Title: Sabre Springs (CA-SDI-6669) and Its Place in the Archaeology of Los Peñasquitos Creek or What I did with my Sabbatical

Presenter: G. Timothy Gross, PhD

Sabre Springs (CA-SDi-6669) is a large archaeological site with a prominent Late Prehistoric component. Artifacts, features, and radiocarbon dates also indicate an Archaic component that is somewhat overwhelmed by the copious Late Prehistoric material. Although mitigation of impacts to this important archaeological site was technically achieved under the law at the time by preservation of part of the site in an open space easement, a large data recovery excavation was also conducted at the site in 1984. Although Dr. Gross helped write a report on the excavations in the late 1980s and early 1990s, due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, that report was never circulated. The collections were curated at the San Diego Archaeological Center, and in the Fall Semester, 2022, he was awarded a sabbatical, and he worked on updating the report. Dr. Gross was able to have the 15 radiocarbon dates run for the project in 1988 calibrated using current curves, and he received some funding for three AMS radiocarbon dates.

In this talk, Dr. Gross will give an overview of the site, discuss the site formation processes that created the archaeological matrix there, lithic technology and material sources, and projectile points, including the description of what he proposed back in 1992 as a new type of serrated points—the Poway Serrated point. He will also compare Sabre Springs and the excavations around Los Peñasquitos Ranch House.