Prehistoric Life at the Borax Lake Site: A Western Clovis Locality on California’s North Coast

Learn more about prehistoric life in northern California in our latest virtual lecture presented by Dr. Greg White!

The Borax Lake site was identified by a private citizen in the late 1920s and reported to scientists in 1935. Archaeologist M. R. Harrington compared the finds to discoveries at Blackwater Draw Locality No. 1, and between 1936–1946 pursued six seasons of field work at the site. Harrington’s reports were broadly rejected by U.C. scientists, but the finds were reappraised in 1967–1968 on the basis of seminal obsidian hydration studies. The new studies supported Harrington’s Clovis claim, but the stratigraphy was problematic producing a dense and tangled mix of Archaic and Clovis artifacts.

In this talk, you will learn more about the artifacts found at the site both past and present, the results of the obsidian hydration studies, the reason for the mysterious mixture of Archaic and Clovis artifacts, and areas of potential research at Borax Lake.
 
About the presenter:
Dr. Greg White is the Principal and Owner of Sub-Terra Heritage Resource Investigations in Chico, California and the SAA State/Provincial Education Coordinator for Northern California. He earned his bachelor of arts in anthropology from Sonoma State University, and his masters and PhD at the University of California, Davis. Greg has worked as an archaeologist for over 40 years and has authored extensive publications on California history and archaeology.

Please Note: You may notice some issues with sound quality during the presentation. This was due to rural internet lag in Dr. White's location, and the audio has been improved as much as possible in post-processing.

Recorded: May 26, 2022
Runtime: 1 hour 8 min