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Figure 6. Cross-section of photogrammetry model.

groups such as the Chumash and the caves of the Santa Barbara backcountry may have provided a valuable
storage facility.
In the ethnographic notes of John P. Harrington, Samala Chumash informant Maria Solares gave
an account of how one should take care of their storage baskets. Solares stated, “[You] kept them inside
house. Do not put them on bare ground—place on wood, basket tray, or reed mats so won’t rot on ground”
(Harrington 1986: R8, Fr. 585). In considering the present cache, it is pertinent to note that the baskets were
placed on the stacked rock platform. The stacked rock platform not only separated the baskets from potential
moisture from the host rock but also aerated the cache—as a framework of sticks might.
The use of cave sticks appears to have been a long-standing practice in the Santa Barbara
backcountry (Whitby 2012:433-434). Although cave sticks are a common feature of many caches in
Chumash territory and in Southern California, their meaning and purpose remains debatable.

CONCLUSION
The discovery of this singular cache assemblage by a trained archaeologist was fortuitous. Bryne
was able to first document it in situ, create a site form, and then assemble a team to apply the most rigorous
documentation methods available with modern technology. This allows an unprecedented view of the
caching process which entailed utilizing stacked rocks to form a platform, then a placement sequence of
parching tray, large basket, and mended basket. The cave stick, whatever its purpose, was likely placed
afterwards, although this is somewhat uncertain.
As the largest Chumash basket ever discovered, the cache certainly was part of the local gathering
practice for a small group who may have utilized the bedrock mortars at the nearby rock art site as well as
other nearby landforms. With a relatively diverse flora, along with the previously discovered nearby caches,

SCA Proceedings, Volume 30 (2016) Bryne, Gandy, Robinson, and Johnson p. 220