The earliest people to live in the area were the Ohlone, also called the Costanoan, Indians. Bands of this tribe populated present-day California from the Golden Gate to Big Sur some 3,000 to 3,500 years ago. They lived in huts made of grass and were a peaceful society of hunters and gatherers, until they were virtually wiped out in the late 1700s by European diseases and attempts to change their religion and lifestyle.
A burial mound was uncovered in 1951 during development of the University Village subdivision (see map), near today's aptly named Costaño School. After a year-long excavation and examination of 60 graves and 3,000 artifacts, researchers concluded Native Americans had used the area as a cemetery and occasional camp site, rather than as a permanent settlement. In later years another mound was found near Willow Road and the railroad tracks.