When the Spanish colonized California in the late 18th c. they encountered the Ohlone people in the Santa Clara Valley. Based on changes in language and material culture, the Ohlone seem to have moved into the Santa Clara area in the late 1st millennium AD. During this transitional period, the Ohlone migrants interacted with the peoples who lived in the valley, changing the ethnic makeup of the Santa Clara region.
In February 1994, Native American burials were excavated at Santa Clara University. Two of the burials were studied through the process of facial reconstruction in 1996. One of the burials was identified as a female who had died ca AD 750 when she was 41-50 years old. She is an early representative of the Ohlone who came to dominate the region. Her facial features were reconstructed revealing strong similarities with modern Ohlone. This reconstruction highlights the similarities between the early Ohlone and contemporary Ohlone in Santa Clara today.
Studies of the isotopic signatures in her bones reveal that her diet was mainly composed of land-based plants and animals, with few marine species. While many burials of the period include a wide range of artifacts, including shells, beads, or personal items that indicate social hierarchy status, she was not buried with any grave goods.
The pre-contact Ohlone also were animists who believed in a spiritual world that included plants and animals, often seen through the use of amulets (Skowronek 2002). Archaeology and oral histories have provided evidence of prehistoric Ohlone lifestyles and have aided in understanding the demographic and culture rupture that occurred when the Ohlone people came into the Santa Clara Valley region.
Traditional depiction of Ohlone people
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