Placer

Bernhard Museum Complex

The Bernhard residence, one of Auburn’s oldest surviving buildings, was built as the Traveler’s Rest Hotel in 1851.
Location: 291 Auburn-Folsom Road in Auburn.
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Call (531) 889-4000
Visit www.placer.ca.gov

Donner Memorial State Park, Emigrant Trail Museum

Depicts the history of the area and the people who came into this part of the Sierra, including local Native Americans, the Donner Party, and builders of the transcontinental railroad
Location: just west of downtown Truckee on the south side of I-80, 100 mi. east of Sacramento
Open daily, Memorial Day to Labor Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; September to May from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Call (530) 582-7892
Visit www.parks.ca.gov

Gatekeeper’s & Marion Steinbach Museum

Features collections of archaeological artifacts and basketry
Archive on local history
Location: 130 West Lake Boulevard in Tahoe City
Open May 1 to October 1, Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; June 15 to Labor Day, daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission: adults $2, seniors and students $1.50, under 18 years are free
Call (530) 583-1762
Visit www.museumsusa.org

Maidu Museum & Historic Site

30-acre site encompasses an ancient Maidu Indian site and a state-of-the-art museum
1.5 hour trail tour visits petroglyphs, bedrock mortars, and the historic site
Museum features hands-on exhibits about Maidu culture
Location: 1970 Johnson Ranch Drive in Roseville
Open Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; guided tours Monday–Friday, by reservation
Admission: adults $5, seniors & students $4, children under 5 are free
Call (916) 774-5934
Visit www.roseville.ca.us/indianmuseum

Placer County Museum

Featured exhibit is the Pate Collection of Native American Art, containing artifacts from all of California, the Southwest, the Northwest Coast, Alaska, and the Eastern United States
Location: on the first floor of the historic Placer County Courthouse, 101 Maple Street in Auburn
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Members of the Placer County Museum Docent Guild will provide tours of the museum upon request.
Admission: free
Visit www.placer.ca.gov

2020 Student Presentation and Discussion Series No. 2

Assessing and Contextualizing Flower-Pot Mortars
Kyle Palazzolo, CSU Chico M.A. Candidate

Kyle presents ongoing research that attempts to assess and contextualize flower-pot mortars in the Central Coast region of Alta California by reconstructing their social life history. Costly-signaling theory is employed to determine whether flower-pot mortars can be considered prestige goods and gender theory will be used to address major theoretical issues such as the association of ground stone technology with women, the need for critical examination of gendered task differentiation, and the significance of food economies in the negotiation of power.

Following the presentation, Kyle will be joined in a roundtable discussion with panelists:
• Tammy Buonasera, research associate, University of California at Davis, Senior Archaeologist, Far Western Anthropological Research Group;
• Sandra Hollimon, professor, Santa Rosa Junior College; and,
• Joan Schneider, archaeologist Department of Parks and Recreation, Colorado Desert District (retired).
On this evening we also celebrated Kyle’s 2020 Outstanding Student Paper Award.

Recorded October 15, 2020