Social drug consumption in the New River Mining District

Graduation Date

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Program

Other

Program

Thesis (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, Applied Anthropology, 2016

Committee Chair Name

Marisol Cortes-Rincon

Committee Chair Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Keywords

Hard rock mining, Historical archaeology, Social drugs, Trinity County, Socioeconomic group, Northern California, Humboldt State University -- Theses -- Anthropology

Abstract

The New River Mining District Project assessed the correlation between socioeconomic grouping and social drug use in a remote mining district of the Trinity Mountains. The New River Mining District of the Trinity Mountains played a significant role in this region's hard rock mining gold rush. Historic accounts like that of William Brewer suggest that social drug use was a central part of Trinity mining culture. Brewer also suggests that Trinity mining culture was unique to the northern Californian region. The New River Mining District is perhaps the best preserved of any Trinity mining district, this is why New River Mining District sites were used as a case study in late 19th century social drug consumption. The projects primary research questions were investigated utilizing modern archaeological methods. These methods included intensified pedestrian survey, subsurface testing, and intuitive data recovery. How did an individual's socioeconomic grouping affect what social drugs they consumed and where they consumed them? Research in the New River Mining District was conducted to answer this research question. It is the intention of this project to provide archaeologists and resource managers a model to identify socioeconomic grouping based on social drug data.

https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/6969z3161

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