Contra Costa County, More than 7 feet tall

(This article is from a document reader and is unedited)

IMPORTANT HISTORICAL
FIND CALIFORNIA,
Dlgaar Indians C;’sid Pottary Tall
Skeleton Ur.ec.-thcd- .
Ethnologists will be Interested In n
discovery inado by Assistant Curator
wiiuam Aitnianu or Golden Gato Park
Memorial museum namely, tho fact
hitherto denied that tho Digger Indians
of California wero acnunlnted nt
least with tho rudiments of pottery
making. Until now no pottery of Digger
Indian manufacture has ever been
found, says Altmann, and thereforo
ho highly values the find he made in
nn Indian burial mound at Concord,
in Contrn Costa county.
From nn excavation mnde by workmen
in the employ of tho Port Costa
Water company have been found a
largo number of Indian relics of great
ago, including tho specimens of crude
pottery already mentioned and the
skeleton of nn Indian giant more tluin
seven feot tall Tho skeleton Is in possession
of Dr. Neff of Concord, who Is
mounting it for exhibition. Tho pottery
speclmons consist of charm stones
of baked clay of splndlo shnpe mid
pierced so that they may bo suspended
from tho neck by cords. In addition,
there are a large number of knives
and arrowheads of obsidian, or c
glass, which is extremely rare
In this part of tho state, and leads to
tho belief that they wero brought
down by Shasta or Modoc Indians and
traded for other things with tho Diggers
of Contra Costa.
A striking peculiarity about theso
arrowheads Is their shape nnd pattern.
They aro notched in a very
painstaking wny with Jagged division
and resemble very much some of the
weapons of Filipino savages. A stone
mortar and several phallic pestles
carved with conslderablo skill and precision,
stone sinkers for fishing nnd
artistic pipes made of soapstone. together
with a quantity of wampum,
aro among the souvenirs secured by
Assistant Curator Altmann, tho donor
being Joseph nittman of Concord.
Tho mound from which these relics
were taken Is close to tho railroad
depot at Concord. The work of excavation
Is still going on, and more Interesting
finds aro looked for.

1. The citizen., July 28, 1911, Page PAGE 3, Image 3
2. About The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914 Bridlevale Falls
3. Turner County Herald, 1911.