Bay Area Cultural Landscape Research Group

The specific goal of this phase of the BACLRG study is to add to the inventory of ancestral Native American and historic era land-use patterns in the foothills and upland zones of the central Santa Cruz Mountains. Survey uses mixed methods of GIS predictive modeling techniques with targeted field surveys, to include remote sensing data acquisition using geophysics (ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry); drone imaging of thermal and LiDAR; low-impact testing using augering and test units; and archival research to situate these sites within a broader cultural and historic context. The current study area at Hawthorns Ranch will augment ongoing BACLRG regional archaeological investigations. An overarching goal of this and the other local research projects is to produce a summary report of findings describing the deep culture histories of human activities in the uplands of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is hoped that these findings will stimulate broader public interest in our cultural heritage while also providing understandings of the natural history of these culturally influenced landscapes.