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MAY-14-1992 17:12 FROM Mills Associates TO San Joaquin Co P.02 BUCKEYE RANCH ( 4-1-92 ) 2 major archaeological site. Present were human , animal and bird bones , baked clay, two species of freshwater mussel , obsidian and a variety of other lithic materials . Based on the placement of these sites by their original recorders ( Schenck and Dawson 19291 this deposit is probably the location of tribelet center c I It is now clear that the major component of Mills and Associates "RIVER SITE" is outside the boundaries of the Buckeye Ranch oroiect . The midden deaosit within the probably that of _ and it is in the approximate location given by Schenck ana ijawson ( 1929) . This site was not' dug into by Dawson because he did not consider it to be as large, deep and as likely to contain human remains compared to This means that the location of the important riains MiwoX tribelet center of "SEUA..MNE" is for the most part not within the project . The record for the "RIVER SITE" . which was supplied to San Joaquin County by the archaeological consultants associated with Mills and Associates . does not meet the standards of the State Historic Preservation Office and contain numerous errors , including but not limited to locational information. The record supplied to San Joaquin County for the "LAKE SITE" also includes numerous errors in locational information . In recent years many archaeological resources have often been lumped. The normal procedure is to assign each specific location of activity a locus designation so that the various aspects of the site can be specifically recorded . The consulting archaeologists in combing several deposits that had originally been defined as separate entities have obscured rather than clarified the nature of the cultural resources at the proposed "LAKE SIT£" . When Dawson visited the project location in the 1920s he saw it before much of the subsequent levellin was accomplished. He identified several discrete sites that gad definable elevations and boundaries and in the case of . ( "RIVER SITE" ) he excavated at them and treatea each deposit as separate entities . In addition . however, there is no indication on the maps on pages 5 through 7 of the site record ( included in the Phase I Study as part of attachment C) of where, if any of the midden deposits associated with this site are located. Also no indicrtion is given on the site records in ' regard to specifically where Don Mcgeein excavated, even thodgh he spent time in the field with the investigators . While there are many well defined structural depressions at some of the Tracy Lake "SITES" the number shown on the site record is far from accurate. On the maps 45 "house floors" are depicted with black circles which apparently represent the approximate size of the structural depressions ( though they are not drawn to scale ) . Several depressions observed by this reviewer that might be archaeological features are not shown on their maps while many of their identified "house floors" do not appear to be structural remains . In the field structures are generally identified by the presence of depressions that are definable and whose depth and diameter can be measured. It only takes a few minutes to record this information and every field archaeologist usually has a 30 meter or longer tape and a two to three meter measuring device as wel'1 , making this a standard measurement that should and is usually taken and included in the site data base . This is ' particularly important information to gather since so few house . pits still exist in Central California. It is also interesting 11