San Luis Obispo County CA Archives Photo Place.....Chumash Indian Mounds 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 23, 2006, 11:50 pm

Source:             Discovering San Luis Obispo County
Photo can be seen at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/sanluisobispo/photos/chumashi65gph.jpg
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CHUMASH INDIAN MOUNDS

History and Description:

The Indian mounds on the Morro Bay Sand Spit are the Chumash Indians' equivalent
of modern dumps.  Actually sanitary land fill would be a better description. 
The mound we visited was about 30 yards by 60 yards.  At some points the mound
was extremely shallow.  This may be due to dispersal occuring after the Indians
moved west.  In other areas the mound was rather deep. we excavated to a depth
of 12 inches and encountered shells in a moderate state of decomposition.  We
assumed these to be Washington clam, Pismo clam, razor clam, turban snail, moon
snail, limpet, chilon, oyster, barnacle, jingle, scallop, and mussel as
described in the display in the science building at Cal Poly.

In addition to being a disposal area for used shells, the mound served as what
has been described as a super market.  The Indians gathered the aquatic life
from the ocean, shelled them and threw the shells in the mound.  Basically, life
has not changed too drastically since then.

The Indians only used the mounds seasonally, an educated guess has it, for the
last 1000 years.  They did not live on the spit.  Their homes were further
inland.  The Chumash were nomadic and were noted for their paintings.  They were
good carpenters and made plank boats with tied connections.  The connections
were coveted with asphalt that was found oozing from the ground near Pismo. 
There is a noticeable lack of abalone shells at the site.  This is because the
Indians prized these shells and traded them, along with obsidian.

Sources:
Dr. C. E. Dills, Chemistry Department, Cal Poly 
Dr. W. T. Williams, Biological Sciences, Cal Poly 
Science Display, Science Building, Cal Poly


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

Discovering San Luis Obispo County
by
Carleton M. Winslow

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sanluisobispo/photos/chumashi65gph.txt

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