What has happened to the village sites visited by Portola and his men? Like so many historical and archaeological sites, they have either been forgotten, destroyed by thoughtless relic collectors, or covered by urban sprawl. After years of farming, grazing, erosion, relic collecting, and construction activities, little is left of the coastal villages of these people, although one, Ystagua, is currently under study for possible preservation. Scattered pot shards, broken trade beads, and shell mounds stand as silent testimony to a way of life which began its end in July, 1769, as another way of life commenced.

At the dawn of the American Civil War, southern California native people, including the Luiseino, Mountain Cahuilla, and Northern Dieguenio (Ipai), were beginning to slip into a marginal existence among the dominant white society. Although some native villages or settlements were sufficiently removed from white contact to avoid conflict and ill effects, most were clearly influenced by the spread of Anglo-American civilization. Native populations had been severely depleted by European-introduced diseases; settlements were abandoned to avoid contact with whites; lineages were fragmented or destroyed, and traditional lifeways were rapidly disappearing (Cook 1943o, 19436; Phillips 1975:20-69; Sutton 1964).

This report documents the excavation and subsequent analysis of a complex of circular stone features designated Feature G of Locus 1, CA-SDI-5938, located in a granite bedrock outcrop on a high knoll overlooking San Pasqual and Westwood valleys in San Diego County (Fig. 1). Investigations of CA-SDI-5938 were conducted by WESTEC Services in the winter of 1985-86 (Carrico and Kyle 1987:1-1). The site is composed of four loci located on both sides of a large seasonal drainage. The outcrop containing the enclosure complex is roughly oval and measures 22 m. east/west by 12 m. north/south. The bedrock outcrop and terrain immediately to the west are relatively level, forming a shelf. The ground rises to the north at a moderate angle and drops off steeply to the south and east.