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Yucca roasting sites may in fact have been sited further away from camp sites to prevent depletion of
wood fuel supplies reserved for regular household tasks (Earle et al. 1995).
Date ranges for thermal cooking features in the central Transverse Mountain Ranges run from the
Post-Pleistocene (Lake Mohave/ San Dieguito, 7000+ B.P.) to Protohistoric periods, with the large
majority falling in the younger range of the spectrum within Tataviam regions, from about 2300 to 200
B.P. (McIntyre 1986; Milburn 2004). In particular, unpatterned stone-lined variants appear to conform to
a Middle to Late period context, represented by LAN-1166, in the Rowher Flats vicinity dated to 2000 ±
100 B.P., and LAN-2119, in the Liebre Gulch vicinity dated to 600 ± 50 B.P. (Milburn 1998b; Strudwick
and Sturm 1996; Wessel and McIntyre 1990).

THE INVESTIGATION
The objectives for the archaeological investigation in response to the Day Fire suppression
damage at LAN-2464 were to 1) expose the archaeological deposit to determine the extent of damage; 2)
internally stabilize disturbed deposits to reduce damage from future ground disturbing activities; and 3)
salvage and analyze displaced artifactual/ecofactual materials.
Initial post-damage assessment of the site identified the spread of the FAR over a 4-m-diameter
area, at indeterminate depth. Personnel subsequently implemented a shallow surface exposure of the site
to identify the limits of the damage as well as identify the volume of displaced site material. The exposure
uncovered approximately half of the feature, in a six-unit staged grid (Figure 5). The units (standard 1
2
m ), designated Unit 1 through Unit 6, were set up on an east-west magnetic axis (roughly corresponding
with the local orientation of the long axis of the saddle landform), and placed in a portion of the impacted
FAR matrix that surficially appeared central to the feature.
Initial Unit 1 exposure led to the discovery of the feature margin in the southeast, manifested as a
near-surface concentration of the stratigraphic parent material, which sloped downward as the basal
surface of the feature. Unit 1 consisted entirely of a matrix of small FAR (6 to 10 cm in diameter) and
ashy soil, reaching an average depth of approximately 18 cm, with a maximum of 24 cm in the northeast.
Unit 2 was exposed following the contours established in Unit 1. The top of the FAR matrix
(cobbles ranging from 5 to 20 cm in diameter), was a relatively uniform layer, overlying a continuation of
the basal material in Unit 1. The surface undulates in Unit 2, ramping up to the north-northeast.
Unit 3 was placed directly north of Unit 2 to find the opposite margin from Unit 1 (because the
basal surface trended shallow at that side). The FAR-ashy matrix was similar, but the underlying basal
surface in the unit appeared more thermally altered. The center and north of the unit was dominated by a
concentrated circular feature, characterized by an inset accumulation of large (approximately 20 cm+
diameter) rocks, immediately on the basal stratum. The feature extended into the unit walls, and Units 4
and 5 were opened to the west and north in order to trace its extent.
The western two-thirds of Unit 4 indicated the edge of the oven. The eastern one-third was
covered in the FAR matrix to approximately 10 cm. Beneath that level lay the central feature, represented
by the larger rocks with apparent underlying basal material. In the eastern margin of Unit 4 and western
margin of Unit 3, the deep concavity in the center of the rocks sank to approximately 40 cm.
Unit 5 was largely composed of displaced road fill material. In fact, the parent material
dominated the northern three-quarters of the unit, which bottomed out at less than 10 cm. The southern
one-quarter of the unit contained the margin of both the earth oven and the central feature (to a depth of
approximately 15 cm).
Unit 6 was placed directly east of Unit 1, in order to determine the full diameter of the entire oven
feature. The basal surface descended from near-surface to almost 20 cm deep in the northwest, providing
a good margin for the feature.
In the mechanically spread dark matrix outside the units, trowel scrapes determined the areal
extent of the remainder of the feature. The scrapes were markedly discernible as far as presence or

SCA Proceedings, Volume 22 (2009) Vance, p. 7