Plateau Archaeological Investigations conducted a cultural resource survey for the proposed Terrace Heights Sewer District Improvements Project in Yakima, Washington. A history of residential construction, road building (e.g., paving, ditches, and bridges), and underground utility installations (e.g., sewer and water) has left the Project Area heavily disturbed. In fact, construction of the SR 24 bridge replacement was fully underway during the pedestrian resource survey.Our fieldwork provided no evidence of Native American cultural resources. Due to the amount of disturbance, Plateau recommended no further work along existing roadways.
The western portion of the Project Area lies in a field directly west of the Yakima River. A spray field, installed in 1955 and abandoned in 2000, occupies the majority of this area. While this implies a large disturbed area, the spray field was laid out on a grid and most likely shallowly buried. As such, there may exist undisturbed areas on this river terrace that may contain Native American cultural material. The largest Lower Yakama village, tsíkik, was located in or near the City of Yakima on the west side of the Yakima River. Outlying open camps or workstations associated with the village may present themselves within the Project Area. For this reason, Plateau recommends having a professional archaeologist monitor mechanical excavations in this area. The subsequent archaeological monitoring however provided no evidence of Native American or historic-era cultural materials or features.
Location: Yakima County, Washington
