Tulamniu Village Archaeology Site – Taft CA

Description

“More than 4000 artifacts and hundreds of Indian burials were excavated at the site of the Yokut Indian village near Taft, California in 1933-34. Dr. William Duncan Strong, of the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE), headed the Tulamniu C.W.A. Project SLF-73 with Winslow Walker, also of the BAE, as assistant director. The excavations were one of a number of archaeological projects organized and financed by the Civil Works Administration as a means of reducing unemployment. Artifacts and skeletal materials were shipped to the United States National Museum for study after completion of the field work. This collection of material was in storage in the Department of Anthropology until donated to the National Anthropological Archives on May 22, 1973.”

“Background: This collection is the result of the vast Civil Works Administration program under the supervision of the Smithsonian Institution. During the winter of 1933-34, the Tulamniu CWA Project SLF-76 excavated a group of large shell mounds near Taft, California, in the upper San Joaquin valley. The site had previously been located and tentatively identified as the village site of Tulamniu, “the place of the Tulamni, or Tule dwellers.” The Tulamni were one of the lake tribes of Yokuts first visited in 1772 by Spaniards. Because the excavation would require the labor of a large force of men [mostly unemployed oil workers] for a considerable period of time, it was a desirable location for the archaeological project allotted to the BAE in California, according to Winslow Walker’s report.
Work began December 20, 1933 under the direction of Dr. William Duncan Strong, assisted by Winslow M. Walker. Two trained California archaeologists, W.R. Wedel, from the University of California and E.F. Walker of the Southwest Museum, assisted. The staff was augmented by technicians and graduate students: Engineer-Surveyor Lew Suverkrop; Supervising Foremen P.L. Stanley and H.I. McGrath; Photographer F.M. Boyd; Accountant-Timekeeper N.E. Taussig; Technicians Phillip Drucker, G.H. Denkel, H.E. Driver, Hans Fischel, H.G. Barnett, Paul McGrew, Milton O’Rourke and M.P. Smith. Employment as laborers was given to about 175 unemployed men from the Taft region of Kern County. Large scale operations made possible the examination of two shell mounds on the slope of the hills at the western side of Buena Vista Lake and the uncovering of two large burial places on the hilltops just back of the mounds.”

“The survey found that the Tulamni used asphaltum to glue arrows and foreshafts together. The asphaltum was stored in round balls with a diameter of about 3 inches. It would be heated for use when needed. The Tulamni also used the substance to glue together soap root fibers to make acorn-meal brushes, waterproof baskets, and a myriad of other uses.”