In 1997 the Conservancy purchased the 40-acre Ghost Dance preserve in the Sacramento Valley near Redding, California. It includes seventeen round pit house depressions that measure from 10 to 25 feet in diameter. These depressions are adjacent to another larger and deepter rectangular structure, something that is nearly unheard of in California archaeology. The midden deposit is at least three feet deep and extends more than 300 feet from the center. Petroglyphs within a rock shelter provide additional clues to the site’s history, which archaeologists believe extends from 2000 B.C. to the 1880s.
Although researchers have excavated only a tiny percentage of the site, artifacts indicate a long and stable occupation and paint an interesting picture of the people who lived here. In 1972, S. Edward Clewett directed Shasta College excavations on Ghost Dance and other nearby sites. They discovered Spanish, French, Mexican, and Chinese coins, as well as fishhooks, glass, metal, and porcelain buttons, trade beads, obsidian, projectile points, a paint palette, and harpoon points. They even found two delicate projectile points crafted from bottle glass.
Retired State Archaeologist Francis Riddell identified the large rectangular structure as a likely dance floor of the Earth Lodge or Ghost Dance cults. These movements peaked between 1870 and the turn of the century. These closely related cults believed their ceremonies would return traditional lands to native people. Riddell studied similar structures in the Clearlake area of Northern California that are historically documented as ritual centers. According to Riddell, the Earth Lodge cult dug deep, sometimes two-tiered structures for their rituals.
American Archaeology magazine, Vol 1 No 4 (Winter 1997-98), shares the acquisition story of this interesting site.
