A group of anthropology students at UC Santa Barbara recently unearthed history at La Purisima Mission.
The archaeological dig was part of the university's Anthropology 181 class, led by doctoral student Kaitlin Brown.
The students spent six Saturdays at the State Historic Park in Lompoc, wrapping up the project on August 3.
Their focus was excavating an area believed to be the former site of Chumash "family apartments."
The students reported finding two levels of floors, roof tiles, glass beads, soapstone vessels, and shells.
A Chumash tribal member was reportedly on scene throughout the dig to monitor the work and make sure any artifacts found were treated with respect.
Brown and her students plan to present their findings at the Society for California Archaeology's annual meeting in the Santa Ynez Valley in October.
