Before European contact in the early 1700s, Tataviam ancestors lived here for over 1,300 years, and archaeological evidence indicates human life here at least 4,500 years ago. Although no written records survive from those long-ago times, knowledge of their lives here comes from ancestral knowledge passed down through generations, archaeological evidence, DNA research connecting living descendants to ancestral lineages, genealogy from mission records showing birthplaces and family trees of Native peoples, and ethnographies based on interviews and observations. Clues at this spot, including darkened, burned soil near the juniper and holes ground into the bedrock, show that it was used as a food processing site or kitchen. The village also participated in regional and far-reaching trade networks through a nearby source of highly desirable steatite, or soapstone, which could be carved and polished into ceremonial or decorative items such as pendants, effigies, and tobacco pipes and also conducted heat well, making excellent arrow-shaft straighteners.
