Cultural Resource Investigations as part of the US 395 Carson City Freeway Project

Archaeologists from the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) relocated a very large prehistoric site known since the 1930's, and found that this rare and important cultural resource was partially located within the newly planned right-of-way for US 395. As part of the environmental clearance program being conducted for this new freeway project, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), working with NDOT, retained the services of the Louis Berger Group, Inc. (Berger) to conduct a series of archaeological investigations at this large prehistoric site.

Overview of the prehistoric site just as archaeological excavations are beginning.

Excavations by Berger archaeologists revealed:

• Over 150 prehistoric features such as houses, storage pits, fire hearths, roasting pits, and activity areas were discovered

• That this archaeological site represents one of the largest prehistoric villages discovered in northern Nevada
• Prehistoric peoples occupied this village for over a thousand years, with radiocarbon dates suggesting site occupation beginning around AD 425 and running through AD 1470.
• Both shallow house shapes and deep house shapes were exposed, suggesting that this village might have been occupied during both the summer and winter months.
• Thousands of prehistoric artifacts were recovered during the scientific excavations, indicating the various daily activities which the people living here performed.

Berger archaeologists exposing prehistoric storage pits (foreground) and house floors.

Prehistoric storage pits.

Stone tools and points found on floor.

The excavations conducted by Berger archaeologists are helping us understand the composition and layout of prehistoric villages in northern Nevada in a fashion never accomplished before, and leading to a fuller understanding of how people lived in this distinctive environmental setting.

A shallow prehistoric house floor – possibly a summer house.

A deep style of prehistoric house – possibly a winter house.

With the strong support of NDOT, FHWA, and the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), archaeologists from the Berger Group worked very closely with several of the local Native American tribes, especially the Washoe , on this project. Such a close and positive working relationship with Washoe tribal members resulted in several major accomplishments and a more robust understanding and interpretation of the site.

Washoe Tribal Cooperation resulted in:

• A fuller understanding of how such sites might have been used in the past, especially regarding length of occupations and the site's role in seasonal migrations
• Added insight into how tribal members of today view and care about their ancestors of the past
• Archaeologists gaining a fuller understanding of the various foods collected and used by Native Americans
• Learning about the various tools used to collect and process these various wild foods

The Public Program

With the support of NDOT and FHWA, Berger hosted a public open house so that members of the local communities could come and see the prehistoric village plus observe how modern American archaeology was conducted. This program was extremely popular and highly successful.

• Hosted on a weekend near the end of the project, over 1,100 people from both Carson City and Reno , Nevada visited the site
• Stories regarding the project ran in local papers in Carson City , Reno , and Las Vegas – along with short television news spots appearing in all three cities as well
• Special guided tours of the site and project activities were conducted for the Washoe tribal council and general tribal members, for the Washoe children's Head Start program, for professional archaeologists, for SHPO staff, for both NDOT and FHWA staff, for select primary and secondary Carson City school teachers, and for four Carson City grade school classes

Overall, the cultural resource investigations conducted as part of the US 395 Carson City Freeway project were extremely successful. This work not only fulfilled environmental compliance laws and regulations, but

• resulted in a greater scientific understanding of the prehistoric people and their village communities
• helped develop better and more interactive consultations with concerned Native American tribes like the Washoe
• stimulated interest in local archaeology and the various state highway environmental programs within the local community members
• resulted in the recovery of thousands of valuable artifacts – of which analysis and studies are still on-going
• this project will result in both a formal, scientific book being written about the results of the excavations, along with a more reader-friendly popular publication which NDOT will distribute to interested individuals

Because of the size and significance of this prehistoric village site, NDOT and Berger have worked hard to ensure proper investigation and documentation of this rare and unique cultural resource so that excavated artifacts can be preserved for future generations of Nevadans to study and enjoy.