Historic Resource Evaluation Project - Tuolumne Utilities District

sparsely or intermittently; new settlements were located higher in the mountains.
Trade with peoples to the west was disrupted; the bow and arrow were
introduced; exotic artifacts . . . were buried with the dead; and violence was
commonplace... . Archaeologically, this disquieting episode is recorded as the
Early Kings Beach, Redbud, Tamarack [and other] phases.
♦ New levels of population growth and social integration were achieved after . . .
1400-1500. This resulted in part from movements into the Sierra of new
populations, notably the Miwok . . . and Mono...
♦ ... as a result of Ibero-American incursions and pressures, Indians from western
California sought refuge in the Sierra... after A. D. 1770. ... The epidemic of 1833
devastated foothill Indians and left many of their villages deserted forever... . The
Gold Rush of circa 1848-1860 severely disrupted settlements in the Mother Lode
country and often triggered the relocation of entire villages... . Finally, the
establishment of ... reservations ... further coalesced Indian groups, reduced their
numbers, and accelerated cultural and social changes. All of this has resulted in
an archaeological record of singular complexity in the Sierra Nevada [Moratto
1984:337-338].
Culture Chronology. Chronological sequences for the central Sierra Nevada have
utilized the cultural chronologies developed during the New Melones Archaeological
Project (Moratto et al. 1988) and from the Yosemite studies such as Bennyhoff (1956)
and Hull et al. (1998). While these two culture chronologies do not agree with each other
in every detail, there is more or less agreement on the timing of each temporal phase.
The project area is closest to the Stanislaus River where the New Melones sequence was
developed. From ca. 9600 B.P. to 6800 B.P., the Clarks Flat Phase was identified at CA-
CAL-S342, which included bipointed, foliate, and stemmed points, scrapers, notched
tools and beaked gravers. Later in the phase, milling slabs, manos, many types of
scrapers, and Western Stemmed Series points were added to the artifact inventory. The
Stanislaus Phase from 8000 - 5500 B.P., Pinto and Humboldt series projectile points
occur along with the later Clarks Flat artifact types and Stanislaus Broad Stemmed
points. The increasing diversity of artifact types is thought to reflect increasing levels of
occupation and economic pursuits compared to the limited and temporary use of sites in
the Clarks Flat Phase interpreted as hunting camps. From 5500 - 4500 B.P., the Texas
Charley Phase’s large lanceolate bifaces and distinctive scrapers were followed by the
Calaveras Phase spanning from 4000 - 3000 B.P. This time period seemed to indicate an
abandonment of the area with few remains of Pinto and Humboldt series points and
milling stones found. The following time period signaled a re-occupation of the area
from 3000 - 1500 B.P. with the introduction of the bowl mortar, cylindrical pestle, points
including Elko series, Sierra Concave Base and Sierra Side-Notch, large populations,
houses, middens, cemeteries, trade, Olivella F and G beads, economic diversity, and
acorn use. This was followed by another sparse usage time period, the Redbud Phase
from 1500 - 650 B.P., characterized by Rosegate series points, and Olivella D, K, and M
beads. At approximately 500 A.D., there is a general agreement of a rather major change
in subsistence technology in the central Sierra. Projectile points changed from larger,
heavier points presumably used with atlatls and darts, to smaller points probably
indicating a change to the use of the bow and arrow. Processing of vegetable foods
changed from milling with a mano and metate (millingstone) to mortar and pestle. It is
thought that this technological change also indicates a food preference change from seeds
to acorns, although there is now evidence that mortars and pestles were used for
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Historic Resource Evaluation Report