The current status of archaeological investigation in the northern Puget Sound region is one of demarcation and elucidation of problems. Lately, the approach has been toward the accumulation of descriptive information on sites and artifacts. The San Juan Island group, at the southern extremity of Georgia Strait, is increasingly important in this process. The extensive cist or cairn burial development at Armadale Valley is merely one of a number of adjacent sites in the intricate complex of headlands and inlets formed by Westcott, Garrison, and Mitchell bays of the northwestern portion of the San Juan Island.

The major group of cairns lies atop a low rocky bluff, overlooking Westcott Bay to the east and the narrow but protected thoroughfare of Mosquito Pass to the west. Immediately below the site, at the base of the bluff is a deep and extensive shell midden.