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Photos: A halted dig on San Nicolas Island

A plane flies over San Nicolas Island, the most remote of the Channel Islands.

A plane flies over San Nicolas Island, the most remote of the Channel Islands.

  (Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times)

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Archaeologist Steve Schwartz felt betrayed when the Navy ordered a halt to work at a site it took him 20 years to find: the cave believed to be the home of a 19th century Native American woman who lived on San Nicolas Island, abandoned and alone, for 18 years.

A dig is halted on San Nicolas Island

Waves crash on San Nicolas Island. “Island of the Blue Dolphins” is one of the 20th century’s most popular novels for young readers.   (Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times)

A dig is halted on San Nicolas Island

For 8,000 years, San Nicolas Island’s mysterious ancient people scratched out a living eating mostly shellfish, sea lions, small fish and roots.  (Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times)

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