E. Breck Parkman

Archaeology of Northern California

Over the past year, Mr. Parkman has continued his research into the meaning and antiquity of western North American rock art. Special attention has been given to the relationship of rock art to sacred geography in the ethnographic Pomo territory. His preliminary findings were published in a paper entitled, "Community and Wilderness in Pomo Ideology," Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 16(1): 13-40 (1994). Several other of his papers were published on rock art studies, including "Lungumari Puntilla: A Cupule Petroglyph Occurrence on the South Coast of Peru," American Indian Rock Art 20: 35-44 (1994); "The Canadian Ribstone Petroglyphs," Coyote Press Archives of California Prehistory 41: 1-52 (1995). Mr. Parkman's research was conducted in part through a 1994 grant from the California Association of Professional Scientists.

Mr. Parkman directs an archaeological survey of Ritchie Creek, located in Napa Valley, California. To date, 16 archaeological sites have been recorded, dating to Middle and Late Period occupations. Several important petroglyph boulders have been recorded as well.

He is also working with the local Native Californians to erect a memorial at Mission San Francisco Solano (Sonoma Mission), honoring the 896 Native people buried in the mission's unmarked cemetery. The names of the deceased are being retrieved from the mission records, and will be engraved on a stone wall not unlike the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. A grant for project research was received from the Sonoma State Historic Park Association.

Mr. Parkman served as Program Chair of the Society for California Archaeology's (SCA) 1995 Annual Meeting, held in Eureka, California, April 5-9. The meeting was attended by over 600 delegates, and more than 200 papers were presented. Mr. Parkman was presented a Certificate of Commendation by the SCA for his part in organizing the meeting.

Mr. Parkman was also elected president-elect of the SCA. In this capacity, he has begun to formulate projects that will address the role of California archaeology in the 21st century. He is especially interested in the relationships which exist between archaeologists and Native Californians, archaeologists and the public, and academic and applied archaeologists.