 |
|
 |
|
The archives for the California and Nevada archaeological collections are a resource certainly equal to the collections themselves. Context, the most important aspect of archaeological investigation and interpretation, is resident in these archives. They provide the necessary data for modern interpretation for collections that in some cases are over 100 years old. Many of the site collections and accompanying archives served as early anchors for the building of time-tested chronologies in California's Central Valley and the Great Basin. Quite prominent sites such as the Emeryville Shellmound (CA-ALA-309), excavated by N.C. Nelson and Max Uhle in the early 1900's (Nelson 1909; Schenck 1926; Uhle 1907), and Sacramento Valley sites such as the Brazil (CA-SAC-43) and Windmiller Sites (CA-SAC-107), were used both to define the San Francisco Bay and Central Valley chronologies and to define the material cultures (Beardsley 1948, 1954; Heizer and Fenenga 1939; Gifford and Schenck 1926; Hughes 1995; Schenck and Dawson 1929). Similarly, rockshelter sites in Nevada such as Hidden Cave (NV-Ch-16), Lovelock Cave (NV-Ch-18), Eastgate Cave (NV-Ch-36), and Gypsum Cave (NV-Ck-10) were pivotal in the definition of chronology and prehistory in the Great Basin (Baumhoff and Byrne 1959; Bennyhoff and Heizer 1958; Clewlow 1968; Elsasser and Prince 1961; Heizer and Krieger 1956; Heizer and Napton 1970; Rouse and Clewlow 1968). All these collections, and many more, continue to be used as the focus of student research projects. They also serve as background research collections for current work in the region and in reexcavations of the sites themselves, such as David Hurst Thomas' work at Hidden Cave in the 1970's and 1980's (Thomas 1985).
There is at least one collection and accompanying archives from each of the 58 counties in California and from 16 counties in Nevada. The latest count (1973) indicates that there are 221,021 catalogue entries for the California collection and approximately 22,000 catalogue entries for the Nevada collections. A likely estimate puts the California and Nevada archaeological collections at somewhere between 1 and 2 million items with accompanying site records and more than 570 manuscripts.
North American Archaeology
Research Past, Present and Future
The California and Nevada Archaeological Project (CAP)
| |
|
|
