The Cronin Point Site (

Smithsonian trinomial A Smithsonian trinomial (formally the Smithsonian Institution Trinomial System, abbreviated SITS) is a unique identifier assigned to archaeological sites in many states in the United States. Trinomials are composed of a one or two digit coding fo ...

: 35TI4) is an

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

located in

Nehalem Bay State Park Nehalem Bay State Park is a state park in the United States located on the Oregon Coast, near the communities of Nehalem and Manzanita on the Nehalem Spit, a sand spit west of Nehalem Bay. Tillamook County transferred the land to the State o ...

near Manzanita,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States, that was occupied probably between 1600 and 1800 CE. The site is characterized by a significant quantity of burned, fire-cracked rock, indicating the presence of hearths and other cultural activities associated with occupation and a possible

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

site. Artifacts in the site include stone flaking debris, and a smaller number of projectile points, glass pieces, bone pieces, and shell fragments. Notably, the site also includes shards of Chinese and Japanese ceramicware, datable by their design to ''ca.'' 1550–1680 CE, which link the Cronin Point Site to the Nehalem Beeswax Shipwreck. The site spans both submerged and exposed areas; auger-based studies suggest that occupation of the site ended abruptly, likely when the land it rests on subsided due to a large earthquake.. Further study of the Cronin Point Site has potential to yield information related to the "protohistoric" period of sporadic contact between Native Americans and Europeans, prior to the intensive interactions of cross-continental trade and emigration. It may also shed light of the impact of seismic events on the peoples and environments of the Oregon Coast. Other potential research questions relate to environmental change in the Oregon Coast region, settlement and subsistence patterns, emergence of ethnographic patterns among coastal people, changes in cultural patterns around contact with European Americans, and other topics.. The Cronin Point Site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2001..

Notes

References

National Register of Historic Places in Tillamook County, Oregon Native American Archeological Sites of the Oregon Coast MPS {{Oregon-NRHP-stub

See also

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References