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4 1 Cultural Resources 4.10 Cultural Resources 4.10.1 Introduction Regulatory Context " CEQA requires that public or private projects financed or approved by public agencies must assess the effects of the project on historical resources. Historical resources are defined as buildings, sites, structures, objects or districts, each of which may have historical,architectural, r archaeological,cultural,or scientific significance. CEQA requires that if a project results in an effect that may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of an historical resource, then alternative plans or mitigation measures must be considered; however, only significant historical resources need to be addressed. r Therefore, prior to the assessment of effects or the development of mitigation measures, the significance of cultural resources must first be determined. The steps that are normally taken in a ` cultural resources investigation for CEQA compliance are as follows: • Identify potential historical resources • Evaluate the eligibility of historical resources • Evaluate the effects of a project on all eligible historical resources 4.10.2 Setting Prehistory Although the Central Valley may have been inhabited by humans as early as 10,000 years ago, the evidence of early human use is likely buried by alluvial deposits that have accumulated during r the last several thousand years. Later periods are better understood because there is more representation in the archaeological record. Central California archaeology has been described as a series of patterns. Fredrickson (1973)defines a pattern as an essentially non-temporal, integrative cultural unit(the general life way shared by people within a given geographic region). Specifically three such patterns which overlap somewhat in adjoining areas are recognized for central California: the Windmiller,Berkeley, and Augustine Patterns. The Windmiller Pattern, which may represent the advent of early Penutian speaking populations, extends from approximately 4,500 to 3,000 BP. This pattern was focused primarily on the lower Central Valley and Delta regions, and reflects the influence of a lacustrine or marsh adaptation. This economic stance may have preadapted them for the environment of the lower Sacramento- San Joaquin Valley and Delta and may have entered the region with this adaptation more or less ` fully developed. The Berkeley Pattern extends roughly from 3,000 to 1,500 BP and became more widespread or at ` least more archaeologically visible than the antecedent complex. The Berkeley Pattern has a RMC Pacific Vernalis Quarry Mining and Reclamation Project 4.10-1 ESA/203015 Draft Environmental Impact Report May 2006 r