East Bay Walls
38°12′20.32″N 122°57′57.67″W / 38.2056444°N 122.9660194°W
The East Bay Walls, also known as the Berkeley Mystery Walls, are a misnomer, as many such walls can be found throughout the hills surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area, and extend as far as Chico, Red Bluff and Montague. In places, they are up to a meter high and a meter wide and are built without mortar.[1] The walls extend anywhere from a few meters to over a half mile. Materials range in size from basketball-size to sandstone boulders weighing a ton or more. Parts of the wall seem to be just piles of rocks, while other walls were carefully constructed. The exact age of the walls is unknown. Many formations have sunk far into the earth, and are often completely overgrown.[citation needed]
Purpose
[edit]The walls are fragmented and do not appear to be fences. They are not tall enough to provide defensive barriers.[citation needed] The East Bay Regional Park District calls them "rock walls". Livestock have grazed in the east and south Bay Area hills since the arrival of European settlers. Clearing land of scattered rocks would have eased the ability to move herds. Constructing walls would have helped to guide or corral the animals.[2]
Origin
[edit]No written documentation exists to identify when they were built, by whom, or why.[1]
Due to their large extent and the time and manpower required to build them, the walls may have been built by the Ohlone.
Recent lichen testing suggests that they were built between 1850 and 1880, the early American era in California.[1] European settlers could have built the walls using Chinese, Mexican, or Native American laborers.[1][2]
Locations
[edit]
The stone walls are accessible in several area parks, including Ed R. Levin County Park[3] in Santa Clara County and Mission Peak Regional Preserve[4] in Alameda County.
As of 2016, archaeologist Jeffrey Fentress was measuring and mapping the walls to achieve protection from development or other destruction.[1] Stone walls with unclear origin occur in other places near the San Francisco Bay.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Hervieux, Linda (27 August 2016). "The 'East Bay Walls' Continue to Confound". Newser. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
San Francisco archeologist says there is much to learn from mysterious rock walls
- ^ a b "Bay Area facts: Berkeley Mystery Walls' origins not so off-the-wall". San Jose Mercury News. Bay Area News Group. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
It turns out, they're not much of a mystery, according to Beverly Ortiz, cultural services coordinator with the East Bay Regional Park District.
- ^ "Stone walls at Ed Levin County Park". 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
- ^ "East Bay Walls of CA". 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
- ^ Kimmey, Samantha (24 July 2014). "Mystery rocks draw scholarly investigation". Pt. Reyes Light. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
Historical research ...conducted by Mr. Wing and his two students ... indicates [the wall] was created during the 19th century ranching era.