the mound at depths varying from 10 feet 5
inches to 15 feet 8 inches. The largest is 2.1 cm. wide and 16.9 cm.
long; the smallest measures 1.9 by 11.8 cm.
Six other spatula-like implements differ only slightly from
flakers in having broad, rounded points. Split cannon bones were
used in their manufacture. Two retain half of the distal head; the
other four represent shaft fragments. The tools have not been
carefully shaped, and polishing is visible only near the rounded tips.
Their appearance suggests that they represent service implements.
Lengths vary from 9.2 to 11.4 cm. Three of the artifacts were
unearthed in the disturbed material at the south end of the midden;
the remaining ones were found at depths of 9 feet to 13 feet 4 inches.
Daggers (?). Allied in form and manufacture to the nicely-
worked spatulas are two highly polished triangular objects made
from leg bones of large mammals (P1. 5, m,o). The blade of each
has been carefully worked down to terminate in a sharp point. The
base, from which have been ground off all the protuberances of the
condyles, is squared. The objects could have functioned as efficient
daggers.  The first, found at a depth of 2 feet 6 inches is 13.8 cm.
long and 2.0 cm. wide; the length of the second, part of the butt
end of which is missing, is estimated as 20 cm.; the width is 3 cm.
at its widest point. This specimen was obtained 5 feet 10 inches
below the surface.
Notched scapulae (15 specimens). A characteristic, though
problematical, implement is made from the thick portion of the
shoulder blade of a deer or elk. One side is notched every 3-4 cm.
to present a toothed and sawlike edge (P1. 5, a,b). The teeth are
generally rounded rather than pointed. One unique specimen has two
indented edges. The unmodified proximal end apparently served as
a handle. Most of the scapulae tools are carefully fashioned and
the high polish on their serrated blades indicates long use. On
several, the teeth are almost completely worn down; two specimens
appear to have been renotched after extended wear or when the teeth
were broken out. Eight of the 15 were fabricated from right scapulae;
33
the remaining 7 are from the left. Exact dimensions are difficult
to ascertain because none survives. They seem to have averaged
between 20 and 22 cm. in length and 3 to 5 cm. in width.
Although implements of this kind have often been referred to
as "scapula saws," it is generally agreed that they are much too
fragile to have been used in sawing through wood or bone. No
satisfactory explanation of their function has been arrived at,
though they have been variously described as weaving tools, fleshers,
bark-shredders, wood-scrapers and musical rasps (Gifford 1940:172).
Conceivably, they performed several tasks, including the scaling of
fish or even as sickles in harvesting wild grasses. Either of the
last operations could have produced the characteristic high polish
on the blade.
Notched scapulae were spread in the mound from near the
surface to 15 feet 5 inches below. These distinctive tools seem
to be especially characteristic of the San Francisco Bay region.
Forty-five were taken from Emeryville; a fair number were recovered
in the Ellis Landing midden, from two sites near Newark (CA-Ala-328,
CA-Ala-329), and at the Ponce (CA-SCl-l) shellmound (Gifford 1940:178).
Only a few notched scapulae have been reported from the delta region.
Notched ribs -- Two large rib fragments, probably elk, are
notched (P1. 5, c).   One has large circular cuts giving a scalloped
edge; the second has almost square indentations. Their original
lengths could not be ascertained; their widths are 2.6 cm. and 2.8 cm.
Both form and function remain uncertain, though presumably they could
have served the same purpose as the serrate scapulae. Such implements
are rare in Central California. A lone specimen were obtained at
Emeryville, another at Newark (CA-Ala-329) and a third from Ponce
(Gifford 1940:172).
Single-piece curved fishhook -- A bone fishhook was found at
a depth of 16 feet. It is subrectangular and has a small knob worked
on the end to serve as an aid in attaching it to a line. The point
is thin and delicate. The hook is quite small, measuring 2.1 cm. long
and 1.1 cm. wide. Another almost identical specimen was recovered
from Blossom (CA-SJo-68), an Early horizon settlement, in the lower
Sacramento Valley (Heizer 1949b:192). None has previously been
reported for a San Francisco Bay shellmound.
Split-mammal-bone tools -- Included here is a heterogeneous
lot of rough bone implements. They consist of scraps of split long
bones of large mammals, most of them pressure-flaked along one or
more edges. Varied forms such as would result from the chance splitting
of large bones are included. Thirty-two pieces are roughly flaked
along one edge to give a sharp, though irregular, cutting blade. A
single specimen has flake scars on two borders. The tools' lengths
vary from 6 to 16 cm. A second group of 12 bones have broad, rounded
tips, some of which have been flaked. Several are highly polished,
evidently through use. They are 5 to 15 cm. long and 2.4 cm. wide.
34
Sixteen additional specimens, 10 to 21 cm. long, have blunt, flaked
points. Four retain the head of the bone or part of it.
It is doubtful that these constitute standardized implements.
Rather, they seem to be hastily improvised tools. Their relative
abundance is of some interest, and they appear to have been used
throughout the period of occupation.   Similar rough bone objects were
recovered from the lower strata of the Emeryville shellheap (Uhle 1907:
71-72). No great number of them has been reported for other bay sites.
It seems probable that crude pieces like these often go unnoticed
or unrecorded.
Mammal rib tools -- Eleven bone pieces, all fragmentary, are
somewhat curved, and appear to have been formed from mammal ribs.
They are rounded, smooth points and are unusually well-polished.
Their bases are missing. In the mound they occurred from 2 inches
to 13-14 feet. Items of quite similar form have been noted at
Emeryville and in Early horizon Valley settlements (Schenck 1926:
216; Heizer 1949a:27).
Whalebone containers -- Three bowls have been hollowed from
whale vertebrae. The largest (24 cm. in diameter) and most elaborate
exhibits an elliptical hole (12 cm. in diameter) worked into its upper
surface (figured as type BBl in Gifford 1940:225).    The cavity,
which tapers toward the bottom, is lined with a thin coating of a
black material, presumably asphaltum. The projections of the vertebra
have been removed, broken or cut off. A second container, 22 cm. in
diameter, has a shallow (1 cm. deep) depression worked into one
surface. The rim is ground flat. A third whale vertebra, slightly
pecked on one surface, probably represents an unfinished bowl.
The three West Berkeley whale bone bowl specimens are the only ones
reported from Central California.
Bone pins -- Seven long, nicely finished bone objects,
flattened oval in cross section, may have served as hair or nose
ornaments or perhaps for holding garments together. They are broken,
so their exact form could not be ascertained, but all seem to be
fragments of slender bipointed pins, tapering gradually and evenly
to either end. Two have slightly curved or upturned points. Estimated
lengths are 20 to 25 cm.; each is about 8 mm. in diameter. Four other
pins were recovered from graves, two with burial 20, 5 feet 3 inches
below ground level, and another pair from the grave of burial 56
at the depth of 7 feet 6 inches. The only other specimen for which
provenience is recorded was found 6 feet down. Though the incomplete
nature of the specimens makes comparison uncertain, it is probable that
their original form was like that of the bipointed pins found in other
Central California sites (Gifford 1940:176-177).
Bone needles (?) -- Three small, thin, well polished splinters
of mammal bone are ground sharp at one end and to a blunt point at the
other. The term "needle" is applied with some doubt, since none is
perforated. They all may be pins. The specimens are 9.4 to 12 cm.
long.
35
Bone pendants -- Four bone pendants are thin and flat, with
rounded sides that taper to square-cut bases. (A West Berkeley speci-
men is illustrated as type Ql by Gifford 1940:218.) Each has a
biconically drilled suspension hole near one end. Three of the four
were taken from a grave at a depth of 10 feet; for the remaining
specimen, the vertical position is unknown. The specimens are 1.1
to 12. cm. long, 7-8 mm. wide, and 1-2 mm. thick. Bone pendants are
not numerous in Central California, perhaps because of the great
emphasis upon the wearing of shell ornaments.
Mammal bone bead -- A tubular bead, with roughly squared
and ground ends, is cut from a small mammal bone.   Owing to the
bone's natural curvature, the object is somewhat bowed. A slight
polish is visible on all surfaces. The bead has a length of 4 cm.
and a diameter of 6 mm.
Bird bone beads and tubes -- Three polished tubular objects
are made from shafts of bird long bones. The process of their
manufacture has removed all means of identification of the kind of
bird from which they were taken. The smaller samples undoubtedly
represent bone beads. They were made from small leg bones, 6 to 7
mm. in diameter, cut into lengths of 1.7 to 2.2 cm. On most examples
the cut edges of the bone have been rounded and smoothed off. None
is engraved or otherwise decorated. The three specimens were found
at depths of 93, 95 and 132 inches.
Longer tubes, fashioned in a similar manner, are highly
polished, as if much handled. It seems quite possible that they
functioned as drinking tubes at various life crises. One complete
specimen, 10.5 cm. long and 7 mm. in diameter, and two broken ones
were recovered at depths ranging from 62 to 72 inches. A cruder,
less finished tube may be an unfinished product. A cache of about
20 large bird bones with their ends removed was uncovered 59 inches
down in the refuse. These probably constitute "blanks" designed
to be made into beads, tubes, or whistles.
Undecorated bird bone beads or tubes were more abundant in
other San Francisco Bay sites than at West Berkeley.   Emeryville
produced 87 and Ellis Landing 33. Articles of this sort are found
in both coast and interior sites throughout the entire span of
prehistoric time. Though rare in the Valley Early horizon sites,
they occur in respectable numbers in later settlements (Gifford 1940:
179; Heizer 1949a:26).
Bird bone whistles -- Slender long bones of birds were some-
times made into whistles. The interior of the shaft was cleaned out
and a roughly rectangular or eliptical hole was cut about midway in the
upper surface. The bone's exterior was somewhat smoothed and polished.
One complete whistle, 10.2 cm. long with a diameter of 7 mm., and
fragments from seven broken ones were obtained. Three retain traces
of asphalt stops, built up near their holes. No specimen gives
evidence of having been bound to another. The bone whistles all lay
in the upper portion of the refuse deposit from 10 inches below the
36
surface to a depth of 6 feet.   Tubular whistles are frequent in Bay
and Valley middens (Gifford 1940:183). They are attributed to both
the Middle and Late horizons (Beardsley 1948:13, 16).
Fish vertebrae beads -- Fifteen centrally perforated fish
vertebrae have their edges carefully worked down. Eight were found
together; 2 additional vertebrae were associated; the remaining 5
occurred as isolated specimens. All were obtained in the upper
three to eight feet of the deposit. The pierced vertebrae, presumably
beads, are small, averaging about 1.5 cm. in diameter. The fish
species represented is the thresher shark (see Appendix B).
Miscellaneous bone objects -- A heterogeneous lot of bone
articles includes a bipointed mammal bone splinter 13.6 cm. long,
with one tip polished from use, perhaps as an awl or perforator.
Two distal ends of deer cannon bones have been extensively ground
on both sides of the articulation. One has shallow pits on both
surfaces, as if a perforation had been started.   Their purpose is
unclear. An elk ulna, unmodified except for extensive battering on
the edge opposite the proximal epiphysis, perhaps saw employment as
a hammer or club. A heavy split section of elk long bone (tibia?) and
a splinter of sea mammal bone (whale?) also exhibit scarred edges,
indicating utilization as pounders. Three pieces of split mammal
bone, 7.1 to 8.3 cm. long and 1.3 to 1.4 cm. wide, are cut obliquely at
one end, resulting in a blunt point. The opposite end is square-cut.
All show some smoothing. A highly polished bit of bone has a narrow,
parallel-sided neck, which expands to a blunt point.   This object,
1.7 cm. long and 6 mm. wide, is presumably part of a larger implement.
Eight scraps of worked bone are too fragmentary to be identified as
artifacts.
Antler
The shellmound people utilized both deer and elk horn in
making tools, but neither very extensively. The antler objects are
not well preserved and some have become so badly decomposed that it
is difficult to determine their original form and dimensions. The
porous material apparently decayed rapidly because its large cells
and open structure permitted free access of oxygen and dampness.
The range of implement types is small, wedges, flakers, punches,
and spatulas comprising the total.
Wedges -- Antler wedges vary considerably in size, from
small ones, apparently designed for fine work, to large, heavy
implements suitable for splitting thick branches or even logs. The
tools were made by tapering a section of antler to a rounded and
beveled-tip. The butt end usually shows scars from the effects of
pounding.  Longer specimens tend to show the natural            of the
antler. Two classes are represented, the main differences between
them being size and method of beveling the blade.
a. Short, broad, blade beveled from side (22 specimens).
Made from short lengths or split sections of antler, the blades on
37
these wedges have been tapered by cutting and grinding from one surface
only (P1. 5, h,i).   The butts of the tools have been cut off square.
Their length varies from 10 to 15 cm.; the width of the blade ranges
from 3 to 3.5 cm.
b. Long, narrow, beveled from both sides (30 specimens).
Wedges included here are made from sections near the tip of the
antler (P1. 5, f,j).   Their blades have been ground from both surfaces
to give a relatively narrow, rounded tip. Like the preceding group,
they have square-cut bases. On the whole, these wedges are more
carefully made than those of the first class. In length they vary
from 12 to 22.5 cm. and in width from 2 to 3 cm.
Antler wedges were found throughout the mound from a depth of
three to four to more than 16 feet beneath the surface, with most
of them found below the eight to nine foot level. Both classes
showed about the same vertical occurrence. Only one specimen was
taken from a grave (Burial No. 32). If these objects were used
exclusively for woodworking, their presence in some numbers points
to a well-developed wood industry. No specialized mauls were unearthed,
but any of the hammerstones could have been used to pound in the wedges.
Antler wedges have been reported from other Bay middens, but Emeryville
is the only site where they were met with in comparable quantity. Here,
as at West Berkeley, the wedge was the most common antler artifact,
with some indication of a more frequent occurrence in the lower
levels of the deposit (Schenck 1926:229-230). The Ponce mound also
yielded a fair quantity, even though excavations were extremely
limited (Gifford 1940:182). Antler wedges are rare items in the
delta region with only one reported from Early horizon settlements
and a few more from later sites (Heizer 1949a:28; Gifford 1940:182).
Flakers -- Antler tines with cut bases were present at all levels.
The tines had received no intentional shaping, but their tips exhibit
wear, presumably from flaking stone by the pressure technique.    Both
straight and slightly curved specimens are included, with a unique
piece consisting of a branched tine. Nineteen complete flakers, 5.7
to 13.7 cm. long, and 16 fragments were recovered from depths ranging
from four feet from the surface to 14 feet.
Curved blades -- Two whole and five fragmentary objects comprise
split sections of antler, evidently elk, ground into flat, blunt-pointed
blades. They still show the natural curvature of the horn (P1. 5, k,l).
The largest specimen has a length of 46.2 cm. and a concave base; the
second, quite similar, measures 15 cm. less and has a straight rather
than concave base. The original form and size of the incomplete
blades could not be determined. The objects could have functioned
as sweat-scrapers or strigils or even as sickles.
Animal Teeth
Twenty-one modified animal teeth must have served as pendants
or beads. A sea lion canine is cut off square at the root end and
38
has three small grooves around its circumference. Traces of asphalt
and cord wrappings are visible near the squared end, indicating
its suspension as a pendant by wrapping the root end with a thin,
two-ply cord, held fast with asphaltum. From two graves at the north
end of the mound (Burials 84 and 85) came 20 coyote teeth, 18 in
one grave and 2 in the other. The teeth are undrilled, but bear
asphalt and cord impressions. Beads and pendants made from animal
teeth are not common in Central California sites. Unperforated
canid (coyote) teeth occasionally unearthed have been with Early
horizon burials in the delta region (Heizer 1949:48). Drilled coyote
teeth have also been found.
Shell
At West Berkeley shell was used almost exclusively for the
making of beads and pendants. Only three kinds, Red Abalone (HaZiotis
rufescens), Black Abalone (Haliotis cracherodii), and Olive (Olivella
bipZicata) were regularly utilized. The making of shell ornaments
does not seem to have taken place at the site for the refuse failed
to yield discarded waste fragments, incomplete articles, or pieces
broken during manufacture. Drills suitable for piercing shells were
lacking. Thus, it can be concluded that finished products were
brought in from elsewhere. Either the West Berkeley people journeyed
to the seacoast to gather shells and there made ornaments from them,
or more likely, they procured the finished products in trade from
shore-dwelling populations.
Beads -- Beads usually lay near the neck or thoracic region
of skeletons. All are well-made but shaped rather simply. Six
types are represented.
a. OZiveZZa with spires removed (1,195 specimens). Beads
consisting of whole Olive shells with the tip or spire ground off
down to the main whorl (P1. 6, l,f), found in 10 lots, show a complete
intergradation in size from tiny specimens measuring only 6.9 mm. in
length to large ones of 13.2 mm. The beads recovered together were
not carefully graded according to size.
b. Rectangular OZiveZZa (350 specimens). These thin and
slightly concave beads have straight edges and square corners
(P1. 6, k,l). The central perforation is drilled from one side only.
Four lots of 168, 152, 25, and 5 were secured.   There is some size
variation from 4.1 by 5.3 mm. to 6.6 by 8.6 mm.; perforations range
from 12. to 1.7 mm., with the average falling near 1.5 mm.
c.  Circular VZiveZZa (2 specimens).   Two circular, slightly
cupped- Olivella beads were found together (P1. 6, j,h). Each has a
biconically drilled hole in the center. Their diameters measure
about 8.7 mm.
d.  Rectangular iaZiotis (412 specimens).   Rectangular or,
in a few instances, almost square, beads cut from abalone shell were
39
recovered in four lots, numbering 243, 87, 64 and 13. Each bead has
a single central or slightly off-center preforation, drilled from
both sides (P1. 6, i,i). The beads' edges are unmodified except
for the original cutting; the angles of the corners are sharp.   The
shell's coarse back was cut away so as to exhibit the inner irrides-
cence.  The size range is from 5 X 6 mm. to 6 X 17 mm.; perforations
average about 2.5 mm.
e. Circular HaZiotis (1 specimen) -- A single, centrally
perforated abalone shell bead, 14 mm. in diameter, was found.    It
is slightly cupped due to the utilization of a curved fragment for
its manufacture. The back of the shell has been ground away.
f. Limpet (1 specimen). The aperture of a small limpet
(Acmaea sp.) shell beads, appears to have been enlarged by grinding;
the shell may represent a completed bead or even a pendant. Its
natural opening certainly made it suitable for suspension.
It was possible to detect a stratigraphic difference in the
occurrence of shell bead types (Table 8). Circular forms remained
limited to the higher part of the deposit, whereas rectangular beads
were distributed in the deeper levels.   The pair of disk-shaped
OlivelZa beads were obtained at a depth of 42 inches; the circular
abalone at 60.  These may be too few to be made the basis for statements
concerning stratigraphy, though their complete absence from the lower
13 feet of the midden seems significant. Except for a specimen in a
necklace of spire-lopped shells associated with an infant, buried
85 inches down, rectangular OZivella beads were all recovered at
depths from 146 to 171 inches. The rectangular Haliotis forms run
from 101 to 172 inches. Olive shells with their spires removed had
the greatest depth range, from 72 to 172 inches.   Beads of the last
three forms were sometimes strung together in a single necklace.
Shell bead types have been recognized as reliable indicators
of culture periods in Central California since the people of each
prehistoric phase tended to use distinctive forms. Of the West
Berkeley types, the spire-lopped Olive ha is the least useful as a
horizon marker because of its wide geographical and temporal range.
In the delta region whole shells occur in all periods, with the
Early beads being typically small (Gifford 1947:10). For the Bay
area, this type was abundant at Emeryville but almost absent at Ellis
Landing and Stege, only one specimen having been recovered from the
last two sites. The other West Berkeley forms have more diagnostic
value. Circular OZive ha bipZicata beads with a central hole are
characteristic of the Middle horizon in the Valley (Lillard, Heizer
and Fenenga 1939:391-392).   Two beads of this type were found at
Emeryville and Ellis Landing (Schenck 1926:233-234; Nelson 1910:398).
Round and flat abalone shell beads are diagnostic of Middle horizon
sites. Rectangular OliveZZa shell beads of the variety recovered
at West Berkeley occur only in Early horizon sites with a smaller,
thinner bead with a tiny perforation found in Late horizon deposits
(Heizer 1949a:17).  The latter seems to be the form reported for
Emeryville (Schenck 1926:233). Rectangular to square HaZiotis pieces
40
are standard in Early horizon settlements (Heizer 1949a:17).   The
Haliotis beads from Emeryville, which vary from circular to rectangular,
are not of this type (Schenck 1926:233).   To sum up, the shell beads
found exclusively in the upper levels at West Berkeley represent types
generally ascribed to the Middle horizon; those from the deeper stratum
are Early horizon forms.  The spire-lopped Olives cannot be assigned
to a specific chronological period though their apparent absence in
the upper 72 inches of the midden may have temporal significance in
the San Francisco Bay region, particularly in view of their almost
complete absence in two nearby shell middens.
Pendants -- Pendants are all made from abalone shell. The
species could not always be identified because of alteration but
when recognizable it was either HaZiotis rufescens or cracherodii.
The shell pendants, thin, concave objects, and drilled for suspension,
undoubtedly served as articles of personal adornment, either
attached to clothing or as ornaments worn about the neck. Some were
associated with beads, indicating their use as parts of necklaces.
The pendants assume a number of distinct shapes.
a. Circular, two central perforations, plain or incised
edges (11 specimens).   Eight of these pendants exhibit incised borders
while three have unmodified margins (P1. 6, np,j2). Four show traces
of asphalt or other adhesive on the backside and may represent earplug
or labret facings.  Their diameter are from 18 to 51 mm.; perforations
vary from 2.3 to 3 mm.
b. Circular, two central perforations, serrated edges (13
specimens). These specimens consist of disks with scalloped or
serrated borders (P1. 6, a,b). They are much like the above but with
smaller diameters and larger perforations. The size range is from
14.4 to 20 mm.; perforations vary from 2.5 to 3.3 mm.
c.  Circular, single central perforation, incised edges (1
specimen). This single-holed pendant, 18 mm. in diameter has incised
borders (P1. 6, o).
d. Rectangular with concave sides, two perforations at narrow
end, plain edge (3 specimens). The general form of these pendants is
rectangular with the sides curving inward (P1. 6, r,s).   The most
finely finished example measures 18 by 35 mm.; a second larger and
cruder one has dimensions of 25 by 42 mm. The third is incomplete.
The method of finishing their margins varies: one has plain edges; a
second, incised; and the third, a partially serrated border.
e. Rectangular, one peripheral perforation, plain edge (3
specimens). The three specimens of this class are long and narrow
(P1. 6, t,u) with curvature of the shell making them somewhat
asymmetrical. Dimensions of two of the pieces are 18 by 50 mm. and
10 by 54 mm. The third is incomplete.
f. Triangular, single peripheral perforation, plain edge
(4 specimens). Three small, roughly triangular pendants are made
41
from rim sections of a Haliotis rufescens shell. The shell's
curvature adds to their asymmetry. All are crudely finished. They
measure 6 by 23 mm., 11 by 20 mm., and 11 by 20 mm. A fourth
specimen, similar in outline, has a second perforation drilled near
its lower border.
g. Indeterminate. A fragmentary pendant has two peripheral
perforations and a third drilled slightly below. Its original shape
and dimensions could not be ascertained.
Little can be said about the stratigraphy of pendant types
because their number is small and depth information is inadequate
because of errors and omissions in field recording and in cataloguing.
Further, the majority of the pieces were taken from two graves. Six
circular pendants with two central holes, the disk with a single
perforation, and two of the three rectangular specimens with concave
sides were found with Burial 45 at a depth of 172 inches. Nine of
the disks with scalloped edges came with Burial 66, 166 inches below
the surface.
As a group, the West Berkeley shell pendants are distinct from
those recovered at other shellmounds on the shores of San Francisco
Bay, but several forms are very similar or identical to those from
lower Sacramento Valley early horizon cemeteries.   The most frequent
Early pendant, as at West Berkeley, is circular with two central
perforations (Heizer 1949a:17). Like some of the West Berkeley
specimens, the reverse surface often has been smeared with asphaltum.
The distinctive rectangular pendant with concave sides is also found
in Early horizon graves. Circular disks with deeply serrated or
scalloped edges generally are regarded as belonging to the Middle
horizon (Heizer and Fenenga 1939:392). No such quantity and variety
of shell ornament was present at West Berkeley as in the delta region.
The relative scarcity of shellwork is also characteristic of other
Bay mounds. Evidently, the Bay area people failed to develop a distinctive
art in shell (Gifford 1947:50).   The suggestion that this reflects their
economic status may be correct (Schenck 1926:232).   The bayshore
dwellers probably did not have desirable trade items to exchange with
the coast tribes for shell articles. Apparently the inland peoples did.
42
Table 8
Shell Artifacts
Artifacts                    Number    Size Range (mm.)   Depth (in.)
Beads
Spire-lopped OZive ZZa
Rectangular OliveZ Za
Circular OZiveZZa
Rectangular HaZiotis
Circular HaZiotis
Total
1195
350
2
412
1
1960
Pendants
Circular, 2 perforations,
plain or incised edges
Circular, 2 perforations,
serrated edges
Circular, single perforation,
plain or incised edges
Rectangular, concave sides,
2 perforations
Rectangular, single perforation
Triangular, single perforation
Indeterminate, 3 perforations
Total
7 - 13
6 X 16 - 5 X 7
8
6 X 17 - 5 X 6
11     18 - 51
14     14.4 - 20
1     18
3
3
3*
1
18 X
18 X
6 X
35-25 X 42
50-10 X 54
23-11 X 20
36
* Plus 1 specimen with second perforation.
Shell rarely served utilitarian purposes. Occasionally empty
mollusk valves were utilized in their natural state as containers.
An unmodified Bay Mussel (My tiZus eduZis) shell was found filled with
red ocher; a few others showed traces of pigment. Some employment of
shells as scrapers or knives is demonstrated by the presence of three
roughly rectangular sections, cut from the borders of valves of the
larger Sea Mussel (My tiZus californianus). Each of the pieces shows
wear on one edge. A section of mussel shell with a cut and rounded
border may have been similarly used or may have operated as an
artificial thumbnail in extracting fibers from leaves and stalks.   Ten
additional severed pieces are too fragmentary for their original shape
and possible function to be ascertained.   Several small masses of
72 - 172
146 - 175
42
101 - 172
60
172
129 - 162
172
172
85
136
43
powdered (clam?) shell were discovered. Their compact shape suggests
that they had been in containers of perishable material.
Baked Clay
A hand-molded chunk of fired clay, 2 cm. long and 6 cm. in
diameter, was obtained at a depth of 150 inches. Made from reddish
clay, blackened on one side by fire, it is roughly oval in form, with
a plain, irregular surface. Baked clay objects, so numerous in interior
sites of Central California, are generally lacking in San Francisco Bay
shellmounds, though a few have been found. A baked-clay ball and a
"biscuit-shaped" fragment were excavated at Emeryville (Schenck 1926:
225). This rudimentary fired-clay industry is represented in all of
the three lower Sacramento Valley horizons, though rather weakly in
Early settlements (Heizer 1949:25). The West Berkeley specimen is too
generalized in form to be definitely linked with any of the Valley types
though it does bear a vague resemblance to the ungrooved biconical
clay balls of the Early horizon. That the West Berkeley specimen was
locally made seems doubtful.
Perishable Materials
Soil conditions were not favorable for the preservation of
perishable materials, so little has survived. There is one piece of
basketry, saved from destruction by charring and a protective coating
of pitch and hematite. The fragment, found at 127 inches, is small
and crumbly, making recognition of its structure exceedingly difficult
and identification of fibers impossible. The weaving technique
appears to be lattice-twining, weft elements passing around both
vertical and horizontal warps. It is closely wove, with 14 warps and
25 wefts per 10 cm. The pitch of the stitch is down to the left.    If
the identification is correct, this is an early indication of a rather
rare basketry technique.
A mass of carbonized fibers was uncovered at 127 inches. The
strands are long and rows of them seem to cross at right angles, suggest-
ing a remnant of a checker-weave mat of shredded bark or tule. A
second bunch of fibers is too poorly preserved for ascertaining whether
they were woven. Though no actual cordage was found, the presence of a
fine two-ply string is attested by impressions in asphalt on the ends
of charmstones and canid teeth.
House Remains and Other Features
Architectural evidence was meager at West Berkeley but fireplaces
and concentrations of burned and cracked stones were plentiful. A single
storage pit was also exposed.
Houses -- When excavation began, no pits or other surface
indications of houses were visible. This is not surprising, considering
44
the disturbed condition of the midden and its antiquity. Little
subsequent evidence concerning habitations was obtained.  Three
compacted areas were noted, one with a fire pit near its center.
These may well have been remnants of house floors but the absence
of defined postholes makes this uncertain.
The only indubitable structural remains, uncovered at a depth
of 123 inches, consisted of a section of the floor of a large, presum-
ably ceremonial, house.  The floor, a two-three inch layer of clean,
hardpacked, yellow clay spread over 5 by 12 foot area, sloped inward
toward the center, forming a broad shallow depression, 4 to 6 inches
deep. Its edge was marked by a curving line of 9 post molds, spaced
8 - 12 inches apart. Seven additional postholes lay inside the circle.
Two of the latter had raised clay rims on their outer edges, apparently
added for greater support. A single large posthole was observed
outside the house outline. Profiling the postholes showed that they
were pointed or slightly rounded at the base.  Their diameters varied
between two and five inches and their depths from four to six inches.
All tended to slope inward at the top, suggesting a conical or domed
framework once covered the floor area.
The house floor could not be completely exposed, for it lay
on the edge of the excavated area next to the factory building. As
a consequence the exterior form of the structure could not be
determined with any exactness but it seemed to be an oval, perhaps
40 feet long and 20-25 feet wide. No definite entranceway could be
observed and there was no fireplace. An intrusive pit from a level
two to three feet higher cut through one corner of the floor.  Four
inches below, the house floor, separated from it by a thin deposit
of charcoal and calcined shell, lay another thinner clay band,
perhaps remains of an earlier house.
Fireplaces -- Small areas of charcoal and ash, 15 to 16 inches
across, were frequently met with. They were not contained in defined
pits nor regularly surrounded by stones. Of 21 recorded, only six
had fire-blackened rocks irregularly arranged around them.  Several
charred twigs and a handful of burned acorns were taken from one of
the hearths.
Concentrations of stone -- Sixteen masses of cracked and
irregularly broken stones, often fire-stained, were exposed.  In size
the individual stones ranged from 8 to 30 cm. Fragmentary and,
occasionally, complete lithic artifacts were intermingled. The
largest concentration covered a 5 X 10 foot area; the smallest 2 by
3 feet. Their vertical distribution was from 5 to 14 feet.
Storage pit -- An oval, sand-lined pit, 19 by 24 inches in
diameter and 12 inches deep, was encountered 180 inches down. Over
it lay several red sandstone slabs.  The pit contained whole and broken
mussel and oyster shells but no artifacts.
45
Mortuary Practices
During the excavation of the West Berkeley shellmound, 95
more or less complete skeletons and a number of disassociated human
bones were exhumed.1 Most of the skeletal material was in poor
condition; many of the bones had become badly decayed and crumbly,
making exposure and removal difficult. The poor preservation can be
explained by several factors. Many skeletons had been badly broken
up as a result of lying in shallow graves and being subjected to
pressure from human activity above; others had been disturbed by
later aboriginal digging of graves or other pits. The cutting away
of the east section of the mound close to a cemetery in order to
make way for a railroad spur track exposed many skeletons to the
forces of disintegration.
The prehistoric people habitually interred their dead directly
in the village debris. It appears that burials were made in the
midden during all stages of its formation for skeletons were encountered
at all levels, from about 2 feet 4 inches below the surface to the
subsoil. Relatively few clearly defined burial pits or grave walls
could be discerned. All were shallow (2-1/2 to 3 feet deep), oval
hollows, averaging about 24 by 36 inches in dimensions. Burials
occurred in all parts of the mound but there were two areas, apparently
cemeteries, in which they were concentrated. Unfortunately neither
could be satisfactorily explored.  The first lay on the midden' s
eastern fringe where operations had to be limited because of the
danger of undermining a heavy wire fence and a railroad track. This
cemetery yielded 7 skeletons, several badly disarranged, and deteriorated.
Five others were observed in the trench walls but could not be exposed.
During bulldozing of the northern section, 20 skeletons or more were
noted in a small space. It was possible to remove only 12, all severely
damaged by the earth-moving operation.
The West Berkeley mound-dwellers placed corpses in the ground
in a loosely flexed position with the arms bent so that the hands lay
near the face (P1. 7). No customary direction of orientation could
be detected.  In 19 graves the skull was oriented to the west and in
23 to the east. Twenty-two showed the head placed in a northerly
direction, 9 roughly toward the south. For 22 burials, orientation
could not be determined or went unrecorded. A similar variation in
the body's position was noted. The skeleton lay on the right side
in 33 instances, on the left in 23. Eight skeletons appeared to be
on the back, six on the face; it is possible that some of the latter
originally lay on the side but were shifted in the settling and movement
consequent to decomposition. One interment was doubtfully reported in
a sitting position. Placing more than one body in a grave does not
seem to have been a common practice as only three occurrences were
observed.
1 Ten skeletons uncovered by Peterson in 1904 were included.
The later section on human skeletal remains describes some material
omitted here for which there are no burial data.
46
Depositing articles with the dead either was not a well-
developed custom, or it was reserved for special individuals. Only
32 of the 95 burials had accompanying mortuary goods and of these
at least five represent doubtful associations. In 11 graves,
offerings remained limited to beads or ornaments. Objects of daily
use were not regularly placed with the dead and the apparent intentional
inclusion of animal remains was noted only three times. The "killing",
or purposeful damaging, of burial objects was reported once -- a mortar
accompanying Burial 2 had a hole knocked through its base. Forty-
three bodies showed signs of powdered pigment. For 42 burials, this
consisted of red ocher or hematite; one (Burial 10) had traces of
yellow-brown limonite. In only 13 graves was the red ocher profuse.
There is no need to describe the burials in detail since the data
for each are presented in Table 9, but Burial 32, a young adult male,
probably merits special attention. It was the only one which accom-
panied a fair number of burial gifts. Two large obsidian blades and
a pair made from a white chertlike material, as well as an antler
wedge and a grooved net sinker, were found in the grave. Red ocher
colored most of the bones and the bases of the two obsidian blades.
The practice of laying burials in a flexed position in refuse
mounds was common procedure in prehistoric California. All San Francisco
Bay sites thus far reported upon have yielded flexed burials. At
Emeryville this seems to have been the universal rule and, as at West
Berkeley, little attention was given to orientation or position of the
torso (Schenck 1926:197). For Ellis Landing, flexure was the prevailing
method, again with no observance of cardinal direction (Nelson 1910:
382). Several skeletons at this site lay stretched out instead of
contracted. The occurrence of human remains is reported for the
Stege mounds but no information on body posture is given (Loud 1924:
360). At San Bruno both flexed burials and cremation were noted
(Drake 1948:319). In the Bay shellmounds only a small percentage of
graves contained artifacts and these when found were frequently
restricted to shell beads and ornaments. The use of red ocher was
general.
A sequence of burial techniques has been worked out for
interior Central California. Burials fully extended on the ventral
side and oriented west characterize the Early horizon; flexed burials,
usually tightly contracted, appear in the Middle horizon with some
cremations; both cremation and flexed interment were practiced by
the Late people with cremation becoming more frequent with the passage
of time (Heizer and Fenenga 1939:385). A sequence has been suggested
for the Bay and coast dwellers, with loose flexure, variable
orientation and disposition, and scanty mortuary offerings characterizing
Middle sites and these practices carrying over without marked change
into the Late horizon, Phase I. Cremation appears to have been intro-
duced in Late, Phase II times, just before European contact. The
significance of sporadic extended burials in Bay shellmounds is not
known.
47
Tab le 9
Burials
Burial   Depth    Age   Sex  Position   Orienta-    Red    Associated
No.    (in.)                             tion    Ocher     Objects
1*     78   Infant         Back      East   Absent   None
2     120   Adult    M     Back      East   Abundant Killed mortar,
net sinker, rectang-
ular beads
3     114   Infant          ?        West   Absent   None
4     132   Infant          ?        North  Absent   2 bone needles, 82
quartzite f ragments,
rectangular beads
5     114   Infant          ?        North  Absent   None
6     120   Infant          ?          ?    Absent   None
7     114   Infant          ?          ?    Absent   None
8      72                   ?        South  Absent   Quartzite pebble
9      96   Subadult M     L. side   East   Present 4 obsidian blades,
** quartzite pebble
10      17   Infant          L. side  East   Present None
11      28   Infant         Back      North  Absent   None
12      37   Subadult M      R. side  East   Absent   None
13      38   Infant          R. side  North  Absent   None
14      37   Adult    F      R. side  South  Absent   None
15      72   Adult    F      L. side  North  Absent   None
16      35   Infant          Face     East   Absent   None
17      70   Infant          R. side  West   Present None
18      64   Adult    F      Back     West   Abundant Net sinker (?)
19      98   Infant          L. side  East   Present None
20      84   Infant          L. side  East   Abundant 3 worked animal
bones, bone awl,
chert scraper, 3
chipped chert flakes
21      60   Infant          R. side  North  Absent   None
22     123   Infant          R. side  North  Present Antler spatula,
steatite charmstone,
chert core tool
23     124   Infant          R. side  East   Abundant Antler wedge,
Haliotis pendant,
carnivore mandible,
flaked chert fragment
24      99   Adult    M      L. side  East   Abundant 2 obsidian flakes,
1 bone tool (?)
* Burials 1-10 were excavated by Peterson (1904) and are described
in detail in his field notes.   Depth graves (1-9) are approximate.
** Limonite.
48
Table 9:  Burials (cont'd.)
Burial Depth    Age   Sex Position   Orienta- Red    Associated
No.   (in.)                          tion   Ocher    Objects
92
92
131
127
127
172
134
44
Infant
Infant
Infant
Infant
Infant
Infant
Adul t
Adul t
33     106   Adul t
34     113   Infant
35     135   Adult
36     166   Infant
37     158   Child
38     170  Adult
39     110   Infant
194 Subadult
112 Infant
175 Infant
F
M
M
F
M
F
156 Child
166 Infant
172 Child
172
192
192
143
Infant
Infant
Infnat
Sub adult
50     144  Adult
Present   None
Present   None
R. side  North   Present   None
- ---  Abundant None
- ---  Abundant None
Back     North   Absent    None
L. side  West    Absent    None
L. side  East    Present   2 obsidian blades,
2 white blades,
antler wedge, net
sinker
L. side  South   Present   Chert scraper
Present   None
L. side  East    Absent    2 net sinkers, 1
chert scraper, 1
obsidian scraper
fragment, chert core,
1 tool, split deer
bone
Face     North   Present   None
L. side  West(?) Abundant None
L. side  South   Present   Spire-lopped
Olivella beads
R. side  South   Abundant  Spire-lopped
OliveZZa beads
R. side  East    Absent    None
L. side   ---    Absent    None
L. side  North   Abundant Rectangular
OZiveZZa beads
---     ---    Absent    None
L. side  North   Absent    None
L. side  West    Absent     Circular HaZiotis
pendant, rectangular
HaZiotis beads, spire-
lopped OZiveZZa beads,
elk vertebrae
Absent    None
L. side          Absent    Pecked white pebble
R. side
Absent
Face     West    Absent    Circular Haliotis
pendant, rectangular
OZiveZZa and
HaZiotis beads
F   R. side  East    Absent    Rectangular OZive ZZa
beads, awl fragment,
polished bone object
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
49
Table 9:  Burials (cont'd.)
Burial Depth     Age   Sex   Position  Orienta-    Red   Associated
No.    (in.)                            tion    Ocher     Objects
51     154   Child
86   Infant
98   Subadult
136   Infant
158    Infant
R. side    East   Present Bone flaker, bone
awl fragment, rec-
tangular Olive ha
and Haliotis beads,
sting ray dental
plates
Present Worked bone
Present None
Absent   Circular Ha?iotis
pendant, bone awl,
2 bone awl fragments
South Present
56      85   Infant                  North  Absent    Mammal jaw (sea
otter?)
57     111   Infant       L. side    West   Absent    None
58     138   Adult    F   L. side    East   Absent    None
59     180   Infant       Face(?)    North  Absent    None
60     206   Adult    M   R. side    East   Absent    None
61     156   Adult    M   R. side    East   Absent    None
62     173   Adult    M   Face       West   Abundant Rectangular
OliveZla beads
63      82   Subadult F   R. side    West(?)Absent   None
64     101   Adult    F1  R. side    East   Abundant Rectangular
HaZiotis beads
65     150   Adult    M   R. side    North  Present 2 chert chips
(scrapers?) 1
quartzite scraper
66     162   Adult    M   R. side    North  Present Circular Haliotis
pendants, rectangular
Haliotis beads
67     155   Infant       ?          North  Present None
68     155   Adult    F   R. side    North  Absent   None
69     107   Infant       R. side    East   Present Olivehla beads
70      85   Child        L. side    South  Abundant Steatite ring,
rectangular
OliveZ Za and
HaZiotis beads,
Limpet shell
71     112   Infant       R. side    North  Present  Steatite pendants
99   Infant
104   Adult
Sitting(?)
W
Wes t
Present
Absent
Hammerstone, net
sinker, 2 worked
bones
1 Included were remains of subadult male, about 13 years of age.
52
53
54
55
72
73
50
Table 9: Burials (cont'd. )
Burial Depth    Age   Sex Position   Orienta-   Red   Associated
No.   (in.)                          tion    Ocher    Objects
140   Child
145   Subadult
162   Adult
169
185
184
165
162
183
183
132
Infant
Adult
Infant
Adult
Child
Adult
Child
Adult
132   Adul t
Adult
144   Adult
144   Infant
144   Adult
144   Adult
158   Adult
158   Adult
144   Infant
144   Adult
120   Adult
F
M
R.
R.
L.
side
side
side
R. side
F   L. side
L. side
F   Back
Face
F   R. side
R. side
R. side
F   R. side
Ml  R  si
M   R. side
M   R. s ide
R. side
F(?) Back
F   Back
M(?)R. side
M   ?
East
West
North
Eas t
North
North
West
West
West
West
---
West
South
East
South
Wes t
East
*?
Present
Absent
Present
Abundant
Absent
Absent
Absent
Absent
Absent
Absent
Abundant
Abundant
Absent
Absent
Present
Absent
Absent
Present
Present
None
Chert scraper
Large mortar
over pelvis
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
Coyote teeth,
bone needle on
skull
Coyote teeth
None
None
None
Net sinker (?)
None
None
None
None
Present   None
1 Includes 7-8 year old child.
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
51
Animal and Bird Burials
Near the base of the mound, at a depth of 182 inches, lay half
of a coyote skeleton. The animal had been placed in a shallow
depression and purposefully covered over. Its remains lay in
anatomical articulation, suggesting that the coyote was buried
after having been halved longitudinally. This may represent an
interment of an animal, ceremonially raised and killed. Thirteen
coyote burials, some with offerings, have been reported from Late
and Middle horizon sites in the Valley (Heizer and Hewes 1940:
589-590). The hindquarters of four were missing. Special post-
mortem disposal of other mammal species has also been noted in the
interior region.
An almost completely articulated skeleton, consisting of the
entire skull and mandible and most of the postcranial bones of a
large raptorial bird, was uncovered 123 inches down in the refuse.
The remains were identified as those of a California Condor, the
state's largest living bird. The completeness of the skeleton again
implies special or ritual sepulture, perhaps mortuary treatment
similar to that accorded humans (Wallace and Lathrap 1959). The
bones of large carnivorous birds, eagles, hawks, and condors, have
been unearthed elsewhere in California under conditions suggesting
careful postmortem treatment. Ethnographic data indicate ritual
disposal of birds killed during ceremonies by recent California
Indians (Heizer and Hewes 1940:391). A fairly large number of
condor bones were encountered at Emeryville (Howard 1929:314), all
of the elements except one collected within the same small area
and apparently representing a single individual. This may also have
been an interment.
A second bird skeleton igroved to be a member of the A&atisiae
Family (ducks, geese). The skull had been badly crushed and was
lying on the vertebrae.  This probably does not represent an
intentional burial but is merely a fowl which for some reason was
not eaten after its capture.
Subsistence Remains
The enormous mass of molluscan valves contained in the West
Berkeley midden shows that shellfish collecting remained the constant
and principal means of gaining a livelihood throughout the period of
occupation.  The earliest inhabitants gathered vast quantities of
mussels and oysters, both obtainable with relatively little effort
and without special tools. Mussels were to be had merely by
pulling them off rocks; oysters needed only to be scooped up at
low tide from gravel bars. Later, clams replaced oysters as an
important food item though an emphasis upon mussels continued
(Appendix A). Procuring clams proved more arduous, for they had to
be dug from mud and sand.
52
Fish must have been another mainstay of the aboriginal fare.
The prominence of fishing is attested to not only by plentiful fish
bones (Appendix B), but also by numerous net sinkers. From a time
soon after their arrival, almost to the end of their residence, the
shellmound people caught quantities of large fish in shallow offshore
waters in nets weighted down with notched and grooved stones. A
subsidiary device probably for supplying daily needs, consisted of a
single-piece, curved bone hook.
Hunting appears to have been a less significant method of
procuring food than either shellfish collecting or fishing, though
mammal bones were present in sufficient numbers to demonstrate that
meat was a fairly regular dietary item. The favorite was venison,
with sea otter meat becoming more popular in later times but never
superseding deer flesh (Appendix C). Presumably, deer were killed
with stone-tipped darts, hurled from a throwing board. How sea
otter were captured remains unknown. Judging from the scarcity of
their remains, small game animals were not hunted on any considerable
scale. Bird flesh was also consumed in fair quantity for skeletal
parts of various avian species were liberally sprinkled through the
refuse. Most of the bones are those of migratory waterfowl, especially
ducks and geese (Appendix D). Evidence as to how they were taken is
lacking.
It is difficult to estimate the extent to which vegetable
foods were gathered and eaten for vestiges of them were rarely met
with during the excavation. Identifiable specimens, all charred,
consisted entirely of acorns. Despite this near absence of direct
evidence, it can be safely assumed that vegetal products formed staple
articles of subsistence. Proof of the utilization of wild plant
foods comes from the finding of a substantial number of mortars and
pestles, implements essential for their preparation.
Conclusions and Interpretations
The West Berkeley shellmound culture, as illustrated by the
archaeological findings, represents a meager mode of existence,
preoccupied with food-getting and showing few outstanding technical
achievements. That its fundamental pattern, once established, never
radically altered is demonstrated by the stability of a sizable
number of customs and classes of objects. Subsistence activities,
heavily emphasizing shellfish collecting, remained constant. General
utility implements and tools -- mortars, pestles, hammerstones, wedges,
bone awls and the like -- continued in use with minimal, if any,
shifts -in form or relative abundance. Mortuary practices persisted
and no change took place in the racial characteristics of the human
population. Evidently, the last people to live on the midden were the
cultural and physical descendants of its earliest residents.
Although the same manner of living carried over in essence,
new practices and items came into vogue from time to time. Most of
53
the additions and substitutions seem trivial, such as the introduction
of a new form of shell bead or the dropping of the habit of perforating
charmstones. The only fundamental change was the abandonment of the
use of net-sinkers, presupposing the giving up of an important fishing
technique. Innovations did not appear suddenly and all together in
a group, but in vertical distribution within the refuse deposit, and
therefore, in time of introduction, they tend to cluster around the
six-foot (below surface) level. This clustering of new traits allows
for the recognition of two cultural components, one characteristic
of the upper six feet of the shellmound and the other of the lower
12 feet (Table 10).
Table 10
Stratigraphic Distribution of Traits at West Berkeley
Lower 12 feet
Stemmed projectile points,
contracting base
Stemmed projectile points,
expanding base
Stemless projectile points,
pointed base (?)
Knife blades, squared base
Unshaped mortars
Cylindrical mortars
Conical pestles (?)
Cobble pestles (?)
Net sinkers, notched and grooves
Perforated charmstones
Stone bars or pencils
Bird bone awls
Bone spatulas
Bone punches (?)
Ulna flaker, head intact
Bone pendants (?)
Spire-lopped OliveZZa beads
Rectangular Olivella beads
Rectangular abalone beads
Abalone pendants (all types)
Bird bone beads (?)
Canine teeth beads or pendants
Animal and bird interments
Oysters as important food
Upper 6 feet
Knife blades, pointed base
Knife blades, side-notched
"Paint" mortars
Nonperforated charms tones
Flake rs, mammal rib bone
Bone daggers (?)
Bone pins (?)
Bird bone tubes (?)
54
Table 10: Stratigraphic Distribution of Traits at West Berkeley (cont'd.)
Upper 6 feet
Stone ear plugs
Flakers, sea mammal tibia,
head intact
Flakers, mammal leg bone splinters
Flakers, sea mammal penis bone
Bird bone whistles
Fish vertebrae beads
Circular O7ivellZa beads
Circular abalone beads
Clams as important food
Sea otter as important food
Throughout deposit
Flake and core scrapers
Choppers
Semispherical mortars
Cylindrical pestles
Hammers tones
Mammal bone awls (all classes)
Flaker, deer or elk common
bone, split head
Notched scapulae
Mammal rib tools
Split mammal bone tools
Antler flakers
Antler wedges (?)
Interment in village area
Flexed burial, no special
orientation
Rare grave offerings
Red ocher on burials
Concentrations of stone
Undifferentiated hearths
Mussels as important food
Deer as important food
The West Berkeley cultural remains rather closely resemble
those left behind by other prehistoric bayshore dwellers. A comparison
of the more significant classes of West Berkeley artifacts with those
from Emeryville and Ellis Landing reveals that certain basic traits
are common to all three shellmounds. Mortars and pestles represent
the characteristic grinding implements; a developed bone industry
is found; shell beads and pendants comprise the typical articles of
personal adornment. Food habits and methods of disposing of the
dead are alike.
Although essential cultural unity is evident, differences can
be discerned. Some Emeryville and/or Ellis Landing items, including
stone pipes, small projectile points, mica ornaments, charmstones with
basal projections, fork-like bone or antler objects ("head scratchers"),
eyed needles and entire abalone shells are absent at West Berkeley.
55
Others, for example, bone tubes, beads and whistles, are shared, but
are present at West Berkeley in reduced numbers. A few groups of
objects found in the three shellmounds differ in their stratigraphic
distribution. Perforated charmstones came from the lowest Emeryville
stratum; at West Berkeley they showed a wider occurrence, being
absent only in the top-most six feet; their depth provenience for
Ellis Landing is not stated. Nonperforated charmstones, confined to
West Berkeley's higher cultural layer, were found scattered more or
less throughout the other two middens.l Notched and girdled net-
sinkers, unearthed in profusion below eight feet in the West Berkeley
deposit, were virtually unknown at Emeryville. For Ellis Landing,
stone weights were collected from the top and bottom of the refuse,
being nonexistent in the middle part.   Large, stemmed projectile
points, the characteristic West Berkeley lower-stratum form, are not
reported for Emeryville. One of four weapon tips from the shaft
dug below water level at Ellis Landing is of this type; a second,
smaller specimen', might be added. Finally, the West Berkeley assemblage
includes a series of articles, all from deep down, which were absent
in the other two shellheaps. Among them are chipped stone blades with
squared bases, rectangular OZiveZZa and HaZiotis beads, circular
abalone and other ornament forms.
These diffferences in content and stratigraphy permit an
ordering of the cultural layers of the three shellmounds. On the
basis of shared traits, the upper six feet of West Berkeley can be
equated with the lower 10-14 feet of Emeryville and the bulk of Ellis
Landing. The bottom 12 feet of West Berkeley, which produced items
absent at the other two sites, has no direct counterpart though there
is a possibility, based on the scanty evidence of a plentiful supply
of net-sinkers and two stemmed projectiles, that the Ellis Landing's
deepest stratum overlaps somewhat. Conversely, the higher portions
of Emeryville and Ellis Landing contained materials not represented
at West Berkeley. Thus, it appears West Berkeley appears to have
been the first of the three localities to have seen human occupation
with Ellis Landing inhabited next and Emeryville last. There may
have been a brief period when all three were inhabited simultaneously.
West Berkeley became deserted first while people continued to live
at both Emeryville and Ellis Landing for a lengthy span of time.
At least nine additional San Francisco Bay shellmounds have
produced materials analogous to these from the upper six feet of
the West Berkeley midden (Beardsley 1954b: 100-102). The type of
culture represented by the archaeological remains seems to have been
widely distributed along the bay's shoreline. By contrast, only one
local site, the University Village, near Palo Alto in San Mateo County,
has yielded an assemblage comparable to that from West Berkeley's
lower level (Gerow 1968). The projectile point traditions are
equivalent and the mortar and pestle forms are much alike. Other
duplications in stone objects include perforated charmstones, notched
No charmstones were recovered in the bottommost Ellis
Landing layer. Their absence may be due to accident as the chance is
slight that items of such comparative rarity would have been contained
in the small sample.
56
sinkers, and chrysotile asbestos rods. The San Mateo County site's
bone industry appears less developed because, although awls, flakers,
notched scapulae, split and polished elk ribs, and wedges are present,
they appear in greatly reduced numbers. Essential uniformity can
be seen in the shell beads and ornaments from the two middens. As
at West Berkeley, the University Village people interred their dead
in a flexed posture, with few grave goods and a sprinkling of red
ocher. Little doubt exists that the two assemblages are closely
related and overlap in time. Back from the bayshore, the lowest
occupational level of the Stone Valley settlement, at Alamo in
Contra Costa County, contained a preponderance of stemmed projectiles
and other articles compatible with those of West Berkeley (Fredrickson
1965:20). The Stone Valley burial position was exclusively flexed.
Unfortunately, there was a virtual absence of shell beads and only
a limited repertory of bone articles.
Cultural items from the deeper portion of West Berkeley show
many correspondences to those obtained from Early horizon settlements
in the lower Sacramento Valley (Heizer 1949a; Olsen and Wilson 1964).
Besides shared specific forms, such as rectangular OliveZla and
HaZiotis beads and circular shell ornaments, the West Berkeley weapon
tips and knives, as a group, are like Early Sacramento specimens.
Drilled charmstones, often phallic representations, are also held
in common. These three groups of artifacts - shell beads and ornaments,
projectile points and blades, and charmstones are regarded as important
Early period diagnostics. Certain rare items, significant because
of their uniqueness, such as bone fishhooks, asbestos-splinters, and
bipointed bone objects, match Early forms. Other fundamentally
similar, but less precise agreements, can be observed in bone spatulae,
bird-bone awls, antler tines with cut bases, undrilled canid teeth
ornaments, unmodified animal bones in graves, and the use of asphalt
as an adhesive. Naturally, diversity in detail occurs, for culture
identity hardly can be expected, even in localities so close geograph-
ically. The Sacramento Valley assemblage is much richer and some of
its distinctive traits, like extended burials accompanied by quantities
of grave goods and the employment of milling stones are wanting at
West Berkeley. Conversely, bay net sinkers have no inland counterparts,
though fishing must have been a major economic activity in the lower
Sacramento Valley, and the abundance of mortars, pestles, and bone
artifacts is not repeated. The two populations differ in physical
features, with the Early Valley people exhibiting greater size and
ruggedness than the bayshore dwellers.
The two West Berkeley components can be fitted into the
temporal-cultural classification proposed for Central California
(Beardsley 1948a:Table 1; 1954a:Table 1; Kroeber 1948:812; Heizer
1949a:33). The basic unit of this taxonomic scheme is the "component,"
the archaeological record of human habitation at a single locality
at a specific time. Components which demonstrate strong cultural
ties are grouped into a "facies." Related facies, in turn, are
combined in a "phase" of a "horizon," the largest unit. Three of the
latter, designated as Early, Middle, and Late, have been recognized.
57
Phases have been established for only the last of the three. The older
West Berkeley materials can be considered as a component of a West
Berkeley facies of the Early horizon (Table 11), not previously known
for the San Francisco Bay area. It is somewhat differently conceived
than the corresponding interior Windmiller facies. The University
Village and Stone Valley assemblages also can be assigned to the West
Berkeley grouping. A fourth component may have been present in the
bottommost portion of the Ellis Landing shellmound.
The upper level or latest West Berkeley component falls in
the Middle horizon but its assignment to a facies is not easy.  It
does not correlate too closely with either of the two facies, Ellis
Landing and Patterson, established for the San Francisco Bay area.
The Middle period, as now conceived, covers a long time span (ca. 2000
years) and represents a loose grouping of components scattered over
practically the entire bay region. There are probably significant
temporal subdivisions, or phases, which need to be worked out. Judging
from the relatively minor amount of artifactual material attributable
to the Middle horizon, the occupation at West Berkeley came early
and lasted for only a few centuries. After its abandonment in early
Middle times, it never again experienced aboriginal habitation. No
typical Late period objects such as lightweight arrowpoints or clam-
shell disk beads turned up.1  Why the prehistoric West Berkeleyans
departed remains a mystery. Perhaps their shellfish supplies, the
primary attraction for settlement, became depleted and they shifted
to a more favorable spot.
Table 11
Cultural and Temporal Relationships
Sugges ted
Horizon   Phase      Facies    Beginning
Date
Late        II     Fernandez  A.D. 500
I
Middle             Emeryville  2500 B.C.
Ellis Landing
Patterson
Early              West Berkeley  ?
1 The clamshell bead attributed to West Berkeley by Beardsley
(1948:17) came from another locality.
58
Absolute dates for the two West Berkeley components support
their chronological placement. Eight wood charcoal samples and one
of oyster shell were collected for radiocarbon analysis. Because no
concentrations or large chunks of charcoal were encountered, scattered
bits were gathered from each 12-inch level and combined to make a
sample. The shell came from a lens. The material was sent to the
University of Michigan Memorial-Phoenix Project Radiocarbon Laboratory.
As it was not possible to run all of the samples, when submitted,
two, both charcoal, from culturally significant layers were selected,
one from near the deposit's base, and the other from just below the
presumed cultural break. Age determinations by the carbon dioxide
gas method were:
Sample No.      Depth in inches     C14 Date
M-121             96-108       2200 + 400 B.P.
M-127            192-204       2700 + 400 B.P.
Although in proper depth relationship, the dates did not accord with
the expected age.
Later, the Michigan Laboratory re-ran more of the same two
charcoal samples along with six additional ones. These analyses
provided a series of dates which make sense. They are as follows
(Crane 1956):
Sample No.    Depth in inches                   C14 Date
M-121           96-108         2700 + 300 B.P.     745 B.C. + 300
M-122          132-144          3210 + 300 B.P.   1255 B.C. + 300
M-123          144-156         2880 + 300 B.P.     925 B.C. + 300
M-124          156-168          3500 + 300 B.P.   1545 B.C. + 300
M-125          156-168          3700 + 350 B.P.   1745 B.C. + 350
156-168         3860 + 450 B.P.   1905 B.C. + 450
M-126          180-192          3140 + 450 B.P.   1485 B.C. + 300
M-127          192-204         3700 + 300 B.P.    1745 B.C. + 300
Six of the series fall into a more or less consistent and orderly
sequence; two (M-122 and M-126) do not. The anomalous dates can be
regarded as "archaeologically unacceptable" and disregarded. Most
securely fixed in time is the 156-168 inch level for which there are
three C14 determinations, all falling within a reasonable range.
The radiocarbon dates suggest that West Berkeley's occupation
began prior to 2000 B.C. Three of the lower level determinations fall
near 1800 B.C. Several hundred years must be added to this figure to
allow for the accumulation of the basal 12-inch level, which contained
59
only a minute amount of charcoal, insufficient for dating purposes.
The habitation period covered by the series of C14 dates is approxi-
mately 1000 years. More centuries need to be granted for the buildup
of the upper eight feet of the refuse, giving a total time span of
perhaps 1300-1500 years.
West Berkeley radiocarbon dates correspond reasonably well
with those obtained for sites of comparable cultural content.    The
earliest determinations fall close to those of Blossom (CA-SJo-68),
an Early horizon site in the lower Sacramento Valley (Heizer 1958).
University Village has two younger dates, 2700 + 350 and 3150 + 300
years, and Stone Valley one, 4450 + 400 years (Fredrickson 1965:20).
The West Berkeley 2700 + 300 determination for the 96-108 inch level
is also of a degree of magnitude expectable on the basis of cultural
comparison. It comes from below the line of assumed stratigraphic
separation, with materials above ascribed to the Middle horizon. This
is in general agreement with two C14 dates available for Middle occupa-
tion zones at bayshore sites. Charcoal from a component of the
Patterson Mound, assigned to the Ellis Landing facies, yielded an
age of 2588 + 200 and 2090 + 220. A sample of charcoal and oyster
shell from near the base of Emeryville has been dated at 2310 + 120
years ago (Hubbs, Bien and Suess 1962:208).
As a concluding statement, it can be said that the West
Berkeley shellmound proved to be of unusual significance to the
understanding of San Francisco Bay's prehistoric past. Not only has
the midden's excavation enriched the archaeological record with a
considerable body of substantive data, but, more importantly, it
extends knowledge of man's presence in the bay region farther back
in time by providing the first clear-cut evidences of Early Horizon
occupation, hitherto recognized only at inland localities. Major
and minor differences in detail distinguish the bayshore Early
manifestation from its interior counterpart, though there can be
little doubt of their generic affinities.   The shellmound exploration
also demonstrated cultural dynamics for the San Francisco Bay area
in a firmer way than previously, proof being based on cultural
stratigraphy in a refuse deposit of relatively great depth.   The
archaeological findings make it clear that change came slowly and was
unspectacular. No vital alteration in the mode of existence was
accomplished during the lengthy habitation period and the last West
Berkeleyans lived in much the same fashion as the site's earliest
settlers.
60
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1948
R. K.
Culture Sequence in Central California Archaeology.
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1954a    Temporal and Areal Relationships in California Archaeology:
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1954b    Temporal and Areal Relationships in Central California
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Berry, W. D. and E. Berry
1959     Mammals of the San Francisco Bay Region. California
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Bowen, 0. E., Jr.
1962     Rocks and Minerals of the San Francisco Bay Region.
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Cook, S. F.
1946     A Reconsideration of Shellmounds with Respect to
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Map.            Contour map of West Berkeley Site (CA - Ala - 307).
Plate 1.       General View of the West Berkeley (Ala-307) Site.
Plate 2.        Cross section of archaeological deposit. Trench H.
Plate 3.        Projectile points and knife blades. Length of a = 8.6 cm.
Plate 4.        Charmstones.
a - n perforated charmstones (length of a = 12.7 cm; length of h =
13.8 cm).
o - r unperforated charmstones (length of o = 11. 8 cm).
Plate 5.        Bone artifacts.
a - b  scapula awls (length of a = 22 cm).
c     notched rib
d      antler tine punch
e      antler section
f - j  antler wedges (length of g = 22.5 cm).
k - 1  curved antler blades (length of k - 46.2 cm).
m -o bone daggers
n - p  bone spatulas
Plate 6.        Shell beads and ornaments
Upper: Olivella and Haliotis shell beads and ornaments.
Lower: Haliotis ornaments.
Plate 7.        Flexed burial with large stone mortar inverted over pelvic region.
Troiel Manuf. Co.
-
-
H
a
F
E
D
A'
El Dorado oil Co.
Datum A
C
West Berkeley Site
CA-Ala-307
B
CONTOUR INTERVAL 1 FOOT
)( LEVELLED LIMESTONE
COVERED AREA
-~- AREA EXCAVATED
A
I
7 t 6 t-St 41 3 t 2 tI t
t9 1 a t
PLATE 1
PLATE 2
a       b
e
f
h
i
d
i         k
I        m
q
PLATE 3
n
m
'I
Ip
r
PLATE 4
I I
c
b
J
I
k
f
m
It
I
PLATE 5
n
p
h
PLATE 6
. 30
URAL
PLATE 7