House Pits and Middens A Methodological Study of Site Structure and Formation Processes at CA-ORA-116, Newport Bay, Orange County, California
Creators: name: Grenda, Donn R.
name: Doolittle, Christopher J.
name: Altschul, Jeffrey H.
Publisher: name: SRI Press
Year: 1998
Subjects: subject: Irvine
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/4574/irvine
subject: Newport Bay
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/43342/newport-bay
subject: Santa Ana River
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/7871/santa-ana-river
subject: Pacific Coast
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/6784/pacific-coast
subject: City of Los Angeles
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/82682/city-of-los-angeles
subject: San Joaquin Hills
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/24795/san-joaquin-hills
subject: Late Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5341/late-period
subject: Intermediate Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6126/intermediate-period
subject: Millingstone Horizon
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5112/millingstone-horizon
subject: Late Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/927/late-period
subject: Millingstone Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/9127/millingstone-period
subject: Archaic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/8/archaic
subject: Intermediate Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/2043/intermediate-period
subject: ORA-116
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89006/ora-116
subject: ORA-1089
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89008/ora-1089
subject: ORA-340
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89007/ora-340
subject: ORA-115B
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89010/ora-115b
subject: ORA-1194
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89009/ora-1194
subject: ORA-124/134
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89012/ora-124134
subject: ORA-121B
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89011/ora-121b
subject: ORA-209
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89014/ora-209
subject: ORA-195
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89013/ora-195
subject: ORA-236
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89016/ora-236
subject: ORA-221
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89015/ora-221
subject: ORA-331
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89018/ora-331
subject: ORA-327
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89017/ora-327
subject: ORA-192B
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89020/ora-192b
subject: ORA-339
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89019/ora-339
subject: ORA-347
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89022/ora-347
subject: ORA-193
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89021/ora-193
subject: ORA-351
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89024/ora-351
subject: ORA-348
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89023/ora-348
subject: ORA-662
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89026/ora-662
subject: ORA-482
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89025/ora-482
subject: ORA-673
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89028/ora-673
subject: ORA-669
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89027/ora-669
subject: ORA-1085
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89030/ora-1085
subject: ORA-684
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89029/ora-684
subject: ORA-57
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89032/ora-57
subject: ORA-1208
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89031/ora-1208
subject: ORA-106
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89034/ora-106
subject: ORA-104
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89033/ora-104
subject: ORA-125
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89036/ora-125
subject: ORA-119A
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89035/ora-119a
subject: ORA-206
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89038/ora-206
subject: ORA-190
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89037/ora-190
subject: ORA-287
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89040/ora-287
subject: ORA-225
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89039/ora-225
subject: ORA-575
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89041/ora-575
subject: Encampment
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/253/encampment
subject: Hamlet / Village
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/254/hamlet-village
subject: Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/272/resource-extraction-production-transportation-structure-or-features
subject: Archaeological Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/339/archaeological-feature
subject: Seasonal Camps
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/2403/seasonal-camps
subject: Artifact Scatter
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/340/artifact-scatter
subject: Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/251/domestic-structure-or-architectural-complex
subject: Settlements
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/252/settlements
subject: Pollen
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/13/pollen
subject: Wood
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/15/wood
subject: Ceramic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/1/ceramic
subject: Chipped Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2/chipped-stone
subject: Dating Sample
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/3/dating-sample
subject: Fauna
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/4/fauna
subject: Ground Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/7/ground-stone
subject: Building Materials
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/8/building-materials
subject: Macrobotanical
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/10/macrobotanical
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Heritage Management
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/24/heritage-management
subject: Site Evaluation / Testing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/10/site-evaluation-testing

description: This report documents data recovery excavations at CA-ORA-116 (ORA-116), a late Intermediate-period (1050 B.C.–A.D. 600) prehistoric site situated near the head of upper Newport Bay, overlooking San Joaquin Marsh, in Orange County, California. Statistical Research, Inc., conducted this project under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, which was under contract with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (as well as other federal regulations governing cultural resource protection) during the construction of the Irvine Mega-Laboratory on the site. Newport Bay is a dynamic wetlands, representing the transition between the salt water brought inland from the ocean by tidal activity and the fresh water flowing toward the ocean through the Los Angeles Basin. ORA-116 is one of many coastal shell-midden sites in the area. In the past, Newport Bay shell-midden studies have focused on changes in subsistence and settlement patterns, and have established general trends in these areas. Internal site structure, however, is a topic that has received little attention; it was felt that much could be learned by investigating ORA-116 with this topic in mind. Research issues approached in this report focus on how many people lived at this type of midden site at any one time, the type(s) of social structure(s) formerly in place, and the types of structures that were built and how they were arranged in space. Excavations focused on activity areas and structures within the site, and consisted of two phases. The first phase used remote-sensing technologies and involved the excavation of trenches and small units. The second phase used block excavations to more fully investigate features identified during the first phase. In total, 11 structures (i.e., house pits) were located. Excavations produced several material classes that were subsequently analyzed, including vertebrate and invertebrate faunal remains, worked-bone and -shell artifacts, and flaked- and ground-stone tools. Rather than analyzing all of the materials from the site or generalizing about the entire midden deposit from a few samples, materials from features were sampled and inferences were made about the activities relating to each particular feature. In addition, a 1,081-cm core was taken from the marsh and sampled for pollen and ostracods to help reconstruct the environment during site occupation. Intermediate-period sites are relatively rare in the Newport Bay area, in comparison to the abundance of Millingstone- and Late-period sites. Intermediate- period sites are also smaller on average, suggesting that a smaller population inhabited the area during this period. Environmental conditions do not appear to correspond to settlement patterns during this period. Determining whether demographic changes were reflected in shifts in the settlement system was beyond the scope of this study, but may be revealed in subsequent studies. Two types of Intermediate-period sites have previously been classified in the San Joaquin Marsh area: habitations and seasonal camps. In this report, we suggest that only one type of site was common in the San Joaquin Marsh during the Intermediate period, the habitation site. Sites in this area—including ORA- 116—have a wide diversity of tools and appear to have accommodated relatively small domestic groups. In addition, certain features and artifacts at these sites, including a sweat lodge found at ORA-116, suggest that not only subsistence tasks were performed at the sites, but also social and religious activities.