Historic significance:

The archeology of Sonoma is important at many levels.

While Sonoma is not Rome where they live atop the remains of 50 feet of human habitation, we do live atop several feet of layered habitation surfaces. Sonoma is one of the most historically significant towns in California and we don't really know what happened here 100 years ago. We don't know how people actually lived here 200 or 2,000 years ago.

If we had a city-wide, unified approach to capturing information about archeological sites, artifacts and historic landforms, we could more effectively learn and share the story of Sonoma. Some people are concerned that the discovery of artifacts, historical features such as wells and foundations, or burial sites would stop a construction project.

But that isn't true.

There is very little that could be found in the ground in Sonoma that would stop a project and there is nothing that cannot be "mitigated" to some extent.
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The point is to thoughtfully consider the importance of what is found, record what information is there, preserve the cultural material and then continue with the project, ultimately sharing the information with the public.

Monitoring excavations: "Mitigation" is a term used in environmental impact reports to indicate what measures are going to be employed to lessen the impact of something like noise, dust, storm water runoff, or to identify a process to address something like discovering artifacts or human remains.

Under the California Environmental Quality Act, monitoring in itself is not mitigation. Monitoring is observation.

The monitoring leads to mitigation designed to lessen impacts.

We are not even monitoring construction around the Plaza and Napa Street where there have been excavations in the road and sidewalks, much less recording what historical information is buried there.

And that leads to the project at 165 E. Spain St. known as Mission Square.

Artifacts found in this lot (as in all of Sonoma) have "context" - a direct connection with a particular setting: you know where it was found, and that it belongs in the larger context of historic Sonoma.

This project requires that the sewer line be enlarged and we know that other trenching will take place, including footings for the cement slabs.

The archeological monitor should put the observed information into a historical context and present it in a monitoring report.

Even negative findings are important for the big picture.

The reports should then be accessible at City Hall to be integrated into future studies. It would also be wise for copies of reports and recovered artifacts to be temporarily housed at the Sonoma Valley Historical Society until some time when the city may have a modern archival facility.

Human remains must be treated as directed by state law.

When you have an historic area like Sonoma, every artifact found is important because it's part of our history.

Every archeological monitoring report done in Sonoma is important!

With the help of the Planning Commission, the Planning Department and the City Council, we can make every ground-breaking activity an opportunity to reveal the story of Sonoma, including the activity on 165 E. Spain St. We must not lose these precious windows into our past.

Cookie Hirn is the Cultural Resources Manager for a state agency. The opinions expressed here are hers and not those of the agency.