The Cronin Point Site (
Smithsonian trinomial
A Smithsonian trinomial (formally the Smithsonian Institution Trinomial System, abbreviated SITS) is a unique identifier assigned to archaeological sites in many states in the United States. They are composed of one or two digits coding for the sta ...
: 35TI4) is an
archeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
located in
Nehalem Bay State Park near
Manzanita
Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus ''Arctostaphylos''. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from Southern British Columbia and Washington to Or ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, United States, that was occupied probably between 1600 and 1800
CE. The site is characterized by a significant quantity of burned, fire-cracked rock, indicating the presence of hearths and other cultural activities associated with occupation and a possible
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
site. Artifacts in the site include stone flaking debris, and a smaller number of projectile points, glass pieces, bone pieces, and shell fragments. Notably, the site also includes shards of
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
ceramicware, datable by their design to ''ca.'' 1550–1680 CE, which link the Cronin Point Site to the Nehalem
Beeswax Shipwreck
The Beeswax Wreck is a shipwreck off the coast of the U.S. state of Oregon, discovered by Craig Andes near Cape Falcon in 2013 in Tillamook County. The ship, thought to be the Spanish Manila galleon ''Santo Cristo de Burgos'' that was wrecked in ...
. The site spans both submerged and exposed areas;
auger-based studies suggest that occupation of the site ended abruptly, likely when the land it rests on
subsided due to a large earthquake.
[.]
Further study of the Cronin Point Site has potential to yield information related to the "protohistoric" period of sporadic contact between Native Americans and Europeans, prior to the intensive interactions of cross-continental trade and emigration. It may also shed light of the impact of seismic events on the peoples and environments of the Oregon Coast. Other potential research questions relate to environmental change in the Oregon Coast region, settlement and subsistence patterns, emergence of ethnographic patterns among coastal people, changes in cultural patterns around contact with European Americans, and other topics.
[.]
The Cronin Point Site was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2001.
[.]
See also
*
Notes
References
National Register of Historic Places in Tillamook County, Oregon
Native American Archeological Sites of the Oregon Coast MPS
{{Oregon-NRHP-stub