BANDON - When Mark Tveskov looks across the expansive Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge he doesn't just see the wide array of birds, the river, marshes and bountiful wildlife viewing opportunities. He sees the past.

And his job is to uncover it.

Tveskov, assistant professor of anthropology at Southern Oregon University, has worked with the Coquille Indian Tribe members and anthropologists to uncover archaeological sites of people that once populated the area some 4,000 years ago.

The Coquille Indian Tribe, though rich with history, was declared extinct by the federal government in 1954, along with 60 other Northwest tribes. But after extensive lobbying the tribe regained recognition in 1989 and it now numbers around 600 people.

Tveskov studied the tribe extensively and as part of his doctorate dissertation, went to Washington, D.C., along with tribal members George Wasson Jr. and Jason Younker. They were joined by Scott Byram, anthropologist for the tribe, and other tribal and University of Oregon scholars to research through the Southwestern Oregon Research Project.

In Washington, SWORP members discovered thousands of ethnographic and military documents of Southwestern Oregon indigenous people, including maps and microfilm in the Smithsonian Institution's National Anthropological Archives as well as in the National Archives. Copies of the documents are now housed in the university's Knight Library's Division of Special Collections.

Evidence of the once thriving tribe, which has been estimated to have numbered at one time more than Bandon's current population, was unearthed in 1978 at sites closer to the mouth of the Coquille River. Since then, at least 15 excavations have been completed at archaeological sites in Bandon, many under the direction of Roberta L. Hall, anthropology professor at Oregon State University.

A group of anthropologists and archaeologists, along with students, have visited the area almost every year since those first sites were established to explore or look for new sites.

Last year, evidence of what might have been a formal cooking area for members of the tribe was found amazingly intact and preserved for the last 60 years under the concrete foundation of a barn that was torn down on North Bank Road in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Ni-let'tun Unit.

This year, those sites again were explored and uncovered by Tveskov and a crew of 13 students. Tveskov gave a tour of the site after a recent dedication ceremony of the donation of 34 acres in the Bandon Marsh.

At the site, he proudly lifted boards covering the fragile findings.

"This site has been radio-carbon-dated at 3,000 years old," the dark-haired, tanned anthropologist said almost reverently. "Humans have been here on the coast for 10,000 years."

He pointed to round, smooth rocks, placed in several widening circles. A concentration of carbon told anthropologists it was a place where fires were built and rocks heated to boil water in baskets for cooking or used as a roasting pit.

The Coquille River Indians lived in an area abundant with wildlife and ate fish, elk, deer, shellfish, sea lions and seals. Sturdy plank houses and canoes fit to use in the ocean were built from the timber readily available. The Indians lived a relatively peaceful life until white settlers came to the area in the 1850s, bringing disease and aggression.

But their history remains.

"There's archaeological debris pretty much scattered all over this terrain," Tveskov said, sweeping his hand in a wide motion. "So when they tore down the barn, we figured there would be something there."

But the biggest finds - two hearths - were discovered by accident. Don Ivy, cultural resource director for the tribe, who was at the site the day of the tour, said he discovered the hearths when he was doing shovel probes.

"I did an arbitrary shovel probe, but didn't find anything with dense concentration," Ivy said, demonstrating his technique. "But as we came across this area, I couldn't probe in the area we had decided, so I moved over and did a probe here and hit something."

Ivy then took an ice pick and was able to easily penetrate the earth. That was enough for the researches to sit back and take a second look, Tveskov said.

"That soft spot in the middle of the area was an anomaly of everything else we had done that day," Ivy said.

Once the area was established, experts carefully used brushes, picks and specialized tools to uncover the layers. Each layer of earth tells a story of what happened at that time in history. Part of it had been torn apart by erosion and rodent activity. Earthquake activity was present that had further damaged the site.

"But when this was built, it was a pretty tight concentration of rocks," Tveskov said.

Research of the site has revealed arrowheads, spearpoints and knives made out of bluish and reddish shert rock, along with thousands of pieces of chipping debris used in making those implements, according to Tveskov, who said he could not determine whether the hearth had been inside a structure.

Sea mammal bones were found and also empire clam shells, which are common to shallow bays such as Coos Bay, but are not found in the Coquille River area. Tveskov said the area adjacent to the site was once a shallow bay that was filled in by modern man for farming purposes.

Some 50 feet east of the first hearth, a second, smaller hearth was discovered. This one had evidence of a hard floor, leading the anthropologist to conclude it was probably an indoor hearth.

But as often happens in archaeology, sites are uncovered only to be covered again. Tveskov said the hearths were to be covered up with gravel so they won't be disturbed in the future.

"This will be it," Tveskov said. "It's a limited effort to see what kinds of things are here and then cover it up. That will help Fish and Wildlife determine ways to develop the site."

According to Ivy, Fish and Wildlife has plans to build a parking area and wayside, along with an interpretive area with decking for an overview of the area and possibly panels and kiosks describing the sites and the lives of the Coquille Indians. The wetlands will be restored to what they once were.

The site itself will not be available to view by the public unless a way is found to accomplish that, Ivy said.

"That's something that you and I and a great amount of money could do," he said. "But that doesn't preclude a future way to develop that opportunity. The cultural and historical significance of these sites will be factored in how the area is developed."

Tveskov said he and his crew were spending four weeks this summer in different places and that his next project was to assist with a dig in Iceland

"This has been a great partnership between Fish and Wildlife, the Coquille Indian Tribe and Southern Oregon University," Tveskov said. "The students are getting practical experience in the field and we're getting valuable information."