The Emeryville Shellmound, in Emeryville, California, is a massive archaeological shell midden deposit (dark, highly organic soil containing a high concentration of human food waste remains, including shellfish). It was one of a complex of five or six mounds along the mouth of the perennial Temescal Creek, on the east shore of San Francisco Bay between Oakland and Berkeley. From a time long before the arrival of the Europeans in the 1700s, groups of Native Americans lived at this spot by the Bay. Originally reported as over 60 feet high and some 350 feet in diameter, the mound constituted a small hill, and was physically linked to several adjacent mounds by extensive lower-lying midden deposits. Its peak likely provided sweeping views of the Bay and the Golden Gate. The Native Americans constructed the Shellmound and it is comprised largely of shellfish and animal remains, the remnants of millions of meals consumed at the site by the prehistoric residents. The shells they threw aside from their catches of shellfish eventually covered some hundreds of thousands of square feet, marked by several cones. Evidence indicates that the site was a large village, occupied from at least 2800 years ago to 400 years ago. It was also used by Native Americans as a resting-place for their dead. The site was recognized as an archaeological deposit from the time of the first historically recorded settlement of the East Bay, and was subjected to some of the earliest archaeological excavations in the United States. When the University of California excavated this site in the 1920s, they found that the mound consisted mostly of clam, mussel, and oyster shells, with a plentiful mixture of cockleshells. The city of Emeryville highlighted within Alameda County Emeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California. ... Importance and applicability Most of human history is not described by any written records. ... A midden, or kitchen midden, is a dump for domestic waste. ... For the heavy metal band see Soil (band) Soil is unconsolidated rock particle that lies on the surface of the earth, supporting the growth of plants, and serving as a habitat for animal life from microorganisms to small animals. ... Shellfish is a term used to describe molluscs and crustaceans used as food. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate The San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary in which water draining approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... Aerial view looking west over downtown Oakland, Lake Merritt and the Port of Oakland. ... Berkeley as seen from the Claremont Canyon reserve Berkeley is a city in the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California, in the United States. ... This article is about the continent. ... Events and trends The Bonneville Slide blocks the Columbia River near the site of present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon with a land bridge 200 feet (60 m) high. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... This article is about the strait in California. ... The University of California (UC) is a public university system within the State of California. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working mechanical television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to... CLAMS Maxima clam (Tridacna maxima) Clams are shelled marine or freshwater molluscs belonging to the class Bivalvia. ... Orders A mussel is a bivalve mollusc that can be found in lakes, rivers, creeks, intertidal areas, and throughout the ocean. ... The name oyster is used for a number of different groups of molluscs which grow for the most part in marine or brackish water. ...

The site of the shellmound contained a large industrial plant site from 1924 through 1999, which was demolished by the City of Emeryville Redevelopment Agency in 1999. During the course of demolition, workers at the site rediscovered remnants of the Emeryville Shellmound, a prehistoric Ohlone Indian habitation site, long thought destroyed by the building of the industrial plant in 1924. 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Map of the Costanoan languages The Ohlone, formerly Costanoan, are an ethnic group whose members lived in what is now the San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey Bay areas of California until after the European discovery and settling of this area. ...

Photos of the leveling of the Emeryville Shellmound in 1924 certainly suggest this destruction. However, the small size of construction equipment in the 1920s and the different construction techniques used at that time meant that there was far less destruction of the native ground surface than modern construction methods typically inflict. In fact, the disturbance of underlying soils was far less extensive and complete than might have been expected. In 1999, during the removal of the industrial plant, archaeologists were called to the site and it was determined portions of the Emeryville Shellmound still were intact there. Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ...

Prior to the industrial plant, a large amusement park on the site that operated from the 1870s though 1924. The park contained a racetrack, two dance halls, bars, a carousel, bowling alley, and a world class shooting range where national competitions were regularly held. At the time, Shellmound Park was quite an attraction, and was a popular destination for many people from all over the San Francisco Bay Area. With the passage of prohibition in the 1920s, visitation fell off dramatically and the park fell into decline and was sold. Six Flags New England, an amusement park in Springfield, Massachusetts. ... Events and Trends Technology The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A carousel in a summer festival in London, with traditional animal mounts, barley twist poles and fairy lights. ... Bowling is the common name for several sports that involve rolling a ball towards a target or to knock down pins. ... A shooting range is a facility designed for firearms practice. ... Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working mechanical television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to...

The site of the Shellmound is now a California Historical Landmark (#335). California Historical Landmarks (CHLs) are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below: approved for designation by the County Board of Supervisors or the City/Town Council in whose...

External link

• City of Emeryville South Bayfront Archaeology Project Homepage