75B - PH - EIR 1584 SANTA CLARA - Laserfiche WebLink

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Boundary Description: The boundaries of the site correspond to the edges of an erosional remnant, the 140 -foot contour line on the topo- graphic quad, a ridge. The site is bounded by the creek and swamp on the northwest, and by low -lying floodplain on all other sides (See Figure 3.) Boundary Justification: The boundaries of the site correspond to those of the landform on which it lies. Archeological investigations have revealed artifacts only in those areas above the 140 -foot contour of the valley floor in all sampled areas of the ridge. The site's maximum length northeast to southwest is 2,500 feet, and its maximum width is 800 feet. The low -lying nature of the swamps and floodplain surrounding this erosional upland remnant presumably made this ridge the only habitable portion of the area, implying strongly that topography constituted a behav- ioral boundary here. Case 4. Documented Land Distur- bance of a Riverine Site Defined by Natural Features and Modem Land Uses: A Woodland period prehistoric archeological site was identified by avocabonal archeologists and re- ported to the SHFO. The 50 -acre site comprises surface finds along a floodplain adjacent to a meandering river course. No scientific excavations have been conducted at the site. Boundary Description: The site is bounded by natural topographic features and manmade alterations to the landscape. The 600 -foot contour line defines the northern, western, and eastern boundaries of the site. The southern portion of the site is defined by a railroad right -of -way which was constructed at the toe of a steep slope marking a topographic boundary as well as a manmade one (See Figure 4.) Boundary justification: The river forms a naturally occurring boundary to nearly three sides of the site. The area contained within the inside bend of the curve of the river had bearing on the living space which was avail- able to prehistoric people. Surface collections have yielded prehistoric cultural materials over most of the dry land area to within a few feet of the present shore and as far south as the railroad easement. The marshy area lying between the 600 -foot contour and the river was not in- cluded because interpretations of the 54 Figure 3. (Case 3). The boundary of this site was primarily determined by topographic features and contains the ridge area encompassed by the 144 -foot contour line. Archaic and Woodland prehistoric components, in addition to an eighteenth - century historic occupation, are constrained by a creek, swannps, and flood -plain settings. Figure 4. (Case 4.) The river and associated swarnp form a natural boundary for this prehistoric site on its west, north, and east sides. The southern boundary was truncated by construction of a railroad seated at the base of a topographic rise. environmental history of the site indicate that the area has been sub- jected to river scouring daring various meander episodes, leading to little expectation of the existence of cultural remains. The railroad easement that defines the southern boundary represents a corridor of highly disturbed land from which archeological resources cannot be expected to have survived. 75B -506 The right -of -way also serves to mark a sharp break in slope, delineating the well- drained alluvial terrace which lies on the inside bend of the river from the steep (greater than 15 %), rocky, till covered northerly facing slope. The topographic characteristics beyond the easement would have rendered this area unattractive for occupation.