The work was sponsored by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), as part of the environmental study for a realignment of SR 49 to improve public safety. Unfortunately that work required the removal of portions of an archaeological site – the Poppy Hills Site – that had first been recorded in 1991. Working for ten straight days in temperatures over 100° the archaeologists from Far Western hand-dug 30 cubic meters (almost 100 cubic feet) of soil and found evidence of nearly 9,000 years of human history.