Although American archaeology doesn't have a "Pompeii", where a volcanic calamity preserved ancient ruins in a spectacular way, there are a couple of examples you might not know about. One of them is Ozette.
Ozette Archaeological District. Photo from National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, Washington, D.C
Ozette was a Makah fishing village, located on the coast of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state in the northwestern United States. Ozette was the base of operations for Makah whalers, beginning about 400 AD through the early 1900s. About 1750, a large portion of the village was suddenly buried under a mud slide. The people eventually moved miles away, and it wasn't until coastal erosion in the 1970s exposed the ruins when the village became visible again.
Ozette is important not just for its Pompeii-like integrity, but for the joint project that led to its investigations. When the Makah people found Ozette eroding out on their beaches, they asked archaeologists at Washington State University to help out. That project was one of the first joint Native American and academic projects conducted in American archaeology.
- Read more about Ozette
- American Northwest Coast Timeline
- Makah Culture and Research Center
- Memories of Ozette (Northwest Coast Archaeology), has some additional photographs of the excavations
Comments
Ceren is Americas answer to Pompeii. Buildings, crops, books, and all manner of everyday life is preserved on volcanic ash.
One should remember that America includes more than the United States.
A well documented pre-clovis site exists at the Paisley Five Mile Caves in Oregon. Dated at 14,300 years ago….
Si usted considera que el sitio arqueológico Joya de Ceren en la república de El Salvador no es parte de América, entonces y solo entonces, usted tiene razón.
I was thinking of Ceren when I wrote “a couple of examples”
http://archaeology.about.com/od/elsalvador/a/ceren.htm
Thanks, Sergio!