A Significant Archaeological Site - ORA-83
A literature overview obtained in the early 1990s from the Archaeological Information Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (AIC-UCLA) reveals that over 23 known archaeological sites are found within one mile of the Bolsa Chica lowland, on the mesas.

One of the most unique and significant archaeological sites in coastal Southern California lies within the Bolsa Chica. Known as ORA-83, this site contains evidence of an 8,000-year-old village site and burial ground on the grassland mesa, now proposed for a residential tract. It is the last remaining Early Holocene coastal village in Orange County, California.

At least 25 known burial sites are within ORA-83.  The precious nature of this site is even more profound with the loss of a second nearby site for construction of housing units.

Over 1,000 "cogged" stones have been found on the Bolsa Chica Mesa, possibly a manufacturing site of these mysterious artifacts.  Various theories about the religious or social use of the cogged stones abound. While cogged stones are found at other sites in the region, they are few.  No other site shows indications of cogged stone manufacture.  Pre historically, ORA-83 was situated near the mouth of the Santa Ana River and the beginning of a known natural transportation corridor that stretched into the Mojave Desert.  ORA-83 had a profound influence in the region and probably was the hub of a ritual interaction sphere.

Shell middens are scattered through-out the Bolsa Chica: testimony to the abundant seafood available to early inhabitants.  A series of radio-carbon assays indicate that the site was occupied from about 8,000 to 2,000 years ago. The shell middens can provide the information needed to trace environmental changes, and study the corresponding changes in natural resource exploitation by the early inhabitants of the Bolsa Chica.

Steatite, or soapstone artifacts have been found with burials, indicating trade with communities on Catalina Island where the steatite was mined.

"I am now convinced that every effort should be made to preserve as much of the
site as possible.ORA-83 is almost certainly the last remaining major coastal
habitation site between Los Angeles and San Diego.carefully consider what its
loss will mean to California and the Nation."

- J.Daniel Rogers, Ph.D. Head, Division of Archaeology, Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History