URBAN ARCHAEOLOGY: NEXUS OF GEOARCHAEOLOGY AND CULTURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Large portions of the archaeological record in central California have been submerged by sea-level rise, and/or buried by alluvial and sand dune deposition, complicating site discovery efforts. This problem is compounded in dense urban areas where historic-era and modern activities such as artificial cutting and filling and stream channelization have been extensive. Successful site identification in these urban contexts requires a robust knowledge of environmental and landscape change over time, applied predictive modeling, and appropriate identification methods. Using case studies, we illustrate how cumulative findings from over a decade of cultural resources management studies are used to successfully identify buried archaeological sites and reconstruct latest Pleistocene and Holocene landscape evolution throughout the highly urbanized San Francisco Bay Area.