Cattle Point is a site and a culture that is part of the Washington Sound Sequence, Coast Salish-Chinook area on the Northwest Coast and is part of the Columbia-Fraser Region. This area includes the southeastern shores of Vancouver Island, the Strait of Juande Fuca, the Washington Coast and the upper Oregon Coast. Cattle Point itself is situated on the south shore of San Juan Island in the Washington Sound. Predominant groups were the Coast Salish, Chinook and Siuslaw. The principle language affiliations were Salishan and Chinook. Cattle Point is dated at approximately 3000 to 700 BP.
The Northwest Coast stretches from Cape Mendocino in northern California to Yakutat Bay in southern Alaska. The terrain varies from islands and mountains to hills and estuaries of Washington and Oregon. Overall, the area has a heavy forest cover of firs, spruce, cedar, redwood and deciduous trees. According to A.R. King, the inhabitants of Cattle Point were primarily land hunters and this area was a seasonal fishing camp for them. Deer and other land-mammal bones were found along with fish bones and seal remains.
The topographical features are the result of glacial and post-glacial forces. The most conspicuous feature is Mt. Finlayson which is made up of the same glacial drift and till as Cattle Point.
Excavations have been broken into three major areas. The West Bluff old humus stratum is composed of fine drift, charcoal, fire-broken rock and cultural remains. Other layers formed as a result of heavy shell deposition and erosion. It is hard to put a date on this area. Other layers reveal some charcoal, fire-broken rock, sand, firepits, earth ovens, clam and mussel remains, seal, moose, grey wolf, elk and black-tailed deer remains. The East Bluffs' oldest stratum reveals yellow-brown clay which makes up the glacial till. Other layers reveal traces of cultural occupation such as firepits, charcoal, shell, mussel and clam remains and depositions in the sand revealing human activity. The Old Beach Area appears to have been heavily, if not permanently, occupied. Remains include mixed shell, charcoal, beach gravel and many depressions which indicate human habitations.
These excavations reveal three springs which now flow underground into the ocean. At present, one spring flows through the land and is utilized by its inhabitants.
This area exhibits a transitional phase. It appears to be a transition from Old Cordilleran to some later maritime adaptations. It may be significant that the east coast of Vancouver Island and San Juan Island are in the Coast Salish-Chinook subarea of the Northwest Coast. It is into this subarea that the Columbia and Fraser Rivers flow.
As part of this area, woodworking was emphasized and utilized in constructing plank houses and carving household items, masks and totem poles. Woodworking tools included polished stone, bone and antler. Traps, angling devices, harpoons and dugout canoes were part of their technology. Leaf shaped points were the most common chipped-stone projectile form found in the area. Bone awl and points, including fixed barbed types and some ground slate weapons. Garments used and worn by members of the culture were woven from plant fibers or mountain goat hair. These people usually went barefoot. In 1821, the land-based fur trade and metal tools were introduced.
The socio-political unit was lineage-local. Social differences were rigid and were based on heredity and the accumulation of wealth (including slaves). Ceremonies were common. The most well known ceremony was the "potlatch" which was a display and dispersal of wealth. Another ceremony was the "First Salmon Rites" which was to secure the salmon harvests.
King, Arden. "Cattle Point: A Stratified Site in the Southern
Willey, Gordon R. An Introduction to American Archaeology. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1966.