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I.  Introduction

      Paradise Craggy, CA-SIS-1066, is a pre- and proto-historic Shasta village site located west of Highway 5 in California.   This location also possesses an historic component in the guise of a gold mining era operation.   The site was test excavated in the summer of 1998 by the Upper Klamath Canyon Archaeological project under the direction of Joanne Mack.   It was a combined project using students from a Notre Dame Archaeological field school and workers from a Redding BLM Jobs in the Woods project.   The report herein is of the paleoethnobotanical analysis of soil and charcoal samples taken during this excavation.

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II.  Site Environment

      The site of Paradise Craggy is located within a closing oak woodland.   Past fire activity is evident from scar patterns and multiple trunk sprouting of these oaks, primarily Quercus garryana.   However, fire suppression activity in the past hundred years has allowed junipers, Juniperus occidentalis, to become abundant in the understory.   Numerous non-native species of plants, especially grasses, attest to the alteration of the site's environment as well.   The close proximity of the highway and the historically obvious disturbance of the site area both have contributed to this current botanical landscape.   A plant list composed with the help of Donn Todt, horticulturalist for Ashland City Parks and the project's botanist, is attached.   The list is unfortunately temporally limited since it was compiled during the time of the excavation, late July to early August.

      The overall topography of the site is composed of steep west facing slopes with the village being located within the more gentle saddles along the drainage.   This drainage is a seasonal water course bisecting the site which may have been more perennial in the past.   Currently this water course is choked with vegetation which locks up most of the available water.   Willows, Salix spp., and other water-loving species can be found within this topographic feature.   The woodland opens up away from the drainage with a low understory mainly composed of non-native grasses like Bromus spp. and Poa bulbosa.   On the steeper and rockier portions away from the site can be found patches of chaparral composed of manzanita species, Arctostaphylos viscida and A. patula, as well as buckbrush, Ceanothus cuneatus, and mountain mahogany, Cercocarpus montanus.

      There are several ethnobotanically important plants located within the vicinity of the site, the most prominent of which is obviously the oaks.   Two species of oak are present, Quercus garryana and Q. kelloggii, but the former is predominant.   These trees would provide ethnobotanically important products in the form of their acorns and their wood.   Other wood-important species include the willows, three-leaf sumac, and mountain mahogany.   These woods can be used for purposes varying from basketry to making digging sticks.   Meanwhile, several different types of consumable geophytes are present including:  two species of onion, Allium spp.; a species of Brodiaea; blue dicks, Dichelostema capatatum; yellow bells, Fritillaria pudica; and Triteleia hyacinthina.   Edible seed plants present include Blazing star, Mentzelia affinis, and Rye grasses, Elymus spp.   Berries are also present from greenleaf manzanita, Arctostaphylos patula, and plateau gooseberry, Ribes velutinum.   Medicinally important plants are also in the vicinity, like Yerba santa, Eriodictyon californicum.   Much more is probably available within the site area, especially within its collection radius.   It must be repeated that the botanical survey was limited both spatially and temporally.

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III.  Field and Laboratory Methods

      Paleoethnobotanical analysis was done on soil samples taken from excavation units at the end of the excavation, before the units were filled in.   Soil taken specifically for this analysis included 6 liters from Unit 1S/37W 19-29 cm. and 2 liters from Unit 10N/4W 40-50 cm.   Other soil, which was initially collected for soil dating purposes by Eric Ritter, was later received after some soil was removed.   This soil included 2.5 liters from Unit 10N/4W 35-50 cm. and 4 liters from Unit 1N/37W 76-95 cm.   Thus the soil analyzed came from three different units at three different depths.   These soil samples were bulk samples taken from the side walls of the units at the reported levels and stored in plastic bags until flotation.   Also included in the analysis were some charcoal samples retrieved from the screens of 10N/4W 0-10 cm. and 1N/37W Surf-0 cm.

      The soil was floated using a SMAP style machine.   This machine had a showerhead water agitator separating the soil into the heavy fraction captured in the 1/16" window screen barrel insert and the light fraction captured in sieves from the outflow.   There were three light fraction sieves in graduated sizes:  Screen I was 2 mm, Screen II was 1 mm, and Screen III was .5 mm.   Two liter subsamples were made from all the soil samples to aid in better recovery.   The water was run until it was clear and then the heavy fraction was checked to ensure complete recovery of the organic component.   The charcoal recovered from the heavy fraction was small and relatively little indicating the success of the flotation of these soils.   Recovery efficiency tests utilizing charred barley seeds were run on two of the samples.   In both cases there was complete recovery within the top two sieves.   This indicates that, at least at these size levels, there was good recovery efficiency.

      Both the light and heavy fraction were air dried before hand sorting under a dissecting microscope at 10 x magnification.   The charcoal was separated out and sorted into wood, seed, and unidentifiable categories before identification was attempted.   These samples were weighed and/or counted.   Both charred and uncharred seeds were looked at for identification purposes and are reported herein. &nbs; The heavy fraction was also sorted for number of flakes, bones, and shell.   The amount of stone left in the heavy fraction post-sorting was then measured for volume by water displacement.   All the data is presented within the following tables.

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IV.  Results

Float I - 1S/37W, 19-29 cm, 2 L
Screen I -   .1 g	2 Quercus Wood
Screen II -   .1 g	35 Quercus Wood
Screen III-   .35 g	531 Wood, some Quercus 38 Brassicaceae Seeds 1 Poaceae Seed 2 Unknown seeds
Heavy Fraction	68 Wood, some Quercus

 

Float II - 1S/37W, 19-29 cm, 2 L
Screen I -   .2 g	1 Quercus Wood 2 Quercus Shell Fragments
Screen II -   .15 g	53 Quercus Wood
Screen III -   .7 g	3970 Wood, some Quercus 33 Brassicaceae Seeds 1 Plantago Seed
Heavy Fraction	42 Wood, some Quercus 4 Unknown seeds 1 Brassicaceae Seeds

 

Float III - 1S/37W, 19-29 cm, 2 L
Screen I	Nothing
Screen II -   .2 g	43 Quercus Wood 1 Pinus ponderosa Wood
Screen III -   .2 g	2671 Wood, some Quercus 9 Brassicaceae Seeds 1 Unknown seed
Heavy Fraction	51 Quercus Wood 2 Quercus Shell Fragments 1 Unknown seed

 

Float IV - 10N/4W, 40-50 cm, 2 L
Screen I	Nothing
Screen II -   .05 g	4 Quercus Wood
Screen III -   .25 g	679 Wood, some Quercus 60 Brassicaceae Seeds 2 Unknown seeds
Heavy Fraction	16 Wood, probably Quercus 1 Wood, ? Pinus ponderosa

 

Float V - 10N/4W, 35-50 cm, 2 L
Screen I	Nothing
Screen II -   .2 g	1 Quercus Wood
Screen III -   .1 g	89 Wood, some Quercus 159 Brassicaceae Seeds 1 Poa bulbosa Seed (uncharred)
Heavy Fraction	7 Quercus Wood 1 Quercus Shell Fragment 1 Poaceae Seed 1 Brassicaceae Seed 2 Unknown seeds

 

Float VI - 10N/4W, 35-50 cm, .5 L
Screen I	Nothing
Screen II	Nothing
Screen III -   .05 g	20 Quercus Wood 8 Wood, probably Quercus 6 Quercus Shell Fragments 1 Hypericum Seed 76 Brassicaceae Seeds
Heavy Fraction	Nothing

 

Float VII - 1N/37W, 76-95 cm, 2 L
Screen I	Nothing
Screen II -   .2 g	5 Pinus ponderosa Wood
Screen III -   .1 g	113 Wood, most Pinus ponderosa 27 Brassicaceae Seeds 1 Unknown seed
Heavy Fraction	21 Pinus ponderosa Wood 2 Quercus Wood 1 Quercus Shell Fragment

 

Float VIII - 1N/37W, 76-95 cm, 2 L
Screen I	Nothing
Screen II -   .1 g	3 Pinus ponderosa Wood
Screen III -   .15 g	265 Wood, unidentifiable 23 Brassicaceae Seeds
Heavy Fraction	28 Wood, some Pinus ponderosa

 

Charcoal recovered by weight per float (not including heavy fraction recovery)
Note - All Floats were 2 liters except for Float VI

Float I	.45 g
Float II	1.05 g
Float III	.40 g
Float IV	.30 g
Float V	.30 g
Float VI	.05 g
Float VII	.30 g
Float VIII	.25 g

 

Float	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII
Quercus Wood	37+	57+	94+	4+	8+	20+	2	0
Quercus Shell	0	2	2	0	1	6	1	0
Pinus Wood	0	0	1	1?	0	0	26+	3+
Brassicaceae Seed	38	38	9	60	160	76	27	23
Poaceae Seed	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Plantago Seed	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hypericum Seed	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Unidentified Seeds	2	4	2	2	2	0	1	0

 

Float	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII
Total Wood	636	4069	2766	700	97	28	141	296
Total Seed	41	39	11	62	164	77	28	23

 

Float	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII
Obsidian	113	64	89	79	86	24	76	68
CCS	12	9	5	3	13	2	13	9
Basalt	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	1
Shell	1	1	1	0	25	0	27	28
Bone	39	112	96	63	73	16	43	61
Tooth	2	0	0	4	3	0	2	0

 

Float	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII
Total Stone after Sort (mL)	425	375	450	400	300	100	400	400

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V.  Discussion of Results

A.  Quercus

      The majority of the wood recovered was of this genus, most being identifiable only to this classification level.   A few of the larger pieces of charcoal could be tentatively identified as Q. garryana.   This species identification is understandable due to the fact that this tree is the predominate tree species on site.   However, the occurrence also of Q. kelloggii in the vicinity encourages the careful examination of all specimens and the backing off from pushing identification further than can be supported by the smaller less easily identifiable wood specimens.

      Quercus is widely recognized as providing wood which is excellent for many ethnobotanical uses, including firewood.   This appears to be the use which charred and thus preserved the specimens recovered from the soil at this site.   The general small size of Quercus wood charcoal in these floats (only 3 pieces being large enough to be caught in Screen I) suggests that the soil being floated was not from a hearth-type situation.   Instead it may be from an area to which the cleaned out hearth remains were deposited.   Thus these wood fragments would be the results of many mixed remains of fires with much post-depositional disturbance such as crushing.

      The low occurrence of other wood mixed in with the oak wood suggests a preference for oak as firewood at least in units 1S/37W and 10N/4W.   The identification of oak as the primary screen recovered wood charcoal from the surface levels of 10N/4W and 1N/37W also suggests that maybe the predominance of pine in the deep levels of 1N/37W may be significant.   Either this oak for firewood was a cultural preference or, more likely, a reflection of the current environmental situation dominated by oaks as the overstory.   In terms of energy efficiency, it would make its firewood use most practical.

      Additional confirmation of an oak presence on or near-site is provided by charred acorn shell fragments.   There are several ways in which these shells could have gotten into the fires to be thus preserved -  1) fallen into the fire from oaks on-site,  2) put into the fire attached to the wood being burnt,  3) collected to be burnt from the surrounding vicinity,  4) thrown in on a whim, or  5) thrown in to remove the trash/remains of acorn processing for food.   The shell fragments recovered are from the fruit itself, i.e., not the cap.   This suggests that #2 is not a viable solution since it is the cap which remains attached to dry wood.   Since most of the fires were probably within houses, #1 can be eliminated as well.   The other hypotheses are not as easily discarded even though #5 and #3 would most plausibly account for the frequency relationship between shell fragments and wood charcoal, in contrast to #4.   Since #3 does not have much energy efficiency support behind it, that leaves #5 as the most plausible (but only lightly supported) of the suggestions.   More support for the last hypothesis can be obtained by looking at the presence of shell fragments from the floatation of 1N/37W soil.   This sample has pine wood as the predominant firewood but yet still has charred shell fragments.   Thus if the environmental situation in this case was thus that it was more efficient to burn pine, there had to be another reason (food) why oak acorn shells would come into the site to be burnt.

B.  Pinus ponderosa

      Ponderosa pine, P. ponderosa, was recovered as the second most abundant charred wood type.   However, it was only predominate in the soil recovered from the deepest unit -  1N/37W.   This is in contrast to the identification of screen recovered charcoal from the surface of this same unit.   Ponderosa pine is not as highly valued as a firewood source due to the high pitch content.   However, it is not thereby rejected, especially if it is the predominate source of wood in the vicinity.

      At the present time, Ponderosa pine is not present as a component of the overstory at Paradise Craggy.   It may have been more common in pre-mining times (since the miners preferred its straight-grained wood for construction) but the higher fire frequency in pre-contact times sheds doubt on this as the solution.   However, it is possible that at the time the soil was deposited in this deep unit that the environmental situation on-site was different.   However, the support for such a speculation with charcoal from only one unit is quite flimsy.

      Other possibilities is that the data is reflecting a local concentration of an ethnobotanical use for such wood.   For instance, a structure built from pine wood (already noted for its construction preference use) could have burnt at this spot at this time leaving the signature thus recorded.   Data from other sources will have to be used to try and comprehend this charcoal variance from the oak predominance seen elsewhere in the data.

C.  Brassicaceae

      The predominate seed recovered from the flotation samples was identified as from the Brassicaceae family.   These seeds were found in high numbers in every unit sampled.   Only a small percentage of these seeds, however, appear to be charred.   This suggest a modern intrusion into the soil to great depths.   The fact that excavation was occurring during the seeding period for most Brassicaceae species cannot be discounted either.   Seeds are known for the ability which they seem to have to more downward through soil even without the assistance of more active bioturbation.   This is especially true for spheric objects such as these seeds.

      My attempts at identification place these seeds closest to the mustards, Brassica.   However, this identification is tentative since many seeds in this family have the same spheric shape and my comparative collection is not yet wide enough to discount some possibilities.   The one thing I can most confidently say is that these seeds do not match any of the native Brassicaceae species from the area.   This is further support for these seeds representing an introduced weedy species.   The high numbers of seeds recovered is additional support since this is a weed characteristic.   The few seeds which appear charred could have been so altered by past forest fires through the area in post-contact times.

      This family is known for the ethnobotanical uses of its seeds for their spice value, especially Mustard.   The incorporation of even non-native Brassicaceae species into both proto-historic and historic diets has been documented.   Thus this use-deposition explanation can not be discounted by the data for the upper levels of the site.

D.  Other Remains

      The other charred seeds found within the floated samples were primarily isolated occurrences.   This made their identification difficult to impossible in most cases.   Furthermore, such isolated cases cannot be interpreted easily due to the numerous chance ways in which a single seed can be introduced to the fire.   The Hypericum seed and Poaceae seeds from Unit 10N/4W are all uncharred and from introduced species, probably sample contamination.   A few of the unidentified seeds from the other units are also uncharred and potentially also represent some contamination.

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VI.  Conclusion

      This paleoethnobotanical analysis was conducted on soil collected from three units put into varying types of locations within Paradise Craggy village.   The results reflect this variation but also reflect a non-localized type of charcoal deposition.   This is shown by the small size of the charcoal fragments and the higher percentage of wood versus seeds within the recovered material.   The variation shown in wood between Quercus and Pinus ponderosa is suggestive but raises more questions than the data can provide answers for.   One positive feature is that the high percentage of wood charcoal within the total charcoal recovered supports greater confidence in the soil dates obtained from these soils.   The unfortunately low presence of charred seeds means that not much enlightening data can be gleaned from that source.   However, the use of this data in combination with other information may better answer questions concerning the lifeways of the people who lived at Paradise Craggy in the past.

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PLEASE REFERENCE:   Gleason, Susan     "Paleoethnobotanical Analysis of Paradise Craggy, CA-SIS-1066."   Unpublished Report submitted to U.S.D.I., Bureau of Land Management, Redding District.   Text available on-line at "www.obsidiandesigns.com/paradise.html"

If you wish a text version of this page, please e-mail   Drarizona@obsidiandesigns.com   and be sure to note what format you wish it in ($2.00 will be charged for a mailed print copy).

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