The
term "cultural resources" generally refers to aspects of a cultural
system that are valued by or are significantly representative of a culture or
that contain significant information about a culture. Cultural resources may be
tangible entities (such as sites, buildings, and objects) or cultural
practices. The term is often applied to sites, areas, or buildings which
represent significant places or events in the flow of human experience. The
term sometimes specifically refers to the remnants, evidence, and areas
associated with human activities or otherwise considered significant or
important, and may include the following:
* Prehistoric
and ethno-historic Native American archaeological sites.
* Historic
archaeological sites.
* Historic buildings or structures.
* Elements or areas of the natural landscape
which have traditional cultural
significance.
Prehistoric and
Ethnohistoric Native American Archaeological Sites
Prehistoric
sites represent the material remnants of Native American societies and their
activities. Ethnohistoric sites are defined as Native American settlements
occupied after the arrival of European settlers in California.
Such
sites include villages, seasonal camp sites, stone tool quarry sites, hunting
and butchering sites, traditional trails, and sites with rock carvings or
paintings.
Archaeologists
identify such sites by the presence of one or more of the following:
* Stone
flakes made of chert, jasper, quartzite, quartz, basalt, obsidian, and other rock types.
* Shell,
animal bone, groundstone tools used for grinding seeds, such as manos, mutates, or bedrock mortars.
* Plant foods, such as carbonized seeds.
* Artifacts, such as arrow or spear points,
and fragments of pottery vessels.
* Darker
soil with evidence of human activity, called midden.
* Circular
depressions representing houses or ceremonial structures.
Areas of Traditional
Cultural Significance
These
are areas that have been, and often continue to be, of economic and/or
religious significance to people today. They include Native American sacred
areas where religious ceremonies are practiced or which are central to their
origins as a people. They also include areas where Native Americans gather
plants for food, medicinal, or economic purposes. A certain degree of
protection is provided for such resources by California state law.