Building Site Is on Hallowed Ground

Construction workers have stumbled across one of the largest and oldest Chumash burial sites in the Ojai area, dating as far back as 10,000 years, archeologists and tribal members said Tuesday.

“In my experience, this is the biggest collection of artifacts found in Ojai,” said Pat Tumamait, a Chumash consultant who monitors construction projects to ensure that Native American relics are not destroyed or desecrated.

The site contains tools, bowls and the cremated remains of between two and five people, buried beneath pieces of grinding stones called metates.

The bone fragments were found two weeks ago when a truck grading land for the Los Arboles Townhomes project smacked into hard rock. Tumamait immediately halted the construction.

“There were some metates, and in our native culture when someone died they’d put these metates over the burial,” he said.

Carefully sifting the dirt, Tumamait and archeologist Dan Hissong found bits of bone under the stones. Excited but unwilling to disturb the site further, Tumamait stopped digging. Police were told of the site and the county coroner’s office analyzed bits of bone to verify they were human, he said.

“It’s a significant find, but we have to respect the Chumash. You can’t go digging things up and taking them to museums anymore,” said Hissong, who works with Tumamait to analyze archeological finds. “Those days are gone.” The area, at the back of a dirt lot, was discreetly marked off and Tumamait performed a ceremony for the dead.

“I gave food offerings of acorns, fish, bread, water and fruit,” he said. “And we burnt sage. The offering of food and gifts is basically an apology for disturbing them and to see they have food for their journey.”

Tumamait and Hissong determined the age of the site by the style and shape of the metates, which they say are 7,000 to 10,000 years old.

The owners of the land responded quickly to the discovery, redesigning the area to accommodate the grave. The bones were found where the dumpsters would have been located.

Now there will be a 16-by-30-foot “green space” of native California plants above the gravesite. No additional construction will take place on that part of the property, said construction superintendent Don Smith.

“For me it’s incredible to think that these are someone’s ancestors,” Smith said. “It’s great that we were able to catch it in time.”

The 23-unit luxury condominium complex will sit on three acres near Ojai’s Libbey Park. Plans for the site have outraged some residents who fear it will bring further congestion to an artists’ haven known for its tranquillity.

But thousands of years before condos and congestion, the Chumash had already settled the valley, calling it “Auhai,” meaning moon in their language, said Tumamait. Some lived in villages dotted with cone-shaped huts while others from the coast spent a few months at a time here each year. They mostly ate acorns ground with stone mortars.

The Ojai Valley’s rich history as a crossroads of Chumash life was discovered years ago just below the surface. Tools, bowls, stone pipes and sometimes human remains are commonly discovered a few feet underground.

Artifacts were found when the town’s police station was being built, relics were discovered along Ventura Avenue during a sanitation district project and burial relics were located in Soule Park, Tumamait said.

“This whole valley is an archeological site,” said Tumamait, who has worked since 1991 as a construction site monitor. “This site is pretty significant. It rates about an 8 or 9 for what I have found in the past.”

Why the remains were cremated is a mystery. Archeologists say the Chumash were usually buried facing west to watch the setting sun.

“It’s unusual--most bodies are found intact,” said Tumamait, who has found human remains near Thomas Aquinas College between Santa Paula and Ojai, in Malibu and in Saticoy. “This area looks like a village encampment site.”

Along with other cities, Ojai usually requires a Native American monitor and an archeologist to be present on any city building project in case artifacts are found.

The two follow the backhoes and front loaders tearing up the ground and painstakingly search through dirt piles for signs of the past.

Smith, the site superintendent, said that working this way takes about three times longer than traditional building methods.

Tumamait said the most important artifacts will be put in a display case on the property when the project is finished. Everything else will be taken somewhere where it won’t be disturbed, and be buried.

He recalled an incident years ago when a woman brought some Chumash bones to his father for reburial. After taking the remains to a remote site, Tumamait and his father drove away.

“In leaving the area, a large buzzard flew down from the top of the canyon, swooping right over us,” he said. “Hopefully, it was a sign that the person was finally at peace.”