Paul Schumacher

“ IF we investigate the condition of the ground upon which we now find the ruined settlements of a former people on this coast, it cannot fail to convince us either that all such stations had been established on sandy ground, or that the ground had been artificially changed by sand carried thither when it was rocky or hard. ”

“ The proportion of sand mixed with the cooking débris is about one-half the weight of the whole mass. The size of a town-site varies from about 100 metres in length and width, like the one illustrated in the figure, to 1,200 metres, or three-quarters of a mile, in length, and from 100 to 300 metres in width, the extent of Os-bi, a ranchería in Santa Barbara County, about five miles south of Point Sal, which is the largest shell-mound derived from permanent habitation thus far explored on this coast. ”

“ Investigation revealed the artificial formation to consist of a layer of shells, most of which are still found among the living species on the island, bones of fish, sea-fowl, seal, and sea-lions, and whales, dogs and foxes, and a great mass of cobble-stones of all sizes, especially of the size of a fist as used for fireplaces, and chippings of different varieties of chert, chalcedony, jasper, quartz, etc.—rocks suitable for the manufacture of knives, arrow-heads, spear-points, and other cutting tools, which do not occur in situ on the island and had to be imported. ”