The artifacts, animal remains, and other kinds of information excavated from an archaeological site are used to answer the research questions.
What were the people doing here?
Because of the many human burials at the site, as well as the very large numbers of animal bones, we believe that CA-SAC-43 was a fairly permanent residential village, rather than a seasonal or temporary camp. From studying the artifacts from the site, we know that the people were making and repairing tools of stone, bone, and baked clay. They were using these tools to collect and prepare various things: stone spear or arrow points for hunting game; handstones and milling slabs for grinding seeds; baked clay net weights for the capture of water-birds; bone hooks for fishing; sharp-edged scraping tools for processing animal hides or plant fibers to use, perhaps, as clothing. They also were eating the foods they had prepared, and discarding many of the bones and other refuse on the site. And when someone in the village died, their family and friends prepared the body, gathered together special offerings, and held a funeral. In other words, the people of this prehistoric village did many of the same things we do in our towns and cities today.
How did the people use their natural environment?
What were they eating?
These people lived in an environment rich with plant and animal foods, and many other resources. Until about 100 years ago, the general area around the site included riparian forests, seasonal wetlands, oak woodlands, and open savannah. This variety of habitats is reflected in the amazing assortment of animal bones and plant remains in the CA-SAC-43 collection: 21 different species of birds, mostly ducks and coots; 21 kinds of mammals, including large numbers of deer, elk, antelope, and rabbits; 12 species of fish, of which chub, perch, and blackfish were the most common; and many kinds of plants, including acorns, grass seeds, bulbs, clover, wild cucumber, blackberries, and manzanita berries. The Brazil Site occupants also ate shellfish, but apparently in very small amounts. One important thing we have learned from these studies is that anadromous fish (especially salmon and steelhead) may have been less important - and local, still-water species more important - to the prehistoric occupants of the lower Sacramento Valley/Delta than we once thought.
Were some of the people living at the site wealthier, or have more social status, than others?
The Brazil Site collection included several items that must have been brought there from other areas. These imported goods (obsidian, marine shell for beads and ornaments, charmstones, quartz crystals, red ochre) would have been more costly than things that could be found locally, because of the time and energy used to transport them. Many of
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