Primary Investigator: Emily McDaniel

Faculty Sponsors: Alan Leventhal

Background: In Fall of 1964 the SJSU Department of Anthropology conducted an archaeological field school on a portion of prehistoric site CA-ALA-329, under the direction of Dr. Joseph Hester and Mr. Dean Pritchett located in the East Bay by the Coyote Hills.  One week in November the students shifted their work to a site in the Evergreen area in the east foothills of San Jose and they recovered two burials and a few artifacts.  Only a preliminary skeletal inventory of the elements was made in 1985 and updated in 1986, however no comprehensive analysis was ever conducted on either the burials or the archaeological assemblage.  Beginning in 2010 Anthropology student Emily McDaniel enrolled in Leventhal’s Anthro. 195 class.  Emily helped record the location of the site and she worked on the analysis of the two burials and artifacts.  Although she graduated in 2011, she completed her sections of the analysis and is the lead author of the 2012 final report titled Final Report on the Archaeological Field Work Conducted on a Portion of the Kiriṭ-smin ’ayye Sokṓte Tápporikmatka [Place of Yerba Buena and Laurel Trees Site] CA-SCL-895 (Blauer Ranch) Located within the Evergreen Valley District, San Jose, Santa Clara County, Ca.  Part of the analysis also included results from the stable isotope study and chronological placement through AMS dating.  Permission was granted by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe to conduct the radiocarbon (AMS) dating.

College of Social Sciences Foundation Research Grant:

In order to accomplish the dating of this site Emily applied for a grant from the College of Social Sciences Foundation Research and was awarded $1370.00 for her research.  In June 2010 and March 2011, Beta labs reported upon the results of the two AMS dates with mid-range dates of AD 340 and AD 1460.  These results indict that the site was occupied and used as a cemetery for a period that spans 1100 years.  After graduating SJSU Emily spent a year in Peru working on Peruvian burials and is presently attending Exeter University in England studying for her Master’s degree in bio-archaeology (with an emphasis on Peruvian prehistory).