In conjunction with development of the Yaquina Head Interpretive Center, archaeological investigations were sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management at site 35LNC62 at the tip of Yaquina Head on the north-central Oregon coast. These investigations were designed to (1) mitigate impacts to areas to be directly affected by proposed developments, and (2) obtain comprehensive data on the extent and nature of the prehistoric cultural deposits in order to provide for the long-term management and protection of the archaeological site.
The 1989 investigations involved auger testing and unit excavations in three areas. Area A includes the shell midden exposed along the headland's north face, where excavations were previously conducted in 1986. Area B is a small, spatially discrete shell midden to the south that was discovered during the auger testing program. Area C encompasses remnant sand dunes located to the southeast of the two shell middens; only sparse evidence of occupation was encountered there.
Excavations established that the structure of the archaeological deposits is the same in both areas A and B, with the shell middens (Stratum 2) bound by non-shell cultural deposits above (Stratum 1) and below (Stratum 3) . Previous investigations in Area A had suggested that cultural materials from Stratum 3 could be distinguished as a separate cultural component (Yaquina I) from cultural materials from Strata 1 and 2 (Yaquina II). The results of the 1989 excavations indicate that these component definitions are no longer appropriate. Additional radiocarbon dates indicate that prehistoric use of 35LNC62 involved overlapping occupations, both between strata and between areas of the site. As a result, the two cultural components distinguished on the basis of the 1986 investigations have melded into one occupation sequence.
The chronology of occupation at 35LNC62 has been established with the aid of 22 radiocarbon dates. The four earliest assays are believed to relate to natural fires before initial use of the headland by prehistoric peoples. Radiocarbon assays from Stratum 3 of 4100 + 60 RCYBP from Area A and 4050 + 60 RCYBP are considered the most relibable dates for initial occupation. The first intensive exploitation of shellfish is dated by radiocarbon assays of 3670 + 70 RCYBP from Area B and 3270 + 70 RCYBP from Area A. While a basal stratum of non- shell occupation may be represented, it is now clear that relatively little time elapsed before intensive shellfish exploitation began. The latest radiocarbon assay is 2310 + 60 RCYBP from Stratum 1 in Area A, and 35LNC62 is believed to have been abandoned by 2000 years ago.
Several lines of evidence (e.g., remains of a house, presence of human burials, seasonality of faunal remains) lead to the conclusion that 35LNC62 served as a village during most of its occupation span. Environmental reconstruction suggests that the setting during the occupation of the site was considerably different than today. A sand apron probably existed below the headland, making access to the beach considerably easier than it is today. Coniferous forest also existed on the headland 4000 years ago. Speculation as to the reasons for abandonment of the site focus on two factors: (1) erosion of the hypothesized sand apron, resulting in greater difficulty in access to the shoreline; and (2) reduction in tree cover, resulting in greater exposure to the fierce winds characteristic of the Oregon coast. Radiocarbon dating places the bulk of the occupation at 35LNC62 during the Middle Archaic interval from 3500 to 1500 BP . Occupation during this interval represents an earlier cultural pattern on the Southern Northwest Coast before the emergence of ethnographic cultures during the Late Archaic period (1500 BP to historic contact). As the most extensively investigated Middle Archaic settlement so far reported in this region, information obtained from 35LNC62 has contributed directly to clarifying the nature of prehistoric cultural adaptations during Middle Archaic times. The information obtained from 35LNC62, particularly the faunal evidence suggesting exploitation of marine resources offshore, is consistent with other recent studies indicating that the prehistoric population along the Southern Northwest Coast was more technologically sophisticated and dynamic than has been previously suggested.