Significance Evaluations for Three Cultural Resources on the Ditz-Crane Mission Creek Property, Riverside County, California

Limited archaeological testing and archival research was conducted on three cultural resources located along Mission Creek in Riverside County, California. All three resources are located on land formerly belonging to the Mission Creek Indian Reservation. Two of the resources, the Kitchen/Thomas settlement complex and a subterranean stone structure, were occupied by former residents of the reservation during the early portion of the twentieth century. The third resource, CA-RIV-269, consists of six discontinuous midden areas, an Indian Historic Cemetery, three bedrock mortar complexes, two rock wall features, two rock pile features, and numerous isolated grinding slicks. The site encompasses an area of about 30,000 square miles located adjacent to Mission Creek. Five of the midden areas date to the Late Prehistoric Period, and the sixth midden area and the cemetery probably date to the late nineteenth century.

The two historic resources were deemed ineligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places largely because previous work had not established an adequate context from which to argue that these properties as opposed to other contemporaneous properties on the Project Area should be the only ones evaluated. Instead of recommending an indeterminate status and therefore more work at these specific properties, an alternative mitigative approach was developed that calls for an in-depth archival study of the Mission Creek Indian Reservation to be complemented by additional testing at the Kitchen/Thomas settlement complex.

Site CA-RIV-269 was determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. A mitigative plan was developed which combined aspects of avoidance and protection with sample data recovery and capping. Specifically, it was recommended that the Indian Historic Cemetery be avoided and protected. If this is not feasible, complete excavation of the burial features and reburial of all human remains at Morongo Indian Reservation was advised. A 2% sampling approach, focused on excavating cultural features, was recommended for each midden area. Data recovery at the middens should be followed by capping the resources prior to development.

针对加利福尼亚州河滨县传教溪沿岸的三处文化遗存开展了有限的考古勘查与档案考证。三处遗存均坐落于原属传教溪印第安保留地的土地之上。其中两处遗存——Kitchen/Thomas定居点复合体与一处地下石构建筑——于20世纪早期为该保留地前原住民所使用。第三处遗存CA-RIV-269包含六处不连续的贝丘遗址、一处印第安历史墓地、三处基岩磨盘复合体、两处石墙遗迹、两处石堆遗迹，以及大量孤立的研磨光面。该遗址毗邻传教溪，占地面积约3万平方英里。其中五处贝丘遗址年代属于史前晚期，第六处贝丘遗址与该墓地的年代则大致为19世纪晚期。

该两处历史遗存被认定不符合《国家历史遗迹名录（National Register of Historic Places）》收录标准，主要原因是此前的研究未能建立足够的研究语境，无法证明本项目区域内的该两处遗存相较于其他同期遗存，应作为唯一的评估对象。研究团队未建议将该两处遗存的资质认定为待定状态并因此开展更多针对性工作，而是提出了替代性文物保护缓解方案：对传教溪印第安保留地开展深入的档案考证，并辅以针对Kitchen/Thomas定居点复合体的补充勘查。

CA-RIV-269遗址被认定符合《国家历史遗迹名录（National Register of Historic Places）》收录标准。研究团队制定了一套结合避让保护、样本数据采集与覆土封存的文物保护缓解方案。其中明确建议对该印第安历史墓地采取避让与保护措施。若该方案不可行，则需对墓葬遗存进行全面发掘，并将所有出土人骨迁葬至莫龙戈印第安保留地。针对每处贝丘遗址，研究建议采用2%的抽样发掘方案，重点发掘文化遗存。贝丘遗址的考古数据采集工作完成后，需在开发前对该类文化遗存进行覆土封存。