West Berkeley Shellmound
older than Pyramids of Giza
The story “Historical Site or Modern Paradise?” (Page A1, March 24) alarms me.
Developers are using SB 35 to build on a state archaeological site and a city of Berkeley landmark. Archaeological site P-01-000084/CA-ALA-307 includes the venerable Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto parking lot, which is the last open space of what was once a village and funerary site rising so high that it provided nautical guidance to ships entering our bay. Dating back 5,700 years, it is older than the Pyramids at Giza.
It is also the first place of our California people. It is “where we first laughed,” reminds Ohlone Corrina Gould at a recent prayer ceremony there. This site, the already landmarked West Berkeley Shellmound, is bigger than a place for shops, apartments and underground parking. It is where we remember our compassion, conscience and civility, and be human again.
Jane Perry
Oakland
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