Update:

Oakland City Council's contract with redevelopers requires focused community review of archaeological sensitivity study and treatment plan

Inact archaeological remains of this area's Chinese pioneers are extremely likely to exist within the area of the Uptown redevelopment project. [Sources: City's Environmental Impact Report; historical archaeologist's letter]

If properly excavated, these remains could tell us much about the day-to-day lifestyle of the Chinese. For example, recently unearthed remains of San Jose's Woolen Mills Chinatown dispel stereotypes of the Chinese as unsanitary. In fact, excavations there revealed the Chinese built an extensive, state-of-the-art sewer system at their own expense. (This was at a time when many affluent Anglo Americans in Oakland were still dumping their sewage directly into Lake Merritt!)

Experience shows us it matters what methods archaeological contractors use to look for these remains. For example, when contractors tested for archaeology at the site of the City Administration Building, they used soil bores (or "augering") to check for the presence of archaeological remains. The augering tests led them to predict there would be no historic archaeology. But they got a false negative. During the construction they were instead surprised with finding multiple intact archaeological deposits. They found themselves too late in the process to do anything but watch construction excavation and collect a few artifacts. Their report concluded soil bores were an inadequate method of testing for the presence or absence of archaeological remains in in this area. This was just a couple blocks south of the Uptown Project. [Sources]

It's important also to avoid investigating methods likely to destroy the archaeology as it finds it. Previous excavations in Oakland show there's no deep layers covering our historic archaeology. Backhoe trenching might discover the archaeology, but only as it's ripping up and scattering most all the information value.

The right mechanical tools can help save time and investigate a site properly. The photo below illustrates how the Anthropological Studies Center of Sonoma State University kept work moving quickly and professionally over a 35-block area with no project delays: An archaeologist works with an earthmover operator using a smooth blade to uncover archaeological deposits, which another archaeologist hand investigates to determine their information potential. This example is from Oakland.

The Chinese Historical Society of America has prepared a set of procedures the City should adopt for the treatment of the archaeological and standing historic resources. Please take a look (pdf format) and join us in lobbying the City Council in June 2004 to ensure important archaeological remains are not destroyed in the excavation process.

We ask the City Council in their Development Agreement require the developer to

1. Eliminate backhoe trenching or auguring as investigation methods. Such methods might irreparably damage or destroy legally important archaeological resources.
   
   
2. Retain the services of a qualified archaeological consultant team having expertise in all of the following:
   
   (a) Completing archaeological mitigation projects—from initial sensitivity study through final reporting—in urban settings
   
   (b) Excavating, analyzing, and reporting on nineteenth-century Chinese and/or Chinese American settlements
   
   (c) Conducting controlled excavations of, analyzing, and reporting on nineteenth and early twentieth century sites in Oakland or a comparable setting
   
   
3. Allow the local Chinese American community to review and comment on the archaeological sensitivity study and treatment plan, as the developer of the adjacent Thomas L. Berkley Square site has done.
   
   
4. Include the funding and the placement of a commemorative plaque at the actual site of the historic Chinese settlement, and additional informational signage in the Project Area’s public park as warranted by the archaeological results.
   
   
5. Include provisions for the Project to establish in one or more of the historic buildings of the City-defined 19th Street and San Pablo Commercial District an interpretative center for the Chinese settlements while also preserving historic architecture of the buildings.
   
   

We believe that preserving the Uptown Chinatown's archaeological remains is critical to recognizing Chinese American contributions to Oakland’s development.

Sources: Archaeological Resources Investigation for the Oakland Administration Building Project, Oakland, California. Report submitted to Environmental Science Associates, Inc. Prepared by Jan M. Hupman and David Chavez, June 1994. NWIC Report Number S-16863.
Basin Research Associates Report to Jack Young, City of Oakland Project Manager for City Administration Building - Project L74021. Prepared by Colin I. Busby, April 22, 1996. NWIC Report Number S-18536.