Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:09:52.394Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Archaeological Evidence for a Former Bay at Seaside, Oregon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas J. Connolly
Thomas J. Connolly*
Affiliation:
State Museum of Anthropology, 1224 University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1224
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cultural shell middens, a common feature of coastal landscapes, preserve a record of past human use of coastal resources and often provide important paleoenvironmental information. Molluscan remains from two shell midden sites, located 0.7 km from the modern Pacific coast at Seaside, Oregon, suggest the former presence of a small sheltered bay at this locality. The modern sand beaches in the Seaside area, stretching for 30 km southward from the mouth of the Columbia River, are exposed to high-energy surf where razor clams (Siliqua patula) are today the only common bivalve. By contrast, over 90% of molluscan remains (by weight) recovered from the archaeological sites represent species that favor sheltered water. Geologic studies in the Seaside area have shown that the beach prograded some 2 km over the last 4 millennia. The midden evidence suggests that the progradation was accompanied by the infilling of a former bay.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , May 1995 , pp. 362 - 369
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bamer, D. C. (1992). Molluscan remains from the Palmrose and Avenue Q sites. In “Human Responses to Change in Coastal Geomorphology and Fauna on the Southern Northwest Coast: Archaeological Investigations at Seaside, Oregon” (by Connolly, T. J.), University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 45, pp. 105–122. Eugene.Google Scholar
Bickel, P. M. (1978). Changing sea levels along the California coast: Anthropological implications. Journal of California Anthropology 5, 296–297.Google Scholar
Clague, J. J. Harper, J. R. Hebda, R. J., and Howes, D. E. (1982). Late Quaternary sea levels and coastal movements, coastal British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 19, 597–618.Google Scholar
Connolly, T. J. (1992). “Human responses to change in coastal geomorphology and fauna on the southern Northwest coast: Archaeological investigations at Seaside, Oregon.” University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 45. Eugene.Google Scholar
Cooper, W. S. (1958). “Coastal sand dunes of Oregon and Washington.” Geological Society of America Memoir 72.Google Scholar
Darienzo, M. E. (1992). Holocene geomorphology in the Seaside area. In “Human Responses to Change in Coastal Geomorphology and Fauna on the Southern Northwest Coast: Archaeological Investigations at Seaside, Oregon” (by Connolly, T. J.), University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 45. pp. 47–60. Eugene.Google Scholar
Erlandson, J. L., and Moss, M. L. (1993), An evaluation, survey, and dating program for archaeological sites on state lands of the central Oregon Coast. Report on file at the State Historic Preservation Office, Salem.Google Scholar
Komar, P. D. (1985). Oregon. In “The World’s Coastline,” (Bird, E. C. F. and Schwartz, M. L., Eds.), pp. 23–26. Van Nostrand-Reinhold, New York.Google Scholar
Lyman, R. L. (1991). “Prehistory of the Oregon Coast: The Effects of Excavation Strategies and Assemblage Size on Archaeological Inquiry.” Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
McDowell, P. F. (1986). Reconstructing the setting of the Tahkenitch landing site. In “The Archaeology of the Tahkenitch Landing Site: Early Prehistoric Occupation on the Oregon Coast” (by Minor, R. and Toepel, K. A.), Heritage Research Associates Report 46, pp. 91–103. Eugene.Google Scholar
McDowell, P. F. (1987). Geomorphic processes in the Pacific coast and mountain system of Oregon and Washington. In “Geomorphic Systems of North America” (Graf, W. L., Ed.), Geological Society of America Centennial Special Volume 2. pp. 539–549.Google Scholar
McDowell, P. E (1992). Analysis of sediment samples from the Seaside Archaeological Project. Appendix A In “Human Responses to Change in Coastal Geomorphology and Fauna on the Southern Northwest Coast: Archaeological Investigations at Seaside, Oregon” (by Connolly, T. J.), University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 45. pp. 191–192. Eugene.Google Scholar
Meighan, C. W. (1983). Early man in the New World. In “Quaternary Coastlines and Marine Archaeology” (Masters, P. M. and Flemming, N. C., Eds.), pp. 441–462. Academic Press, San Diego.Google Scholar
Minor, R. (1984). “Dating the Bonneville landslide in the Columbia River gorge.” Heritage Research Associates Report 31, on file at the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District.Google Scholar
Minor, R. (1986). “An Evaluation of Archaeological Sites on State Park Lands Along the Oregon Coast.” Heritage Research Associates Report 44. Eugene.Google Scholar
Minor, R., and Toepel, K. A. (1986). “The archaeology of the Tkhkenitch landing site: Early prehistoric occupation on the Oregon coast.” Heritage Research Associates Report 46. Eugene.Google Scholar
Peterson, C. D., and Phipps, J. B. (1992). Holocene sedimentary framework of Grays Harbor Basin, Washington, USA. In “Quaternary Coasts of the United States: Marine and Lacustrine Systems,” (Fletcher, C. H. III and WehmiUer, J. E, Eds.), PP. 273–285. Society for Sedimentary Geology Special Publications 48.Google Scholar
Peterson, C. D. Scheidegger, K. F., and Schrader, H. J. (1984). Holocene depositional evolution of a small active-margin estuary of the northwestern United States. Marine Geology 59, 51–83.Google Scholar
Phebus, G. E. Jr., and Drucker, R. M. (1975). Archaeological investigations of the northern Oregon coast: A brief summary of Smithsonian sponsored excavations in the Seaside area with comments on the archaeological resources of western Clatsop County. Manuscript on file at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Phebus, G. E. Jr., and Drucker, R. M. (1979). “Archaeological investigations at Seaside, Oregon.” Seaside Museum and Historical Society, Seaside, OR.Google Scholar
Rankin, D. K. (1983). “Holocene geologic history of the Clatsop Plains Foredune Ridge complex.” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Portland State University.Google Scholar
Schlicker, H. G. Deacon, R. J. Beaulieu, J. D., and Olcott, G. W. (1972). Environmental geology of the coastal region of Tillamook and Clatsop Counties, Oregon. State of Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Bulletin 74.Google Scholar
Thwaites, R. G. (Ed.) (1905). “Original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806.” Dodd, Mead, New York.Google Scholar
Woodward, J. White, J., and Cummings, R. (1990). Paleoseismicity and the archaeological record: Areas of investigation on the northern Oregon Coast. Oregon Geology 52, 57–65.Google Scholar