Artifacts found near Fall City

Published 2:40 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

FALL CITY _ When construction crews set out to build a soccer field

in Fall City last month their plans were quickly ditched after artifacts

were found in the churned-up dirt.

Work began at the county-owned Fall City Community Park near

State Route 203 and Neal Road on June 5. The Snoqualmie Valley Youth

Soccer Association received a $50,000 grant from King County that would

have allowed them to build a new soccer field at the park.

The grant was part of the county’s Youth Sports Facilities Grant

program. The county provided the land and monetary resources and the

soccer association hired the construction workers.

After three days of construction, however, the project was halted

because crews uncovered ancient remains in the soil.

Butch Lovelace, of the King County Parks Department,

confirmed that “basic archaeological

material” was discovered at the site and they found “evidence that there was

Native American presence” in the area. But he would not comment further on

the types of material found at the park.

The Snoqualmie Tribe also refused to comment, as well as

officials from the Snoqualmie Valley Youth Soccer Association and Northwest

Archeological Associates, the firm hired by the soccer association.

Now the representatives of the different groups are trying to map out

a plan of action and are scheduled to meet this week after the Valley

Record goes to press.

“We will discuss what the next step will be … but no decision will be

made at that meeting. It will be a starting point,” Lovelace said, adding that it

is uncertain whether the area will be excavated, covered or an option in

between.

The officials have been keeping the latest discovery a secret, they say,

to minimize the chances of vandalism or looting at the site. Last Friday, a

chain-link fence was constructed around the perimeter of the area to keep

intruders out, and members of the Snoqualmie Tribe have set up a

24-hour watch over the site.

According to Washington law, if anyone is caught removing,

altering or excavating any materials from the location, they could face up to

five years in jail and/or a $10,000 fine.

Though officials have not released much information about the

artifacts, the area isn’t new to archaeologists. Historically the land was an

“important habitation site of the Snoqualmie Indians and the location of

the longhouse of Chief Sanawa, a leader among the upper Snoqualmie

people at the time of the signing of the Point Elliot Treaty,” according to a

historical section found in the Tollgate Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Another ancient Snoqualmie site was uncovered two years ago

at Seattle’s Tolt Filtration Plant near Duvall. Archaeologists from

BOAS Inc. excavated the area for about six months and recovered more

than 20,000 stone artifacts. It was determined that the Snoqualmies

probably used the 3,000- to 7,000-year-old site as a tool-making area.

The BOAS archaeologists used the opportunity to teach Chief

Kanim Middle School students about archaeology and the history of the Tribe.

In the mid 1980s, an archaeologist tested the site and probably

decided not to go through the costly process of excavation, said Charlie

Sundberg, the preservation planner for the county’s Landmark and Heritage

Program.

“If there’s no pressing need to excavate, it’s best to stabilize the site

and leave it alone and be aware of it,” he said. “Testing may reveal some of

the nature of the site and may provide useful information, if not all the

[needed] information.”

The soccer field project was not supposed to disturb the artifacts

that were just beneath the surface. Sundberg said that it was a case

of miscommunication between the soccer association, county, contractor

and archaeologist that led to the latest incident.

“The assumption was that the removal of vegetation wouldn’t

disturb the site,” he said. “Some of the

archaeological materials were closer to the surface and the excavation

went down a little farther [than planned].”

“So it was a case that everyone had good intentions, but they got

some wires crossed,” Sundberg added.