Spruce Tree Site

The Spruce Tree Site (Smithsonian trinomial: 35TI75) is an archeological site located in Nehalem Bay State Park near Manzanita, Oregon, United States. The site likely represents a precontact/postcontact Nehalem Tillamook campsite used for subsistence activities, including fishing, hunting, food processing, tool manufacture, and related tasks. Radiocarbon dating based on a single sample suggests it may have been occupied as early as 1490 CE. The site has yielded rock flake debris, burned rock, and charcoal, while the presence of glass beads and small (2 to 3 mm) fragments of ceramic provide information potential related to early contacts between Europeans and the peoples of the Oregon coast. The porcelain fragments may also link it to the Nehalem Beeswax Shipwreck. The site has been partially eroded, but significant cultural deposits remain above the water line. Submerged stumps amid the site indicate significant subsidence of over 1 m, possibly related to a large earthquake, which can help answer research questions about the effect of seismic activity on the peoples and landscapes of the Oregon coast as well as on the preservation of cultural remains.

The Spruce Tree Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.