The Emeryville Shellmound

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS
AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY
THE EMERYVILLE SHELLMOUND.
MAX UHLE.
CONTENTS.
California has but few characteristic archaeological remains such as are found in the mounds of the Mississippi valley or the ancient pueblos and cliff-dweller ruins of the South. In the shellmounds along this section of the Pacific coast it possesses, however, valuable relics of very ancient date. These are almost the only witnesses of a primitive stage of culture which once obtained among the early inhabitants of this region.
Some years ago Professor Merriam recognized the necessity of exploring these ancient mounds and represented the facts to the University of California. Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst generously made the undertaking possible by providing ample financial support for the exploration work.
UNIV. CAL. PUB. AM. ARCH. &. ETH. VOL. 7, PL. 1
Plate 1: Map of the east shore of San Francisco Bay in the vicinity of Berkeley, showing the location of the Emeryville Shellmound with several others in this region. Scale: 1 inch = about three miles.
Twenty-five or thirty years ago the shore line of the bay lay fifty feet farther out; a pile set at that time is still to be seen at that distance from the beach. It is above the water during high tide and marks the coast line on this side of which floodland was sold by the State. The top of the mound was not at that time crowned by the wooden pavilion which is there at the present time. It was still ungraded, having its natural conical form, and was covered with a wild growth of bushes and brambles. The creek, as yet unregulated, followed its own course and overflowed the land, causing it to become marshy. In the seventies and eighties of the last century, railroad tracks were laid along the eastern side of the mound, and took in a section of its eastern foot. At that time a number of graves and Indian artifacts were discovered. Few of these, however, found their way into the collections of the University, then but recently founded.