Artifact found by volunteer

Alicia Robinson

A Native American artifact found at Crystal Cove State Park has given

parks officials hope that a new historical treasure trove has been

found. But the search for more artifacts will be a wet one.

The California Department of Parks and Recreation announced on

Wednesday that a volunteer diver working on kelp restoration for

Orange County CoastKeeper found a stone pestle in the underwater

park.

The pestle, found near Reef Point in February, is probably an

artifact of native peoples known as Juanenos, Crystal Cove State Park

Supt. Ken Kramer said.

While several artifacts have been found in the area on land, the

pestle is the first to be found underwater at the park. State parks

officials are not surprised by the find because the park is a

historic site, Kramer said.

“We’ve been waiting for 30 years to see whether we had submerged

cultural artifacts in our underwater park, and lo and behold -- we

do,” Kramer said. “So, it’s an exciting discovery.”

He said the pestle could have gotten underwater in one of three

ways: it fell from a tipped canoe and sank to the reef, the water

level rose and covered the site where it was found, or -- the most

likely explanation -- it was washed into the sea by erosion.

The find was a surprise to Frank Farmer, the diver who found the

pestle in mid-February.

“I wasn’t expecting to find anything because our job out there is

really to replant the kelp and remove the sea urchins that are

devouring it,” said Farmer, a longtime archeological diver.

In the next few weeks a state park dive team will search for more

underwater relics, Kramer said. The pestle may later be displayed in

the park’s new visitor center, which will be built as part of a

$13-million project to restore the park’s cottages and grounds.

Education is a big part of the park’s mission and historic

artifacts fit right in with that, said Laura Davick, president of the

Crystal Cove Alliance, a nonprofit group that supports restoration of

the historic park.

“It just further proves that Crystal Cove is such a historic,

cultural and natural resource,” Davick said.

Farmer was excited about the find and wants to look for more such

historic artifacts.

“What I’d like to do is go back and find the mortar,” he said.

Kramer reminded people who visit the park not to disturb any

artifacts they might find either on land or underwater and to tell

park officials when they find historic objects.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.