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An Aboriginal Hematite Quarry in Oakland, California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

William J. Wallace
William J. Wallace*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, CaliforniaDecember, 1946
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Extract

At the junction of Redwood Road and Mountain Boulevard in Oakland, California is an outcrop of rock containing hematite which shows signs of having been worked aboriginally. The exposed stratum measures 30 by 20 feet by 6.5 feet at its highest point. Hematite occurs in almost pure form as thin layers in the main body of rock.

Sizeable cavities can be seen at the base of the deposit, indicating where the hematite was chipped out. Fire may have been used as an aid in getting out the ore, this being suggested by the presence of charcoal and smoke blackening. No quarrying tools were found.

Type
Facts and Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , April 1947 , pp. 272 - 273
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1947

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References

1 Max Uhle, “The Emeryville Shellmound,” University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 7, No. 1, Berkeley, 1907; Egbert Schenck, “The Emeryville Shellmound, Final Report,“Idem., Vol.23, No. 3, Berkeley, 1926;N. C.Nelson,“The Ellis Landing Shellmound,” Idem., Vol. 7, No. 5, Berkeley, 1910.

2 R. F. Heizer and A. E. Treganza, “Mines and Quarries of the Indians of California,” California Journal of Mines and Geology, July, 1944, pp. 291–359.