Los Osos Back Bay is a prehistoric Chumash archaeological site in the Los Osos Valley, near the coast in

San Luis Obispo County, California San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282, ...

. These ancient Californian Native Americans had a significant settlement, now named "Los Osos Back Bay," on a stabilized

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

.C. Michael Hogan. 2008
, ''Los Osos Back Bay'', Megalithic Portal, editor A. Burnham
/ref> It is to the west of the Elfin Forest Natural Area, which has another

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

within it. Los Osos Back Bay is also the present day name for the southernmost part of the Morro Bay estuary, known by the locals as "the back bay". It is where the native Chumash at the eponymous archaeological site gathered marine resources, as coastal tribes along this part of the California coast regularly did.C. Rick Torben and Jon M.Erlandson. 2000. ''Early Holocene Fishing Strategies on the California Coast: Evidence from CA-SBA-2057'', Journal Arch. Sci. 27

References

Archaeological sites in California Chumash Morro Bay History of San Luis Obispo County, California Native American history of California {{SanLuisObispoCountyCA-geo-stub

See also

References