The Emeryville Shellmound, on the east shore of San Francisco Bay, was the largest of more than 425 shellmounds around the bay and a sacred Ohlone burial place as well as a major village site. Formed from about 800 B.C. and occupied for at least 2,800 years until about 400 years ago, it is associated with the Chochenyans and may have been their capital. More than 60 feet high in its original form, it was later damaged by an amusement park and decades of heavy industry. Although long thought destroyed, parts survived underground, and the site remains central to disputes over preservation, development, and respect for sacred land.

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Berkeley, California · USA