Fire Reveals Prehistoric Artifacts at Crystal Cove : Archeology: Destruction of vegetation at state park reveals primitive tools, cooking pits and drawings that may be 9,000 years old.

One of the biggest disasters in Orange County history became an unexpected boon to archeologists when it was found recently that the fire that destroyed hundreds of homes also uncovered prehistoric artifacts in Crystal Cove State Park that may be up to 9,000 years old.

The fire burned off dense vegetation that had grown over a handful of cave-like rock shelters and overhangs that prehistoric people had hollowed into hillsides of what is now the inland section of the state park.

At some sites, archeologists have found evidence of primitive cutting and grinding tools, ancient cooking fires and drawings on rocks.

“The sites are wide open now, and it’s a real opportunity,” said Michael Sampson, an associate state archeologist based in San Diego. “We found some new sites we didn’t know existed and the artifacts are on the surface. We can see how big and how extensive the sites are. We had to guess before. It’s exciting for us because now we can get a close look at a lot of things.”

Sampson called the locations “open-air sites, rock shelters, little caves, with a lot of rock concentrated on the surface.” He said he found flaked-stone artifacts such as grinding stones and edged stones that had probably been fashioned as cutting tools. Identifiable remains of what are believed to be cooking pits were also discovered.

The objects, and their surrounding habitats, are consistent with previous discoveries not only in the Crystal Cove area, but along much of the Southern California coast, according to archeologists, who are continuing to visit the sites to study and catalogue the finds.

No accurate dating of the artifacts has been made, but Sampson said that archeological finds unearthed on Irvine Co. land on the Newport coast have yielded artifacts that are estimated to be 9,000 years old.

The park was closed to the public after the fire. Officials said that until new vegetation takes root and there is reduced danger of erosion and mudslides, the park is likely to remain closed. State parks officials said any attempt to enter the park or disturb the artifacts is illegal.

Officials have cited several trespassers on closed state lands in the Santa Monica Mountains where fires uncovered several prehistoric archeological sites, Sampson said. Disturbing such finds, he said, is usually a misdemeanor but can be prosecuted as a felony if human remains are involved.

“Hundreds of hours of community service and very substantial fines” are expected to be meted out in the Santa Monica cases, Sampson said.

Eloise Richards Barter, an associate state archeologist who has done extensive work at Crystal Cove, said the people who lived in the caves were the ancestors of the Gabrielino and Juaneno Indians, indigenous Southern California tribes.

They lived in “simple villages, utilizing the plant and animal life in the area. They also would have fished and probably moved seasonally as the resources warranted. They were the forebears of some of the people still living in the area,” Barter said.

They were also, after a fashion, artists. Sampson said that examples of rock art have been found at the sites. However, unlike the well-preserved representations of primitive daily life found in places such as the Lascaux caves in France, the drawings at Crystal Cove have been all but obscured by time.

The representations on the rock--not literal pictures of identifiable objects, but rather cryptic designs or symbols--are thought to be shamanistic, Sampson said, but “they’re faded and weathered quite a bit and it’s hard to see a lot of it now. Without talking to the person who made them, we’ll never really understand them.”

Although these are not the first archeological finds at Crystal Cove--other state parks have also yielded artifacts and evidence of habitation--park officials and archeologists are excited by the prospect of a new source of research.

“It’s important because it’s so easy to get to, and it will give us a much more detailed record,” Sampson said. “Given all the development that’s going on (along coastal lands), the cove represents one of the last open areas on the Orange County coast. This is what’s left. Most of the rest is underneath golf courses and it’ll be a long time before we get to look at it again. (The new find) is highly significant, and our philosophy is to try to preserve and protect it for the future.”