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Threatened Cogged Stone Site

More houses, more cars, more noise…..

While success has been achieved in preserving the wetlands and portions of the Bolsa Chica mesa, there are eleven acres at on the Bolsa Chica Mesa which remain threatened by plans to develop. They are located in the northwest area of Bolsa Chica next to Wintersburg channel. The property owners have submitted plans to build housing/condominium projects on the site. This development, if allowed to proceed, would destroy the remaining acres of the Cogged Stone Site forever

Powerful Statements of Support:

"The Cogged Stone site holds great cultural and religious significance to our tribe. We do not have many sacred sites left, due to the destruction of the California Coast."
~ Anthony Morales, Tribal Chairman of the Gabrieleno/Tongva

"I am now convinced that every effort should be made to preserve as much of the site as possible because of the site’s unique characteristics and the clear importance it had in the ancient history of California."
~ J. Daniel Rogers, Ph.D., Curator of North American Archaeology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

"The Cogged Stone site is totally unique and internationally extremely important and that is why it must be saved before it is destroyed."
~ Brian Fagan, Distinguished Author, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology University California Santa Barbara

The Bolsa Chica Legacy Campaign is dedicated to preservation of the Cogged Stone site from further development. In this way the remaining artifacts can be left undisturbed and the site can serve as an area that honors the memory of the first families who made Bolsa Chica their home.

Why it is important to preserve the Cogged Stone Site at Bolsa Chica

• In July 2009, the National Registry of Historic Places elevated this site to the eligible list of National Historic sites.
  
  
• From Ventura County to the Mexican boarder, the Cogged Stone site is the largest documented prehistoric coastal site identified to date as eligible for listing on the National Register.
  
  
• State Historic Preservation commission meeting in 2001, the Commission voted unanimously to have ORA 83 designated as a State Historic Site.
  
  
• It is all that remains of the 9,000 year old village, cemetery, and ceremonial site that is the oldest prehistoric village in Orange County
  
  
• To date, over 178 human bone concentrations representing an unknown number of individuals, over 100,000 artifacts, semi-subterranean house pits, and numerous cogged stones have been excavated.
  
  
• The site was the manufacturing and distribution center for the cogged stones which played an important part in prehistoric California Indian religion.
  
  
• Over 500 of the cogged stones were found within the area of the village site.
  
  
• The Cogged stone site may contain evidence for a connection between the prehistoric peoples of northern Chile where the only cogged stones outside of California have been found.
  
  
• As the remaining intact cultural deposit representing this ancient village and cemetery, it should be preserved as a historic park honoring the first families, the California Indians.
  
  
• The descendants of the tribelets known as the Gabrielino/Tongva and Juaneno/Acjachemem consider this site to be the place of their ancestors and a sacred ceremonial site.
  
  
• Archaeological sites are fragile and non-renewable. Archaeology is a destructive process. It is essential that a “witness area” of this highly significant archaeological site be preserved for future generations with advanced archaeological techniques that can provide answers to the questions we cannot answer with today’s technology and that is non-destructive.