Sacrifice, Litter, and Loss: The Archaeology of the Recent Past atop a Sacred Island in the Sky

Summary

Located in the eastern San Francisco Bay area, Mount Diablo (3,848’) rises from an otherwise almost featureless terrain, making it highly visible from much of central California. Because of its visibility, Diablo is a backdrop to ethnographic and contemporary mythologies. The view from the peak is considered one of the most spectacular and unhindered in the world. Easily accessible by vehicle, the summit is visited daily by hundreds of tourists, many whom throw coins and other objects from the observation deck located atop the Summit Museum, an activity that dates back at least fifty years. This paper examines the nature of the archaeological deposit found on the upper slopes of this mountain and uses the evidence to address the nature of intentional versus accidental deposit and to distinguish between the esoteric "sacrifice" of objects versus common litter. The discovery of vast numbers of coins and the remnants of human cremains on the upper slopes suggest that the summit evokes a strong response to the "Sacred" and is thus part of a world-wide tradition deeply rooted in Pagan times.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Intersection of Sacredness and Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage