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Following the project requirements made by the Army Corps of Engineers and California Coastal Commission, an on-site archaeologist from the Pacific Archaeological Sciences Team (PAST) was present to monitor all grading and excavation activities associated with the San Joaquin Enhancement Project in Irvine, Orange County, California. These recommendations were made because the project area had been previously recorded as site CA-ORA-57/H Locus B — the duck ponds associated with the original San Joaquin Gun Club (1890-1945). Although previously altered by subsequent use of the area, implementation of the proposed Enhancement Project , which involved substantial grading and excavation in the site area, had the potential to reveal additional data about the gun club and prehistoric use of the area. In summary, 34 days of on-site archaeological monitoring at site CA-ORA-57/H Locus B revealed a small amount of modern cultural material, no prehistoric cultural items or features, and only a limited amount of paleoenvironmental data. The majority of the cultural material recovered from the project area consisted of spent modern (i.e., plastic casing) shotgun shells of various gauges, two duck decoys, clay pigeon fragments, and a small amount of other recent trash and debris. All of these items appear to represent post-1945 materials and indicate that the duck ponds were still in use up to the 1970 purchase of the land by the Regents of the University of California and, perhaps, beyond. During work on the project, two duck blinds (one made of concrete and one of wood) were noted in the project area. These modern features, deemed to be of no historical or architectural value in reconstructing the history and/or activities of the San Joaquin Gun Club, were measured and photographed prior to their removal from the site. Stratagraphic profiles and soil composition revealed during the trenching operations indicate a tidal zone which may have alternated between an estuary and fresh water system over time. Unfortunately, the scope of the trenching operations, with its focus on the modern improvement of the pond dikes, did not allow for a more complete reconstruction of the ancient shorelines over time. As such, there is no way to determine what the boundaries of the shoreline may have been during the time of occupation of the nearby prehistoric sites. The lack of cultural material found at the site, however, suggests that the area may have been submerged at the time of local prehistoric occupation. Additionally, or perhaps alternately, the lack of cultural evidence may also be due to modern grading activities associated with the construction of the ponds. Overall, impact to site CA-ORA-57/H Locus B from the San Joaquin Enhancement Project is considered negligible as the site had been highly disturbed by previous development of the ponds and levees. The recovered specimens from the monitoring project, all of which are modern, appear to have no research potential and the collection can be discarded. Although no further archaeological studies are recommended for the project area at this time, should some unexpected archaeological find be revealed in the future, work in the area of the find should be halted and a qualified archaeologist contacted to inspect the discovery. Depending upon the nature of the find, the archaeologist can identify the appropriate protective or recovery methods to take. |
