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Prehistory, the Native American and Gold Rush eras, how ranchers lived a century ago, even part of a hoax widely known as the Calaveras Skull.

Tidbits from these slices of the past are among discoveries made by archaeologists and historians who studied the route of the Angels Camp Bypass from 1992 to last year, before work on the $61.5 million 2.4-mile Caltrans project began. With completion set for late next year, the new route starts north of Angels Camp and will run east of the city’s downtown to link highways 49 and 4.

Archaeological excavations at sites along this stretch will be the focus of a presentation Thursday at a fundraising dinner for the Calaveras County Historical Society.

Longtime historian and Murphys resident Judith Marvin, who has worked on assorted archaeological projects around the Mother Lode and elsewhere in the state, will discuss the bypass field studies she and others conducted.

“There’s just so much history here,” said Marvin, noting the old ranch sites, mines and remains of 1800s water systems, plus signs of several periods of history, that were studied within one relatively small area. “There is 4,000 years of occupation in this one place.”

While Marvin’s presentation will not include a display of actual artifacts found along the bypass route, she will discuss the various sites excavated and studied, and her research into their histories.

These sites, she noted, are or will be sealed underground by the project roadway.

The estimated 1,000 artifacts collected during the studies are now stored in Davis, in the lab of Far Western Anthropological Research Group, which was among the historians and archaeological groups Caltrans hired for the bypass historical work, said Caltrans spokeswoman Lisa Balcom.

Native American grinding hammer stones and mortars found during the excavations in a creek bed and a bottle opener found on an old ranching site are among these pieces, Marvin said. Also found were a “point,” similar to an arrow head, pieces of historic glass, wire, cut nails and ceramics, she said.

Among sites Marvin will discuss are where the main ranch house of the late 1800s Johnson Ranch stood on the south side of Murphys Grade Road. Remnants of the nearby Quijada ranch home site, the Union-Utica ditch system and the Beda Blood Placer Mine were also examined.

On the new road’s north side, archaeological teams identified the McElroy and Matteson placer mines — where the infamous Calaveras Skull was found.

Miners found the skull in 1866 in the McElroy mine shaft and it ultimately landed in the hands of Harvard geology professor Josiah Whitney. He used it as proof of his theory that humans, mastadons and elephants had co-existed in California, according to several historical accounts.

Whitney’s conclusion circulated among paleontologists around the world, and was challenged by a San Francisco newspaper.

Tests of the skull done in 1879 indicated it was of “recent origin” and it was later learned that miner James Matteson had found the skull in another part of Calaveras County and planted it in the Angels Camp mine as a practical joke, said Marvin.

Famed poet Bret Harte even wrote “To the Pliocene Skull,” a poem poking fun at the hoax.

Reads one line of the poem: “Tell the wondrous secret of thy past experience, – Speak! thou oldest primate!”

    Contact Patty Fuller at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 588-4534.