A drought around 600-700 years ago may have made CA-SAC-43 a less desirable place to live.

 the imported goods from the Brazil Site were found with the burials, so it may be that these items had religious value, as well. And because some burials had large numbers of these items, while others had none, we believe that some of the inhabitants of the site were of higher social status, and perhaps wealthier, than others.

Did the people trade with their neighbors for these exotic goods?
Did these trade relationships change over time?

By looking at the obsidian sourcing and hydration6 results from the Brazil Site study, archaeologists know that the people living at the site got nearly all of their obsidian from the Napa Valley to the west, with only a small amount coming from east of the Sierra Nevada. We also know that this was true for the entire span of time that people lived in the village. We assume, then, that the people were on good terms with their neighbors to the west, who either traded with them for Napa Valley obsidian, and probably other goods, as well, or allowed them to travel through their territories to get the obsidian themselves.

Why was the site abandoned?

Why did the people abandon the site? And where did they go? We do have some theories: we know, for instance, that some parts of the neighboring Sierra Nevada mountains suffered a major drought around 700 years ago. It may be that the drought also affected the Central Valley, including the area around CA-SAC-43. With less water in the river and sloughs (and fewer of the fish, birds, plants, and mammals that depended on that water) the prehistoric inhabitants of the Brazil Mound may have been forced to move to a more hospitable location.

It is equally possible that the people left the site because they had used up many of the local resources - maybe they had cut all the available fire wood, or collected all the mussels - and moved up or down the river to a better spot, giving the plants and animals around their old village time to rejuvenate. In fact, we know of several sites nearby that were occupied very late in time, and it may be that the people from the Brazil Mound moved to such a location. The prehistoric population of Central California probably made these kinds of temporary moves every few years, so that they actually had several "permanent" villages.

The answers to these questions have given archaeologists a better understanding of prehistoric life in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region, and throughout Central California. Each new bit of information is like another piece of the jigsaw puzzle: the more pieces we find,

6 - Refer to the section on Dating an Archaeological Site.


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