PORT ANGELES — Three archaeological reports written in the early 1990s for construction projects at the Port Angeles paper mill concluded that the site was within the immediate area of the ancient Klallam village of Tse-whit-zen.
The construction areas — at what is now the mill operated by Nippon Paper Industries USA — were west of the state Department of Transportation’s abandoned Marine Drive graving yard site.
Transportation shut down the graving yard project Dec. 21 after workers discovered hundreds of remains and thousands of artifacts from Tse-whit-zen and, in particular, remains from the village’s cemetery.
But the reports in the early 1990s also concluded that no significant archaeological discoveries were made during construction of the mill’s recycled-paper plant, electrical modernization project and chemical plant in 1991, and the mill warehouse building addition and sludge press building addition in 1992.
And a 1991 report says that the precise location of the Tse-whit-zen cemetery was unknown.
Larson Anthropological and Archaeological Services of Seattle wrote the reports in March 1991, June 1991 and February 1992.
Larson, under contract with Transportation last year, also retrieved remains and artifacts at the graving yard site until Transportation abandoned it at the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s request because of those discoveries.
Archaeological description
The description of the archaeological investigations in the 1990s Larson reports echo those described by Bainbridge Island-based Western Shore Heritage Services.
Western archaeologists also investigated the site in 2003 — before work on the graving yard began — and found no remains or artifacts, it told Transportation.
Like Western Shore, Larson dug along utility lines and other previously disturbed areas — but not underneath concrete and asphalt, where Tse-whit-zen remains and artifacts were later discovered.
Larson’s early 1990s reports are on file in the Port Angeles Library’s reference section and were retrieved by Peninsula Daily News on Saturday.
A distribution list for the June 1991 report includes both the Port Angeles and Seattle offices of Daishowa America (which since has been acquired by Nippon Paper Industries USA), the state Shoreline Hearings Board, Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, city of Port Angeles, the state Archaeology and Historic Preservation Office, and state Department of Ecology.
‘At the base of the spit’
The reports refer to the location of an ancient Klallam village site named Tse-whit-zen “west of the present (1920) city of Port Angeles, just at the base of the spit.”
They recommended that a professional archaeologist monitor all “ground disturbing activities” — including relocation of utility lines or foundation excavation — for the three construction projects on the Daishowa mill site.
The reports also recommend any future excavation below current fill be monitored by a professional archaeologist “because there is such a high likelihood for hunter-gatherer occupations to have occurred on the Daishowa America Port Angeles mill property.”
The 48-page, March 1991 report states three ancient Klallam villages are recorded as being on the Port Angeles waterfront:
* Innis, at the site of the former Rayonier Inc. pulp mill.
* Tse-whit-zen, closest to the Daishowa America paper mill.
* An unnamed village at the mouth of Tumwater Creek.
The report states that the cemetery associated with Tse-whit-zen was located “at least at some point in the history of the village, in the location of the mill complex, although the precise location is not known.”
Archaeological investigation was limited by numerous utility lines, extensive areas of fill and thick concrete foundations, the report stated.
The March 1991 report concluded that although the Daishowa site has been subject to industrial activity for 70 years, it still is an area that may contain “significant cultural resources.”
It also states the Daishowa mill site “overlies an area within the immediate traditional territory of the Klallam village, Tse-whit-zen, including the village cemetery.”
Construction activity around the Daishowa mill site has disturbed large areas of the property and large amounts of fill added in addition to concrete and asphalt, according to the March 1991 report.
Site of importance
The same report states that since a Klallam cemetery has been identified on the property and the site is one of the most likely for hunter-gatherer settlements, “nearly any intact cultural resources which remain here may be significant.”
The report’s conclusion ends by stating:
“We also believe that it is possible that cultural resources may be present in areas that have not been completely disturbed. Burial remains, however, whether they have been disturbed or not, must be addressed.”
Larson’s 13-page, June 1991 report states: “No potentially significant cultural resources were identified during archaeological monitoring of the recycling paper plant or electrical modernization plant project areas.”
But it also states that “ground disturbing activities” were primarily confined to previously excavated and filled areas.
“Although no potentially significant cultural resources were identified in the project area, we are unable to conclude that the remainder of the property maintains a comparable degree of disturbance,” the June 1991 report concludes.
The February 1992 report’s conclusion states: “No potentially significant cultural resources were identified during archaeological monitoring of the mill warehouse addition and the sludge press addition project areas.
“None of the identified material appears to be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.”
The 1992 report also notes the project area of the Daishowa mill warehouse addition has a long history of construction that might have destroyed evidence of earlier settlements.
But it also recommends archaeological monitoring of future construction projects on the Daishowa mill site.