Reports of the

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY

No. 51

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE SIERRA NEVADA

IN CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA

Albert B. Elsasser

Issued June 20, 1960

The University of California Archaeological Survey

Department of Anthropology

University of California
Berkeley 4, California

ThE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE SIERRA NEVADA

IN CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA

Albert B. Elsasser

TUIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY

REPORT NO. 51

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF mAPS .     , , . .. . . a * * O * *

LIST;5 OF ILLUSTRATIONS. . . .  .  *  e  *  *  .
ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

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ii

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INTRODU3CTION    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . .  .  .   a .
THE AREA AND ITS RESOURCES.............................
ETHNOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND. . 4 .                            a .* *.....
SUNNARY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION AND SURVEY

Early Flinds.......................................
Recent Excavation .... e.............
Archaeo.logi cal Site Survey....*.e.*.*.o.*.*.*.*.e.O.   X
Dlscussion of Site Distribution.      ..........
Archaeolog;ical Time Markers in the Sierra Nevada.
ARCHAEOLOGY OF THREE MARTIS COMPLEX SITES

N ev -     . a a a  a o a o e .  . . ......

26-4Do-12. 1        , . . o e e  o   a a o e @  0 o

Sie. 20. . . .o.. o o                   . . . . . .

Discussion of Martis Complex..........................
CONCLUSIONS. . ......................
END NOTES. . e      ....................
BIBLIOGRAPHY e         . e .................
EXPUANATION OF ILLUSTRATIONS ..............

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11
14
26
29

33
49
60
66
73
77
81
91

ILLUSTRATIONS

PIATE 1................   . u   . *  .  O e

PLATE 2. . . . . . . . .e . . . e *.  a

FIGURE 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

a . . following
. . . following

. . following

93
93
93

LIST OF MAPS

Following page
MAP l:   Principal Vegetation Zones of the Sierra

Nevada (after Shantz and Zon, 1924)  0 0 0 0 0     4
MAP 2:   Life Zones of the Sierra (Note:  Boreal

Zone includes Canadian, Hudsonian,

Arctic, Alpine Zones [after Grinnell,

1935 ] ) e        -0   a  ID a e0 c  0 o  o  o  a  a  a  4
MAP 3:   Climates of the Sierra Nevada (after

Russell,  1926)c .  .  .  .  . o   ID   e  .  a   a   o   . o   o   a  4
MAP 4:   Ethnographic Groups of the Sierra Nevada

and Surrounding Regions   ...      *      . o  . o  a  4
MAP 5:   Archaeological Site Location Areas in-

the Sierra Nevada . , . , . . o . e o . o o o o   18
MAP 6:   Archaeological Site Locations in the Sierra

Nevada (symbols represent one or more

sites) .  .   e o 42  O  e0 o0 o1  0  ID   0 o   o IDo  18.
MAP 7:   Pottery Sites in the Sierra Nevadan and

AdjacentRRegionsi             . e 4               30
MAP 8:   Site Map of Nev-15  0 ...  a.. e. o. . .. . o o o o  34
MAP 9:   Site Map of 26-Do-.12 *... ..a *              e  a e  52
MAP 10: Distribution of Martis Complex Sites and

Other Excavated Sites in the Sierra Nevada. . .   66

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE 1A:
PLATE lB:
PLATE 1C:
PLATE 1D:
PLATE 2A:
PLATE 2B:
PLATE 2C:
PLATE 2D:
FIGURE 1:

Projectile Points from Nev-1.5. . .  .

Projectile Points from Nev-15, . . . . ,  e
Projectile Points and Drills from Nev'-15 .
Miscellaneous Artifacts from Nev-15. 4 0

Martis Type Projectile Points from 26-Do-12,
Projectile Points and Other Specimens

from  26-Do-12  ,  .  .  ,  .  ,  .  ,  .  o  .  .  e
Martis Type Projectile Points froim

Sardine Valley. . . . e o o o  . * o o o
Various Artifacts.       0 0 0 e   o o o e

Mano Types from Martis Complex Sites . . v e

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ABSTRACT

An outline of the physical resources and ethnographic
background of the entire area included in the Sierra

Nevada province is given. This is followed by a review
of the early history of archaeological finds., including
the claimed associations of human remains and artifacts
with pre-Pleistocene sedimentary deposits0

A description of the sites surveyed (totaling more
than 1800) and excavated in recent years is presented,
tabulated according to, elevation, given in units of

thousands of feet, and ranging from slightly above sea
level to 11,000 feet and over. Inferences regarding
summer use of the higher regions for hunting and as

avenues of transmontane trade are based upon occurrence
and distribution of sites thus far known0

Published reports defining the late occupation in the
southern Sierra Nevada are summarized and, finally, re-
ports are given of excavation of three sites of the

Martis type, which are thought to represent an earlier
time level in the northern part of the range0

The excavational data at hand, mostly concerned with
projectile point typologies, do not indicate a uniform
occupation over the entire Sierra Nevadao Offered for

the first time, however, is detailed evidence pertaining
to chronological relationships between archaeological

complexes on either side, and in the northern and south-
ern parts of the range0

* * * * * * *

INTRODUCTION

It is well known that mountain chains or large bodies of water some-
times serve as effective barriers to the free mingling of peoples of dif-
ferent cultures or linguistic groups0 That the main watershed of the

Sierra Nevada represented, generally, a cultural boundary in prehistoric

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times is not to be doubted, if the earliest ethnographic record accurately
reflects the situation of different native groups before the arrival of
the white man.

Nevertheless, aside from what may be looked upon as the complete span-

ning of the crest of the southern Sierra Nevada by the Western Mono (Kroeber,
1925, p. 585; Lamb, 1958, p. 97), the ethnographic record discloses smaller
breachings of the gap represented by the crest of the mountains, from the

northern to the southern end of the range.  Sample (1950) has reviewed the

evidence relating to trade and trails across the Sierra, and prehistoric com-
merce is shown by the wide distribution in Nevada of Pacific Coast shell

ornaments and beads (Bennyhoff and Heizer, 1958). Moreover., we may observe
that the Washo, who occupy the eastern slope of the Sierra and adjacent

desert land at lower elevations, display traits which link them with cis-

montane California (Kroeber, op. cit., p. 569). Confirmation of this or of

a similar type linkage is shown, apart from linguistic evidence, by parallels
in design and weaving techniques of prehistoric basketry from California and
the Great Basin (Baumhoff and Heizer, 1958, po 55)o

Besides serving as a crossroad for groups of different culture, the

Sierra Nevada, especially in its higher reaches, may be looked upon, in a

sense, as a specialized liv'ing region for these groups, an extensive terri-

tory which perhaps demanded special techniques in order to be fully exploited0
The aim of this paper is to examine in detall the evldence of occupation from
the foothill regions to the hLgher altitudes, and to relate to each other, if
possible, the various manifestations of occupancy as disclosed by archaeolog-
ical survey or excavation. The chief value of such a study probably lies in
its revealing seasonal settlement patterns, and indication of movements of

bands or groups within the vast mountain physiographic province which includes
all of the known life zones in California (Grinnell, 1935)o

Although the Sierra Nevada is often considered as a single, high fault'
block, it should properly be concelved as "not that of a simple linear mounx
tain range, but that of an uplifted and tilted segment of the earth0s crust
broad enough to bear on' its back a whole system of linear ranges" (Matthes,
1947, p. 168).  In spite of the concept of a large   s     of ranges and of

the number of life zones represented, it is one of the purposes of this paper
to isolate the Sierra Nevadan region, i.e., to demonstrate that in prehistoric
as well as in historic times, it was used in such a way as to allow it to be

looked upon as a special culture province, characterized by seasonal movements
within its borders of the inhabitants, who, for most of the year., including
the winter time, utilized its lower-altitude eastern and western slopes0

THE AREA AND ITS RESOURCES

For the p:urposes of this paper, the conventLonal north and south limits
of the Sierra Nevada will, be employed, i.e,, from about latitude 40 degrees
north, from the Feather River basin, south to the Tehachapi Pass (just east
ot the present town of Tehachapi ), at about latitude 35 degrees noc.rth-. The
region thus is scmerhing over 400 miles in length, and varie-s in width from
40 to 80 miles,

Th.e earAly geologic history of the range has little signiflicance in the

ccntext of thIs study, and even a brief recounting of events in late Tertiary
or earlN Quaternary periods would supply little meaningful background, exce;t

for rlte great amount of discussion which attended the announcement of evidence
of earlv man fou-nd in the aurlferous gravels of the Sierran focthxlls. Con-
trove-rsv about the evidence was active for about thirty years, from 1880 to
1910, Though the claimed association of human remains wlth pre-Pleistocene
sedimentary deposits and bones of animals now extinct has by now been dis-

credited. d ascription of the evldence and counter-evidence iLn tkhe affair may
reasonably constitute the begiLnning of the history of Si[erran arch.aeology,
The subject will be takan up in a following section0

I1t has! been calculated that the highest and. greatest uplift of the Sierra
Nevad.a took place in the Pliocene epoch (Matthes, op. cit0, pO 198) .  PrIor

to that, a l ong history of events may be traced, including itrregular, aiter-

nating periods of bowing up, faulting, erosion, stream cutting, and deposition
of andesitic and basaltic lavas.  The lavas covered old surfaces and fillled
the early stream channels as well, Significant volcanic activity continued,
but ultimately ceased, in the Pliocene (Jenkixns, 1948, p, 25;, Hinds, 1952,
p. 25). Finally, during the Pleistocene glacilation, old Tertiary surfaces.

and strieam. channels, together with their auriferous gravels, were resurrected.
Except f-or minor geolog1ical- activities such as continuing stream cutting, we
may assume that the physiography of the Sierra Nevada has remained virtually
uc4changed during all. the time that human beings have occupied t>he regionr.

Thus the range or series of ranges may be observed today essent-Aially as a

tremendouis til11ted block, witr.h tha eastern front presenti.ng a great fault es-
carpmient and the western side gradually sloping toward the Great Central.

Valle-y of California,  Whl.1e the grea.t mass of tl he Sierra Nevada is composed

off int-rus.Ive granitic rock, volcanic anid sedimentary rocks occuri iin profusion,
especially at lower altitudes, often, representing remnants of earlier wide-
spread forTar- ions,

Te p-rehi stotic inhabitants of the Si.era have left their meager

records on the -rocks in.n the form of grinding holes 1n the bedrock an.d of

petroglyphs, usually on massive outcrops or huge boulders of granite, In
addition, they exploited surface deposits of basalt and of a variety of

siliceous rock, principally obsidian, for their hunting and domestic Im-
plements.  Fragments of these implements are often found scattered about
the former open occupation spots of the Indians. Besides using the over-

hangs of granitic boulders for shelter, true caves or caverns in the lime-
stone belt, concentrated chiefly in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, were
utilized, though almost exclusively for burial chambers,

A corollary to the assumption concerned with the relative unchanging-
ness in recent times of Sierran topography is that the floral and faunal

resources of the Slerra Nevada were approximately the same in prehistoric
aboriginal times as they were when the flrst white men penetrated the re-
gion,, It seems to be true that the historic Indlans,, and probably their
predecessors as well, burnt off certain areas for specific purposes con-
nected with food getting.  Barrett and Gifford (1933, p. 140), Driver

(1937, p. 65), and Stewart (1941, p. 376), referring to the Miwok, Western
Mono, and Washo and Northern Paiute, respectively, all give instances of

burning by the Indians in order to improve the yield of seeds from certain
grasses or of other wild crops, such as tobacco. Heizer (1955, p, 10)

cites the opinion which ascribes the increase of forest land in the Sierra
Nevada (Yosemite region) to the cessation of Indians' burning the under-s
brush, and. states that, "It is noted by present day foresters that cows
and deer prefer to graze on recently burned over land, probably for the
reason that shoots from burned back brush and new grass growing in ash
compost contain more minerals which are attractlve to the animals)'

In any case, it appears that the only appreciable modification of the
landscape by the Indi.ans must have been related to burning practices, and

any great degree of alteration from these probably took place primarily in
the chaparral belt (see Map l)o* The higher altitude coniferous forests
probably were not greatly affected by the Indians,

So far as can be determlned, the Ind'ians were not responsible for the
extinction of any large game animals by over-hunting. Of the five large

mamallan species known to be hunted by the historic Sierran Indians, i ,e,,
the California mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), the mountain sheep (Ovis
canadensis), the pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana), the grizzly
bear (Ursus henshawi), and the black bear (Q. americanus), only the mule

deer remains in large numbers for the sport of present day hunters0 Since
the coming of the white man, the grizzly bear has become extinct in Cali-

*Explanation of county symbols used on Map 1 and all following maps may be
found in End Note 20

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fornia,  The black bear population has at times and in certain places been
reduced by killing by modern sportsmen or stockmen (Sumner and Dixon, 1953,
p. 303); the black. bear does not, however, like the bighorn or mountain
sheep and the antelope, seem in immlnent danger of extinction.

While it is true that the Sierra Nevadan geomorphic province as shown
by Jenkins (1938) includes all of the Californian life zones outlined by
Grinnell (op. cito ), the Lower Sonoran zone occupies but a small part at
the southern end of the province (see map 2), hence will. be considered

further i.n this paper as of only minor impor tance in any attempts to work
out relationships between cultural and environmental factors in the entire
region.

The life zone concept especially is convenient for description of

large areas characterlzed by a great range of altitude, as the Sierra Nevada.
Hall and Grinnell (1919, p. 38) have stated that life zones are altitudinal
or latitudinal only in a general way. They are primarily biologic, and are
affected by altitude or latitude only as these modify the climate. The

regular or unified quality of the Sierra Nevada as a geomorphic province

running approximately north and south is emphasized by the relatively close
correspondence between the life and climatic zones (see Maps 2, 3)0   On the
other hard. the effect of altitude is sometimes overshadowed by local con-
ditions, as when life zones are "depressed" in narrow valleys and canyons,
resulting from the flow of cold air down the canyons, especially at night,
or when the proximlty of a desert area elevates the posltion of life zones
on mountain slopes because of the warm ascending air currents.

Besides the influence of local conditions, the lack of truly sharp
demarcation in faunal or floral characters where two zones adjoin often

negates efforts at drawing exact correlations between culture elements and
life zones,, Barrett and Gifford (op. c    ,t,,3 p. 155) nevertheless have pre-
sented a table which correlates, in general, the cultural features of the

Northern, Central, and Southern Miwok with life zones in the Sierra Nevadan
region,

The iLdea of correlating aboriglinal human groups with life zones (see

Kroeber, 1955a, p. v:ii) in the Sierra Nevada must be attributed to CG Hart
Merriam, who wrote (191.4, p. 914)Q

"In the Sierra region the distribution of tribes conforms closely with

certain faunal bellts.  The high and colder bel.t, comprising the Boreal zones,
is not inhabited and only a few tribes go so high as the lower half of the
Transition zone, most of them living in the upper Sonoran or Digger pine

belt, which c.b ocCUpIeS the lower slopes and foothills.  All the way from Sacra-

mento Canyon to T:ehachapi, a distanCe of about 500 mLles, fully 95 per cent
of the SiLerra Indilans dwell, in this llife zone. Most of the trtbes live
wholly within it and not one lives wholly above itP `

Although there may exist some question in the identification of winter
as against summer occupation sites, it would appear, from comparison of Map

2 (life zones) with Map 6 (location of archaeological sites) that the Transi-
tlon life zone was easily as important as the Upper Sonoran zone in number of
archaeological sites.  Furthermore, Map 6 represents only the sites so far

known in the Sierra Nevada, especially in the hlgher altitudes,. The relatively
great number of sites lying in the Boreal zone, 1i,e,,, above 6000 feet (western
side of the Sierra), suggests that Merriam tended to understate the importance
of the summer occupation of that li.fe zorne.

Whether such cultural feature- life zone tables as that presented by

Barrett and Gifford (cp0 cit.) could be constructed for all the groups which

occupied parts of the Sierra is doubtful,   It is clear, for example, that the
Upper Sonoran and, Transit'ion life zones on the eastern s;ide of the main crest

are not the same as on the western side, Probably the two most important plant
species, the black oak   uercus kelloggii) and the pion (P1nu s monopylIa),

utilized by groups living at fairly high altitudes west and east., respectively,
of the main divlde, highlight the differences in altitude and life zone associ-
ation on the opposite sides of the range, The pi'Lonon is typi'cally an Upper

Sonoran species (Hall and Grinnell, op. cit. P,: p  52) which occurs in a long

belt on the eastern side and in but a few scattered localitites on the western
side of the range.; Its characteristic altitudinal range in the area of heavi-
est occurrence is 6000 8000 feet (Sudworth, 1908, P.O 35)3  The black. oak, in
contrast, Is typical of the Trans'it"ion zone (Hall and Grinnell, opO cit0, PO
57), yet cccurs characteristically at a lower altltude (1,500 to 6500 feet,
accordi,ng to Jepson, 1951, p. 277).

Ethnographic reports by Barrett and Gifford (op. cit)3 ;Steward (1933),

and Driver (op, cit,) indicate a wide range of plant and animal, foods utilized
in the Siexra Nevadan province,, Movements of people wlthin the province may
be understtood in terms of the inhabitants? collecting products seasonally,

follow'lng game such as deer, or of procuring products of limited natural dis-
trlbution by trade,

ETHNOGRAPHIC BAC KGROUND

I;n most of California, wlth the Sierra Nevada region certainly not ex-

cluded, ethnographic data and the use of the direct histori cal method (Heizer,

1941) have proved to be of incalculable value to archaeological research.

Essential identity of non-perishable culture elements known to be at least
late prehistoric in time, such as certain types of projectile points and
shell beads, with material positively associated with historic artifacts
(e.g., glass trade beads), gives a picture of probable steady occupation
dating perhaps from about 1000 A,,D, to the time of white contact in the

Sierra Nevada.  The transition between the putatively older cultures in the
region., such as the Martis Complex in the central and northern part of the
range (Heizer and Elsasser, 1953), and the Crane Flat culture in the Yosem-
ite region (Bennyhoff (1956), and the later culture referred to above is-
not well known, It cannot be demonstrated at present that the Martis or
Crane Flat peoples were ancestral to the people who were living in the
Sierra at the time of first contact with Europeans.

The ethnographic picture in the Sierra Nevada has been complicated by
the coming, first of the Spanish (ca, 1770) and then of the Americans,

Even though the Franciscan missionaries and the accompaniying soldiery did
not forcefully occupy the region at any time, their mere presence on the

coast, their occasional visits or crossings of the interior, and the effect
of Indian "escapees" from the missions (see Cook, 1943, pp. 56-90), while

perhaps not significantly altering the culture of the Sierra Nevadan groups,
must have had influences which later would be reflected in the testimony of
native informants or in the accounts of early European travelers concerning
the aboriginal way of life, Heizer (1958a, p. 21) calls attention to pass-

ages in the account of Zenas Leonard, for example, which refer to settlements
of Indians, in 1833, practicing agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley and
Delta, and in the Walker Pass area, The latter evidently were a renegade

group from Purissima Mission, who had brought to the Sierran region a tech-

nique not known before, and which could easily be diffused to the neighboring
native groups.

With the coming of the Americans after 1848, large sections of the Sierra
Nevada were irrevocably changed. The Nisenan, in the heart of the gold rush

country, were vilrtually annihilated as a cultural entity (Beals, 1933, p. 335),
and other groups were then or shortly thereafter strongly affected, whether or
not gold happened to occur in their territory.

In spite of these adverse circumstances, by 1925 California was ethno-
graphically one of the best known areas in the world,   Early accounts or

collections of accounts such as those of Powers (1877) and Bancroft (1883),

plus the systematic descriptions in the twentieth century by Kroeber, Dixon,

Barrett and Gifford, to mention the more important ethnographers in California,
have given a reasonable picture of life in that area before 1770e* The culture

*See End Note 1,

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element distribution lists developed at the University of California have

filled gaps in knowledge of certain areas and supplemented information from
already known groups.

With the tremendous numbers of ethnographic details available, and with
fairly precise delineations of linguistic relationships in native California
(see Map 4), we can make certain statements which may be of significance to
the archaeology of the Sierra Nevada:

(1) The patterns of exploitation of the land cut across linguistic

boundaries. Thus the material culture of the Sierra Miwok more closely re-

sembled that of the neighboring Maidu to the north than it did that of their
linguistic relatives, the Plains Miwok,   The Northfork Mono, for another ex-
ample, showed a closer affinity to the tribes of the western slope of the

Sierra Nevada than to their Shoshonean-speaking kin to the east of the crest
of the range (Gifford, 1932, p. 55). Dixon (1905, p. 346), referring primar-
ily to the Northern Maidu, has pointed out that, "the accordance of culture
with environment and the continuity of the areas of similar cultures, irre-

spective of linguistic boundaries, are evidences of long continued occupation
of the region by its present occupants03'

The universal practice of all Sierran ethnographic groups of moving with
the seasons, usually east and west, but in specific-territory, must indicate

an optimum method of survival in the given environment, and one of long stand-
ing.

(2) Observations of divergences in related languages, such as those in

the Shoshonean family, indicate that there is by no means a correspondence in
the time at which the different groups entered the territory which they occu-
pied in historic times, l.e., the geographic separation of the various groups
within the Sierran region itself apparently was not responsible for the diver-
gences in languages.   Instead, the separations of certain groups, as judged

linguistically, seem to have taken place long before their occupation of the

Sierran habitat, Thus Kroeber (1925, p. 605) noted the Tibatulabal situation
in the southern Sierra as similar to that of the neighboring Western Mono and
the Kawaiisu, with reference to topography and contact with aliens: "On the
other hand, their language is so thoroughly specialized as compared with that
of their neighbors . o . that it is clear that the TUbatulabal have lived
where they are now, or in the immediate vicinity, for a period of several
times as long as these two groups of kinsmen,"

Lamb (op. cit., p. 98), while warning that lexicostatistic figures can
be used only with great caution, quotes some dates arrived at by Morris

Swadesh in 1954. These would place the separation of Numic (which includes
Western Mono) and the TUbatulabalic language about 3000 years ago. Even

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if this figure is correct, it does not mean that the Ttbatulabal occupied

their present territory 3000 years ago, It does, however, give some notion
of the order of time involved in the probable early movements of some groups
in the Great Basin, groups which ultimately settled, but at different times,
in the Sierra Nevadan region,

Another instance which points up the difficulty of determining the time
of original settlement in presently known territory of ethnographic groups
is seen in the estimated fifty centuries representing the length of time

since the separation of Yana and Washo, both in the "Pacific Hokan" stock

(Kroeber, 1955b, p. 95).  In view of the relative geographical closeness of
these two groups (they are separated by a distance of 60 miles) in historic
times, Kroeber (loc. cit.) states:0 "It is evident . o . that they have been
separated not only for a long period but probably by considerable geographi-
cal interval. aai wel.,,"

(3) Ethnographic informants have been of little or no aid in establish-
ing points of origin or even migration routes used by their ancestors in

arriving at their historic localities. Even in the clear cut instances of

the Great Ba.sin orligin of the Western Mono and TtUbatulabal, no documentation

is available by native informants. In these cases, the general lack of migra-
tion myths among Basin Shoshonean speakers is partly responsible (Lowie, 1909,
p. 233).

(4) The barrier presented by the main crest of the Sierra was not, per
se, the chief factor which perpetuated cultural separation of ethnographic

groups. Most of the trans-Sierran trade recorded ethnographically took place
between the Western Mono and their linguistic kin in Owens Valley, and it

will be noted that this trade took place across the highest part of the range.
To the north9 and as the range becomes lower, trans-Sierran trade seems to
diminish, with the Northern Maidu evidently having little contact with the

Washo and Northern Paiute to the east (Dixon, 1905, p. 201),   Whether or not
a different trans-montane contact pattern obtained in prehistoric times, for
example in the time of the Martis culture, remains to be proved.

SUMMARY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION AND SURVEY
Early Finds

Any bibliography of the archaeology of California inevitably includes a
great number of items concerning the discovery of human bones and artifacts

supposedly associated with bones of extinct mammals in the auriferous gravels

of Tertiary age, chiefly in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.   Heizer (1948).,
for example, lists 45 references to the Calaveras Skull, 15 to the Tuolumne
Table Mountain finds, and 12 to miscellaneous auriferous gravel finds,

- 9 -

Possibly the main reason why the whole affair could not or cannot be
easily dismissed is that reliable scientists of the time, such as Josiah

Whitney, were aligned on the defensive side of the controversy. The finds

engaged the attention of contemporary Pleistocene geologists, and startling

evidence, much of it of questionable validity, was accumulated and published.
Skertchly, for example, in 1888 presented an article in the Journal of the
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland which described the
finding in Butte County, California, of about 300 stone mortars under a

basalt cap 25 to 100 feet thick. These were discovered during the course of
hydraulic mining. In this instance, the possibility of the mortars being

washed down from above in the mining operation was noted, but the weight of

evidence relating to previous finds in supposedly undisturbed gravels of com-
parable age was sufficient to encourage the observer to adhere to the theory
of at least Pleistocene association of the artifacts.

Again, Becker (1890) described, in the Bulletin of the Geological Society
of America, certain finds in tunnels or shafts penetrating the gravels under
the lava cap of Tuolumne Table Mountain in California. Becker also believed
that the finds dated from the Pleistocene, but offered as explanation of the
supposed association of the artifacts with bones of Pliocene mammals the

thesis that the Sierran glaciation was late, i.*e., that it followed the east-
ern glaciation:   "In short, then, it is not necessary to suppose that man

reached the neolithic age in California earlier than in Europe, if one supposes
that a remnant of Pliocene mammals survived on the Pacific Coast long after
the age which they characterized was past" (p. 197).

Reactions to the claimants of "auriferous gravel man" and other ancient
Sierran men were numerous, and for the most part tended to be entirely nega-
tive. Hrdlicka, for instance (1907), was instrumental in establishing posi-
tively that the "Calaveras Skull" was not of an ancient type of man. Holmes
(1899) and Sinclair (1908) offered no affirmation whatever to the possibility
of the legitimate association of the artifacts with the Tertiary gravels.

Inasmuch as a great part of the evidence was collected by miners and later
"tcorroborated" by means of affidavits and the like, it was not difficult to

dispute many of the claims and to offer alternative explanations for the finds
themselves.

Sinclair (op. cit., p. 30) concluded with this statement: "A review of
the evidence favoring the presence of the remains of man in the auriferous

gravels compels one to regard it as insufficient to establish the fact. On
the preceding pages, it has been shown either that there have been abundant

opportunities for the relics in question to be mixed with the gravels acciden-
tally, or that the geological conditions at the localities are such as to
render it improbable that the implements and bones have been associated in
the gravels to the extent supposed."

- 10 -

Examples of discoveries, even of definitely historic artifacts buried

under gravels, have been reported. Taylor (1862) refers to the recovery in
1860 of an arrastra (a rude drag-stone mill used by early white miners in
California) as follows:

"There is nothing remarkable about this discovery, although it has been

alluded to as an evidence that the gold mines were worked by an ancient people.
The arrastra was found five feet deep, in a flat, and was probably buried by
'tailings' from adjacent placer diggings, within the last six or eight years.

We have seen machinery buried by the same cause, to a depth of fifteen, twenty,
and even thirty feet. Some miners on the American River once found a penknife
under twenty feet of gravel, which looked as if it had been deposited for ages,
but they were forced to conclude that that claim had been worked before, es-

pecially after learning that the knife was the most precious thing it contained'
At some localities in the mines, where there is no outlet for the washings,

hundreds of acres of valley land, ravine, or gently sloping hillside, have been
covered to a great depth with tailings from diggings above."

Recent Excavation

While it may with some reason now be stated that the auriferous gravel

finds were not as represented, i.e., were not truly associated with Pliocene
or early Quaternary deposits, the question of an early "basement" culture in
the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, dating perhaps from more than 5000 years

ago, is still present. Treganza (1952) has described an entire assemblage of
stone tools positively associated with alluvial gravels near Farmington, on
the eastern edge of the San Joaquin Valley. It is thought that the gravels
were deposited at some time "as far back as the Victor epoch of the late

Pleistocene down to a period of several thousand years ago". (p. 10), The

artifact-bearing gravels at Farmington seem to underlie the more recent allu-
vial fill of the Great Central Valley of California.

It was not unexpected that caves in the limestone belt of the Sierran

foothills should ultimately come under close archaeological scrutiny0 Even
though human bones, occasionally associated with artifacts, had been found

more than 80 years ago in these caverns, it was not until a firm chronologi-
cal sequence had been established in Central California that it was possible
to estimate accurately the dates of the cave finds. Hawver Cave (see Wallace
and Lathrap, 1952) near Auburn, California, was destroyed by modern quarrying
operations some years ago, but certain of the artifacts recovered before

destruction were preserved for study. The provenience of these artifacts was
uncertain, and the number available for analysis was not sufficient to allow
important conclusionp about the position of the site in Sierran archaeology.
Nevertheless, it has been possible, on the basis of typological similarities

- 11 -

of lithic artifacts, tentatively to assign the specimens to the Middle Hori-
zon of the Central California sequence, which dates from about 1500 B.C. to

500 A.D. (Heizer, 1949, p. 39).  The deposits in Moaning Cave (Wallace, 1951)
and in Winslow Cave (Gonsalves, 1955) both contained typologically distinct

shell artifacts which are clearly comparable to specimens associated with the
Middle Horizon, and the age correlation with that horizon thus was on firmer
ground here than at Hawver Cave. All three of the caves mentioned appear to
have been used as mortuary chambers, and the artifacts recovered from them

were probably burial goods only. Wallace (op. cit., p. 35) states, however,
that "Neither Moaning Cave nor any of the other nearby limestone grottoes

seem to have been employed in recent times for entombing the dead. The Sierra
Miwok, historic inhabitants of the region, either cremated or interred deceased
tribesmen in rock-covered graves."

Deposits in neither the limestone caverns nor in two dry caves or shelters,
for example, discovered in the southern Sierra Nevada (Harrington, 1950; Heizer,
1951) disclosed evidence of a culture which could be placed in a local chrono-
logical sequence. Uniformly, the limestone caverns which contain identifiable
artifacts seem to be connected with the Middle Horizon of Central California,
while the dry shelters to the south appear to be late in time, and probably

correlate with the late prehistoric culture of the southem San Joaquin Valley
in one instance, and perhaps of the northern Mohave Desert in the other.

Archaeological material from open sites excavated in the southern Sierra
Nevada, two on the west side of the range, at Vermilion Valley (Lathrap and

Shutler, 1955) and at Slick Rock Village in Tulare County (Fenenga, 1952), and
one on the east side, in Owens Valley (Riddell, H. SO9 1951) was not amenable
to positive placement in a local sequence,* While there were hints of an

earlier culture manifestation in all three of these. sites, shown, for example,
in the presence of heavy, parallel-sided, concave based blades, also desig-

nated as large projectile points or "skinning knives" (Lathrap and Shutler, op.
cit., p. 234), the great majority of the specimens from the sites evidently
were associated with the late prehistoric or early historic periods of the

Owens Valley Paiute and with Mono and Yokuts groups on the western side of the
jmain crest of the Sierra. All three sites share pottery of a similar type

(Owens Valley Brown Ware; Lathrap and Shutler, ibid., p. 237), small, obsidian
triangular projectile points, including the Desert Side-notched form (Baumhoff
and Byrne, 1959), steatite disc beads, and glass trade beads.

The differences between the sites thus far excavated in the southern

Sierra Nevada are essentially minute, The resemblances of material from the
excavated sites, as well as the similarities between numerous surface or tem-
porary camp sites (see Table 1, below) in the higher altitudes of the region,
reflect a thriving prehistoric commerce across the range, especially in the

latitude of Owens Valley, In addition, the homogeneity of the sites suggests
* I e., in a sequence including appreciable portions of prehistoric time,

- 12 -

a widespread, integrated technique for exploiting the food resources of the
region.  For example, all of the excavated sites and a great number of the

temporary camp sites, especially those on the western side of the range, are
characterized by the presence of bedrock mortars, Though some minor differ-
ences in frequency of certaln. obsl-dian point types at different sites in the

region have been observed, these tend to be leveled out as more and more sites
are discovered and reported upon,

In the central and northern portions of the Sierra Nevada (exclusive of
the l'imestone belt already outlined), excavation and survey have served to
uncover probable late prehistoric or protohistoric stages of ethnographic

groups, Material from parts of Tommy Tucker Caxve (which actually is in the

northern Great BasLn, but which has certain affiliaticns, e g., 1.n projectile
point types, with sites in the Sierra Nevadan Provilnce) may be cited as repre-
senting Northern Paiute occupation (Fenenga and Riddell" 1949).  The Kings

Beach Complex, centered around Lake Tahoe (Heizer and Elsasser, 1953), seems

to represent a manifestation of the late prehistoric and protohistoriLc Washo,
whlle the Mariposa Complex in the Yosemite National Park region is equated

with the prehistoric and historic Miwok (Bennyhoff, 1956).  There are certain
notable differences in culture elements between the late complexes of the

southern part of the range and those of the central part, as follows. pottery
is absent in Yosemite, in the Kings Beach Complex, and in the northern part of
the range generally, The Kings Beach Complex does not share serrated. projec-
tile points or steatite disc beads with Yosemite and the southern Sierra

Nevada.  Further, although obsidian is used for implement manufacture in the
Kings Beach Complex, it is not used to the extent that it is in Yosemite and

in the southern Sierra Nevada, Projectile points often were made of chert and
other sil iceous materials, in addition to obsidian in the Kings Beach area and
among the ethnographic Washo as well.

Bedrock mortars seem to have been used predominantly in late prehistoric
times in the Sierra Nevada, although Bennyhoff (1956, p. 54) notes their use

for the Tamarack Complex in Yosemite National Park, which is tentatively dated
by him at somewhere between 500 A,D, and 1200 MAD, Certalnly the southern part
of the Sierra and the Yosemite region as well have been more intensively sur-
veyed than the northern part. Whether the much greater number of reports of

bedrock mortar sites to the south, is simply a reflection of different emphases
of archaeological survey projects, or of an actual dearth in the north of the
trai tr , is not known (see Table 1, below).

Turning now to the probable earlier cultures, which, however, are not

necessarily directly ancestral to those described immediately above, we may

note that only on the eastern side of the southern part of the range, in Owens
Valley, have any sites of supposed antiquity  been found, These are at Rose

Spring (Riddell, nA,d) -and at Little Lake (Harrlngton, 1957) .  At Little Lake

- 13 -

the chief evidence cited for the estimated age of 3000 to 4000 years of the
site is based upon several factors, including that of climatic change, and

on the presumed age of projectile points of the Pinto type (ibid., p. 70 ff.).
At Rose Spring, the deeply stratified site, in which pottery and small, tri-
angular "late" type projectile points were found only in the upper levels,
suggests an occupation beginning probably several thousand years ago.

In the northern part of the range, it is observed that Tommy Tucker

Cave, on the basis of comparison of preserved organic material as well as of
lithic material, may equate in time with the late phase of Lovelock Cave in
Nevada and, according to Riddell (1956a, p. 19), its initial occupation may

thus date at around 1 A.D, The Karlo site, an open Great Basin site not far
to the north of Tommy Tucker Cave, contains non-perishable material which

resembles that from probable early Middle Horizon sites in Central California,
from Lovelock Cave, and from Tommy Tucker Cave as well,   Material from the

latter site, however, is equated with a later phase of Karlo,   A C14 date of

2350 + 150 years has recently been obtained from the laboratory of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California (Sample LJ-76), which seems
to date part of the lower level of the Karlo site.

The Martis Complex, described by Heizer and Elsasser (op. cit.), is known,
from surface evidence only, to represent a local variant of a culture which

could be centered either in the Great Basin or in California. With regard to
age, its position was deemed to equate with the Middle Horizon of Central

California, It showed possible connection as well with the Southern Califor-
nia deserts., this connection being based on a similarity of some types of

Martis projectile points to Pinto points., as described by Rogers (1939) for

the Colorado-Mohave desert region. Excavations in Martis Complex sites have
been carried out, and results of these are set forth in a following section
of this paper.

Bennyhoff (1956) has found cultural stratification in Yosemite National
Park which enabled him to define an early complex (named Crane Flat) and a
late prehistoric and protohistoric manifestation (the Mariposa Complex),

Between these in time is a less completely known complex, the Tamarack., which
at the time of Bennyhoff0s work could only be summarily presented. It will
be shown in the next section of this paper that the Crane Flat and Tamarack
complexes both may have some affiliation with the Martis Complex,

Archaeological Site Survey

It has become apparent in the course of years that any general area

chosen for archaeological site survey in the Sierra Nevada will reveal signs
of Indians in certain expectable spots within that area. If it is rare to

- 14 -

find remains of camp sites on the tops of alpine peaks or in the depths of
extensive forests of yellow pine, for example, it is equally out. of the

ordi nary not to discover some evidence of prehistoric occupants in favorable
h.unting, fishing, or gathering spots, Thus, locations in the foothi.11s,
associated with or within easy distance of oak trees anrd water-, may show

dark soil midden deposlts appearing as mounds in open places, with perhaps
bedrock mortars at or near the sites .  At greater elevations, the signs of

mounds, which usually may characterize winter occupation, tend to disappear.
Camp sites, indicated by the presence of bedrock mortars and perhaps scat-
terings of chippage resultina from the manufacture of tools such as arrowv

points, yet remain, or even increase in number.  Finally, as the main crest
of the range is approached, only camp sites, without bedrock mortars, prob-
ably located with reference to game or trade trails, are to be found.,

In addition to these main types of occupation ev:idence are lesser num-
bers of petroglyph sites, quarry workshops, or sites assoclated with over-
hanging rock shelters, usually of granite.

Tables 1 and 2, below, summarize the number and kinds of sites which
have been recorded by the University of California Archaeological Survey

during approximately the last ten or twelve years. The numbers of each type
of site have been computed county by county, and the totals combined arbi-

trarily into four areas (Map 5)2 whi ch, however, may be described in a gen-
eral way as follows, (I) Northern Sierra; (II) Central Sierra; (l-IT) South-
ern Sierra; (IV) that part of the Sierra Nevada fronting on the Great Basin-

It may be seen on Map 6 that sites appear to be clustered in certain
areas, for instance, in the upper Tuolumne River Basin. As mentioned pre-

viously, in the case of the bedrock mortar sites of the southern Sierra, it
is not knonm whether these clusters reflect a true preponderance of Sites

in one area as against another, or are simply the result of intensive survey
in one area, to the relative neglect of another, Whatever the true situa-
tion, surveys by Bennyhoff (1956) in Yosemite National Park; by Melghan

(1955) in Mlono County, near the eastern side of the Sierra; by Heizer and

Elsasser (op. cit.) in the region centering about Lake Tahoe; by H, S. and
F. A. Riddell (1956) in Owens Valley; and by Hindes (1959) 'in the Hunting-
ton Lake region (Fresno County), have all revealed great numbers of sites
which were prevlously unreported, e.g., by modern local residents., native
informants, or by hikers and campers,

In some cases it has been possible solely by means of surface Survey
to ident'ify, if only tentatively, one or more culture complexes in sequen-
tial relationship. The Martis-Kings Beach sequence in the Central Sierrrz
(Heizer an.d Elsasser, op. cit.) has not been clearly demonstrated strati-

graphically to date., although each complex has retained its original identity,

- 15 -

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- 16 -

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- 17

Table 2

Elevations of Various Types of Sites in, the Sierra Nevada (Summary)

Areas I., II, III, IV

Site designation

Elevation                                   P          C0S

(feet            TC   Occ   BRM     P    BRM   C-S    BRM   C-S    QW    Total

over 11000         6                                                         6

10-11000        24                                                  1     25

9-10000        56            4                                           60
8- 9000        85            9                  1                        95
7  8000        89    17     37    2      1      1                 10    157
6- 7000        92     8     48    6             4                       158
5' 6000       112     6     47    3       1    10                  2    181
4- 5000       124    23    131   16     10     8     4      1          317
3- 4000       178    24     40   12      2      7            6     1    270
2- 3000        34    34     99    7     11      4     1            2    192
1- 2000        23    43     93    6      4      6     1            2    178
500- 1000        21    21     84   11       8     2     3            7    157

0-  500        12    11     32    2       2     2     1            4     66

Totals       856   187    624   65     39     45    10      7    29   1862

Meani

'rig of site designation symbols:
TC   - Temporary Camp
Occ  - Occupation

BRM  -  Bedrock Mortar
P    -  Petroglyph

C-S  -  Cave or Rockshelter
QW   - Quarry or Workshop

- 18 -

after investigatior. at several sites by excavation.  The sequence in Yosemite
National Park (Crane Flat-'Tamarack4Maripcoa complexes) has been confirmed

stratigraphically by excavation at several sites (Bennyhoff, 1956). No exca-
vation has yet been carried out for the express purpose of testing the valid-

ity of Meighan9s (1955, p. 13) statement that, "There appears [in Mono County]
to be a late protohistoric period chaaracterlzed by small corner-notched points
and an earlier period contaLning larger and coarser points of several varie-

ties0"  That there is an earlier period represented in the Mono County region
is also suggested by the report of K, A,, Dixon (1953) of large projectile

points resembling Sandia specimrens, found in Long Valley, in one of the five
zones into which Meighan (op. cito) divided the Mono County survey area.

In Tables 1 and 2, site designations fall into nine separate categories,
viz., (1) temporary camp, (2) occupation (village), (3) bedrock mortar, (4)

petroglyph, (5) petroglyphTbedrock mortar, (6) cave or rock shelter, (7) cave-
shelter with bedrock mortar associated, (8) cave-shelter with petroglyph asso-
ciated, (9) quarry or workshop.  A small number of sites display associations

of more than two of the identifying or defining characteristics of sites, ioeo,
a cave or rock shelter site, for example, may have associated bedrock mortars
and petroglyphs as well.  Inasmuch as the prime purpose of this summary of

recorded sites is to indicate a broad. settlement pattern or a pattern of pre-

historic land use, at any rate, such multiple-feature sites may be regarded as
insignificant in the broad outiine of Sierran archaeology,

Another possible inconsistency in the schema of Tables 1 and 2 may be

seen in the rationale for separat.ion of temporary camp and occupation (village)
sites from bedrock mortar or petroglyph sites proper.  It has been observed

that at or around many granitic exposures containi'ng bedrock mortars or petro-
glyphs are also other evidences of aboriginal camping refuse, such as bits of
pottery or perhaps scatterings of obsildianl chips.  On the other hand, some of
these bedrock mortar or petroglyph sites seem to be utterly devoid of any

such association. Thus it has been ccnsidered reasonable here to define "tem-
porary camp sites" on the bare m?niimum of evi.dence, not even including mortars
or petroglyphs,

In instances of open occupation (village) sites, where bedrock mortars
are present, but obvlously were. not the most important features of the site,
the occupation site is given the pri-mary heading, without inclusion of the

bedrock mortar designation, Open occupaticn sites with petroglyphs associated
are so rare as not to merit enumeration hiere,

With this perhaps unnecessarrily involved explanation of the site designa-
tions  employed in Tables 1 and 2, we may proceed with a description of the
main types of sites, in the order shown in the tables,

- 1.9 w

(1) Temporary camp sites. These are sites which characteristically
show no considerable refuse deposit and but little or no discoloration

(darkening) of soil to disti-Aguish the camping area proper from the sur-

rounding native soil. cover. However, temporary camp spots which were occu-
pied at later periods may exhibit a thin mantle of soil, perhaps darkened
by fires and by the deposition of organic food wastes by the aboriginal

campers. It is therefore suitable to distinguish certain temporary camp

sites from occupation sites by arbitrarily assuming a maximum depth of six
inches of deposit as marking the camp site, while any depth greater than

this would allow the occupation or village site designation. In practice,
it is usually not difficult to make the distinction, since so many sites

obviously do not contain midden deposit. Conversely, it is not always pos-

sible to make an accurate test of the midden depth without examining a fairly
large portion of the site--an activity sometimes not feasible in an extensive
areal survey, In the Sierra Nevada, temporary camp sites, even those which
evidently could only have been occupied seasonally, may be several hundred

yards in extent, with vast quantities of implement chippage scattered closely
on the entire camp surface, Such sites probably signify places which were
visited year after year by several families, simultaneously. Small sites,

where perhaps but one family, or even a single individual, might have camped
overnight, may be recognized by a modicum of chippage. In the Yosemite

National Park region, for example, Bennyhoff (1956, p. 12) designated as tem-
7 porary any spot from which at least five scattered obsidian flakes or one

complete artifact was recovered,

Temporary camp sites, as stated above, are often associated with bed-

rock mortars, and are usually located with reference to availability of water,
of good hunting spots., of hunting or trade trails (Hindes,, op, cit.), or as

at a natural salt lick for deer, It will be seen in Table 2 that even without
considering the frequent bedrock mortar association, more temporary camp sites
have been reported to date in the Sierra Nevada than any other type of site,

and that, excluding bedrock mortar sites, there are more temporary camp sites
than there are all other types of sites combined.

(2) Occupation sites, The word "occupation" as used here is not a feli-
citous term for description of a place which has been lived on long enough or
intensively enough to have developed a soil mass which can be referred to as

"midden" deposit,  Other words, such as "habitation" or "village" have approx-
imately equal disadvantages, hence "occupation" will serve here, but with
qualifications, Thus an occupation site should be thought of as an "open"l

site (as opposed to a cave or rock shelter), which, by its depth (greater than
six inches) of refuse deposit, indicates that a place was favorably enough
endowed with regard to food-getting activities to have attracted numbers of

persons year after year. Ordinarily, large occupation sites below 4000 feet
elevation, or the snow line, may be presumed to have been winter villages,

- 20 -

I I

Scale        -400
Teh  %40 miles

--County boundaries
I        -            .*           -- -State boundaries
I Gle-

/ e                                              0 a- -  .aLimits of the Sierra

Nevodan geomorphic

Y o%

Lek-6

1220             21120ais

MAP 5: Archaeological Site Location Areas in the Sierra Nevada   (see Table I )

Il

Scale

40 miles

-- -. County boundaries

State boundaries

....... Limits of the Sierro

Nevadan geomorphic
province

?'

O

41

\

3 7 e

A Arclhacological sites

1 190

MAP 6: Archaeological Site Locations in the Sierra Nevada (symbols represent one or more sites)

whtle the smaller sites at high altitudes (cf. figures of Area II, Table 1,
which show fourteen sites classified as occupation sites at an elevation

between 7000 :-d 8000 feet) probably were preferred summer-long camp grounds.
In all of the excavated sites known to the author in the Sierra Nevada or in

immediately adjacent regions, the depth of the midden deposit rarely has been
found to be more than about 52 inches,  The exceptions to this pattern are

the Rose Spring site, which has disclosed a stratified midden about ten feet
deep (Riddell, n.d.), and the Little Lake site, which shows a fairly compli-
cated soil stratigraphy, with at least one artifact being recovered at the
79-84 inch level (Harrington, 1957, p. 90).

Occupation sites are usually recognized by their mound-like appearance

and by discoloration of the soil in the immediate area of the midden deposit.
Sometimes a bizarre appearance of vegetation cover of the site gives a clue

to identification of soil which has been deposited or lived upon by man, In
the Sierra Nevada such site markers are not nearly so frequently noticed as
at lower elevations in California. However, one plant species (Wyethia

mollis, sometimes called "mule-ears") has been observed to have at least a
slight affinity for former occupation spots or other places that have been

disturbed by man. Sites evidently were located with reference to availabil-
ity of water, nearness of favorable food-gathering localities, and dryness.

Probably in order to avoid dampness, natural knolls and open places allowing
maximum exposure to the sun were often selected.

Included in the category of occupation sites are those spots which were
used as "cry circles" in historic times. Such sites have been precisely

identified, especially in the northern part of the range (in the territory
of the ethnographic Maidu). They were used in connection with the annrual

"burning" ceremony for the dead, and may today easily be recognized by the
presence on their surfaces of quantities of burnt glass trade beads, which,
according to Dixon (1905, p. 246), were only part of the vast quantity of
material, much of it perishable in the ceremonial fire, which was offered
the ghosts of the dead.

(3) Bedrock mortar sites, In that part of the Sierra Nevada west of

the main crest, bedrock mortar sites outnumber all other types of site. In

Area IV (Table 1), which includes Owens Valley and parts of Mono County, the
count of bedrock mortar sites includes some occurrences of bedrock metates
as well, This, taken with the common observations of portable metates and
of the general lack of portable stone mortars at temporary camp or occupa-

tion (village) sites in Owens Valley and in Mono County, would seem to indi-
cate specific adaptation of the bedrock mortar to acorns, While Steward's
ethnographic data for the Owens Valley Paiute (1933, p. 246) support this
view, and further assign the metate to use with other seeds (wild grass

and/or pinon?), there is some evidence that suggests a non-association of

- 21 -

acorns and bedrock mortars.  Meighan (1955, p. 12), Elsasser (1957, p. 7),
and Bennrsyhoft (1.956, p. 19) have all reported bedrock mortar sites outside
of the range cf oak, especially the black oak, the most important source of

acorns in the SiLerra Nevada,  In the case of Yosemite National Park, however,
however, Ben.nyhoff (boc, cit.) suggests that camps with bedrock mortars were
established above the limits of the oaks in upland valleys in order that the
Indians might more easily gather acorns produced on the upper slopes of the

adjacent canyons. Meighan's explanation (1boc. cit.) for the presence of bed-
rock mortars in the non-oak parts of Mono County, at least, is simply that

''such functional distinction as existed [between bedrock mortars and bedrock
or portable metates] was more likely based on differences in grinding tech-
niques (coarse grinding as against fine grinding perhaps) than on the seeds
used,"1

The frequency of occurrence of bedrock mortars in the Sierra Nevada

offers opportunities to estimate both the size and total length of occupation
of certain temporary camp or village sites, Bennyhoff (1956, p. 12) has pre-
sented a detailed and rigourous investigation of the possibility of explolta-
tion of data involving bedrock mortars for these estimates.  His assigning of
size of site based upon numbers of mortar holes3 in given granite exposures
in Yosemltne National Park is reasonable, though arbitrary.  However, he sug-

gests that with additional excavation at a variety of sites contaiLning bedrock
mortar holes, some metnod may result whereby the length of occupation of any

such Site mays be deduced from the number and depth of mortar holes,  Some data
are at hand as to the point at which an individual mortar hole was abandoned
(at 5 inch depth). At present, however, "Too many unknown factors exist to

warrant any refined estimate as to lIength of occupation of these sites.  The
depth to which each hole was worn is dependent not only upon the time factor,
but also upon the amount of unused space available for new holes, and the
advantages of comfort which might be associcated with a particular grinding

spot,, It is possible that each woman had some claim to a specific mortar hole
or holes, and the amount of use might vary with the individual" (ibid0., po 13),

(    Pe troglprh sites,  Accordi.ng to the subdivlision of California Into
petroglyph-pictograph areas bv Steward (1929), the Sierra Nevada includes two
sDecific areas, as follows: Area A (California east of the main crest of the
range, Area D (in the Tulare region, i.e., In the foothills of the western
slope of the southern part of the mountains),, In general, these two areas

correspond to a distinction between petroglyphs (Area A: geometric, i 0e0, cur-
v ilLnear or rectilinear incisions) and pictographs (Area D. painted, often

polychrome, and with. figures representing animals or men),  Exceptions to this
correspondence are seen in petroglyphs cut into float boulders found in the

western foothills of the central Sierra, and in pictographs, usually executed
with but one pigment (red) in Owens Valley. Since Stewardgs survey in 1929,

a great nu.mber of sites have been discovered by or reported to the University

22 -

of California Archaeological Survey, On the basls of these new data, there

seems to be no reason to modify the boundaries of the areas originally desig
nated,

The vast majority of Sierran petroglyphs are found on granite boulders,
either on horizontal. (ceiling) or vertical surfaces.  Local outcrops of cer-

tain metamorphic rocks, and in one case in Sierra County (Sie-1), of magnetite-
basalt, have, however., been utilized,  While there are several pictograph sites

found outside of the Tulare region, for example, those mentioned in Owens Valley,
or those i'n Yosemite National Park., these are nct nearly so elaborate in concept
as even the average examples shown in the Tule-Kaweah drainage basins in the

western foothills of the southern Sierra0, Furthermore, as Bennyhoff (1956, p.
22) has pointed out, the generally rectilinear eiements of the Yosemite picto-
graphs more nearly resemble those of the petroglyphs of the Mono Lake-Owens

Valley region than those of the Tulare region, and perhaps serve to demonstrate
the contact between the Miwok and the Paiute indicated by the ethnographic data0

The widespread distribution of the curvilinear style of petroglyphs in

Area A (eastern California and the Great Basin) suggests a greater age for it

than for the rectilinear style, which is restricted in distribution, and which
centers in the Owens Valley (Steward, 1,929, p. 220). Although the rectilinear
elements are found all along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada, a mlxture
of these with curvilinear elements may be observed at many sites. In one in-
stance at least., a site in Inyo County, not far to the north of Owens Valley,
rectilinear elements are found superimposed on curvilinear elements0

The most important, or at least the most extensive, petroglyph sites known
in the central and northern Sierra, ive , those at Hawley Lake (Sie-1); near

Donner Lake (Nev-5); and near Summit Soda Springs (Pla 26), seem, by inspection,
to show a dominance of curvilinear elements0,

Few petroglyph sites in California or Nevada have been subjected., to date,
to such extensive analysis of design elements and style as those at the Lago-

marsino site, in the Virginia Range, east of the Sierra Nevada, near the ethno-
graphic Northern Paiute-Washo boundary (Baumhoff, Heizer and Elsasser, 1958).
Until large numbers of petroglyph sites are so examined, and the results pub-
lished, no significant conclusions other than those set forth by Steward and

others can be drawn concerning the meaning and age of the petroglyphs.  Recent
attempts (ibid0 ) at explanation of the purpose of the petroglyphs have been

presented for the Lagomarsino site, and for certain sites in western and cen-

tral Nevada which were apparently placed in favorable (ambush) spots along game
trail.s (Heizer and Baumhoff?, op. cit0, p. 904). Whether or not the association
of game trail location with petroglyphs would obtain persistently in any but

the lower elevations on the eastern side of the Sierra, for example at Martis
Valley, north of Lake Tahoe, is yet to be determined0

- 23 -

(5)  Caves or rock shelters.  The few true caves, i.e., caverns in which
are dark or at least twilight zones even when the daylight outside is at a
maximum,, in the Sierra Nevada are almost all in limestone formations, and
evidently have been used prehistorically as mortuary chambers (see p. 12).
Rock shelters which are so situated as to permit the accumulation of a dry
deposit are even rarer than true caves, and the few Sierran cases recorded

to date (see p. 12), disclosed either (a) a burial chamber in a small "cave"

or shelter:- Ker=185 (Heizer (1951), or (b) a cache or storage spot (Harring-
ton, 1950). It is thus apparent that our chief concern in the Sierra Nevada
proper is with rock shelters with predominantly "wet" deposits.   Results of
limited excavation, as at site Alp-7, near Markleeville, or site 26-Dod

(Cave Rock) on the east shore of Lake Tahoe, in Nevada, have pointed to but
temporary occupation, probably during the summer time. Both Alp-7 and

26-Dod are in non-granitic formations and present quite adequate overhang
shelter for perhaps several families, Site 26-Do1 is by far the more im-
pressive of the two shelters in appearance, and a "tunnel" in the rear of

the shelter almost could be termed a true cave. It is perhaps significant

that of these two shelters, both in Washo territory, only the smaller, less
spectacular one (Alp-7) contains specimens associated with the Kings Beach
Complex., which has been identified as the late prehistoric or protohistoric
manifestation of the ethnographic Washo, The Cave Rock (26-Do-1) site in
Nevada and the limestone mortuary caverns of the western Sierran foothills
show a paral.lel in that they seemingly were avoided by the historic Washo

and Miwok, respectively, as representing the abodes of "wild men" or "giants"
(Heizer and Elsasser, op. cit., p. 9; Wallace, op. cit., p. 35).

The great majority of Sierran rock shelters are formed from overhanging
granitic masses, These do not often provide any appreciable overhead shel-
ter, hence it is not surprising to find little evidence of midden deposit

under many of the shelters.   On the other hand, in the Tulare petroglyph re-
gion (Steward's "Area D"), granite overhangs frequently were utilized as

shelter for pictograph groups, and are certainly a contributing factor in
the preservation of the latter, If rock paintings which characterize the
Tulare region were executed on exposed rocks, one could surmise that they
would survive for but relatively few years, as compared to the decades or

perhaps even centuries which have presumably elapsed since the drawings in
protected spots were made,

(6) Quarry-workshop sites, Although quarry or workshop sites are the
least important, numerically, of all the main types of sites outlined here,
they are emphatically not unimportant in the total picture of Sierran arch-

aeology,  Indications of quarrying or workshop activities reflect the extent
to which certain groups utilized a local resource or perhaps were willing
to travel in order to obtain desired materials for hunting, decorative, or
domestic implements.

- 24 -

Quarries may be outcrops where, with a minimum of work, the preferred
material might have been obtained.   For example, merely scratching the sur-
face at a certain spot might produce the sought-after substance0 On the

other hand, some products were evidently secured only after breaking down

the parent material with stone picks or the like, Heizer and Treganza, in
the most comprehensive publication on California mines and quarries (1944,
p. 302), state that in the case of steatite, "Shallow depressions near the
outcrop indicate that the Indian went to some depth in order to obtain un-

weathered chunks."  In one instance at least., a "mine," in the conventional
modern sense of an actual pit or hole in the ground., seems to have been
utilized by the Maidu Indians as a source of flint (ibid., p. 303),

Workshops may be located in direct assoclation with quarries proper,

or they may be separated from the source point of the material by relatively
great distances,  Near Taboose Pass, in Inyo County, for example, at an ele-
vation of over 10,000 feet, where no obsidian outcrop is known to occur, is
a thick scattering of obsidian flakes and rejected chunks surrounding the

trail over the pass, The obsidian is presumed to have been collected in the
Owens Valley region.  Why it was taken to such a high spot for working is

not known, Perhaps Taboose Pass is on a migratory game trail, and the Indians,
while waiting for the animals to arrive at the spot, passed the time in fash-
ioning arrow points or other implements.

It is clear that observation of the locations of the sources of implement
material may be of value in helping to determine the reason for numerous

trails or trade routes over and along the flanks of the Sierra Nevada, in the
archaeological as well as in the ethnographic period. The best variety of
obsidian, and probably the majority of it, for example, came from the east

side of the Sierra (Inyo or Mono Counties), and the trade for obsidlan from

the Paiute territory is consequently given most prominent notice in the ethno-
graphic record (see Sample, op. cit,, pp0 12, 17.19),, Steatlte sources, on
the other hand., have been reported only on the western side, and steatite

seems to have been used frequently in foothill sites along that side of the
range. It is found only in relatively reduced quantity (as beads, or occa-
sional bowl sherds, for example) in Owens Valley sites,

Usable sources of flint, quartz crystal., and chrysoprase (a variety of
chalcedony) have been reported only on the western side of the mountains as
well, Hematite and chalk., both probably used for face paint, occurred at a

few sites on both sides of the main crest (Heizer and Treganza, op. cit..9 pp.
317' 320),

Some trace of procurement activities connected with all of the material
so far mentioned, except perhaps quartz crystals, may be expected to have

been left by the Indians,  Evidence of artificial alteration of the surfaces

- 25 -

of certain outcrops and scattered spalls, blanks, or fragments of rejected,
partially worked implements near or at the outcrop may identify the site
positively as an aboriginal quarry-

Gathering of mineral commodities such as salt, clay, or asphaltum (in
seeps) would not necessarily leave any tangible evidence of removal; hence
sites where these were available and utilized can usually be identified by
the close proximity of a camp spot (with obsidian chippage on the surface,
for example) or by the testimony of ethnographic informants,

Discussion of Site Distribution

Enough has been said so far to allow the suggestion that in aboriginal

times in the Sierra Nevadan province, little or no land, even at the highest
elevations, was unknown to the Indians. A table of peak elevations for the

Sierra Nevada, such as that constructed by LeConte (1903), reveals that there
are but two peaks exceeding 12,000 feet in height north of the 38th parallel
(approximately in the latitude of Mono Lake or Lake Eleanor in Yosemite

National Park). Between the 38th and the 36th parallels, i.e., in the south-
ern half of the range, however are 140 peaks of over 12,000 feet elevation;

eight of these, including Mt. Whitney, are over 14,000 feet high. These fig-
ures indicate a loftier general aspect in the southern part of the range

rather than a mere multiplicity of high peaks rising like slender towers in
a limited part of the range.

Paradoxically, it is in or adjacent to this highest section of the

range that the majority of archaeological sites have so far been located in
the Sierra Nevada. Furthermore, it is here that those sites of over 4000

feet elevation, which is taken as the approximate dividing line between sum-
mer and winter habitation, appear most frequently. The possibility of this
southern preponderance being based upon more extensive survey there than in

the north has already been discussed, If it turns out in subsequent investi-
gation that the southern portion of the range actually does contain many more
sites than the northern portion, we may then infer tentatively that one of
the main reasons for 'this phenomenon has to do with the linguistic kinship

and possibly therefore the increased trading propensities of the Owens Valley
Paiute and the Western Mono,  It is suggested here that the Western Mono

entered their present territory somewhere around 1300 A,D,o and that associ-

ation across the high crest of the Sierra Nevada with the Owens Valley Paiute
has continued since that time, The suggested date is based archaeologically
upon evidence from the distribution of the Desert Side-notched projectile
point., and of pottery (see following section),

While the neighboring Miwok, to the north of the Western Mono, apparently

- 26 -

also engaged in trade across the mountains with the Owens Valley Paiute, it
seems to be true that such intercourse did not approach the intensity that

obtained between the Western Mono and the Owens Valley people. Barrett and
Gifford (op. cit., p. 271) express this by noting that, "This mountain bar-
rier [the Sierra Nevada) was no doubt an important factor in hindering the
Miwok absorption of Great Basin cultural traits, The Ghost Dance cults of
1870 and 1890 are cases in point. The influence of the 1870 form did not
reach the Miwok direct from its Paiute originators to the east, but only
through the medium of central Californian people to the west."

The Washo certainly had trans-montane commerce with both the Miwok and
the Maidu (Barrett, 1917), Again, however, there is no clear evidence that

such relationships were particularly cordial, and Dixon (1905, p. 201) states
that there seems to have been little trade or intercourse between the North-
ern [Mountain] Maidu and the Paiute or Washo, Littlejohn (1929, p. 779)

quotes one informant as saying that warfare was frequent between the North-
eastern Maidu and the Washo.

Comparison of the general topography between the northern and southern
parts of the Sierra Nevada reveals a single, strong "backbone" aspect in the

south which is not present in the north. Thus, in the relatively lower, more
broken, northern ranges, low gaps or otherwise easy routes penetrating what

amounts to a single mountain wall are much less frequently noted, According-
ly, it seems that aboriginal travel across the northern part of the range was
not confined to a series of well-known passes, but rather was more haphazard,
i.e., any trail over the lower ranges, however little used previously, could

have been utilized, Unfortunately, such a pattern of travel has not yet been
determined archaeologically or ethnographically.

Aside from the frequently used passes, including those like Sonora or

Tioga, over which modern automobile roads have been built, there are numerous
small, high altitude passes, both on the north-south trending ranges as well
as on the east-west divides of the southern Sierra Nevada, Livermore (1942,
pp. 59-64), for example, has listed more than fifty passes in the southern

part of the range. These were, to be sure, not all utilized by the Indians,
since there are historic records, many of them published in the Sierra Club
Bulletins (e.g., Keough, 1918), that speak of trail blazing as well as the

stabilization or improvement of trails in extremely difficult spots (for pack
animals) on routes which presumably would not have been used by the Indians.
It may be surmised also that the great numbers of sheepherders who brought

their animals to the high Sierran meadows followed established Indian trails
(Versteeg, 1923), and in some cases obliterated evidence of Indian use of

the trails. In any case, there is archaeological eviAence that trails lead-
ing over most of the important Sierran passes were utilized by Indians.

- 27 -

We may mentlon such passes, associated wlth trails, roughly from north
to south, as Yuba, Donner, Echo, Carson, Ebbetts, Sonora, Tioga, Donohue,

Parker, Tuolumne, Kaiser, McGee, Hopkins, Mono, Italy, Pine Creek, Paiute,

Bishop, Knapsack, Cottonwood, Olancha, and Walker Passes. Some passes, like
Mammoth or Kearsarge, are mentioned as being used by the Owens Valley Paiute
(Steward, 1933, p., 329), but have not as yet been examined by any archaeolog-
ical survey known to the author,

Archaeological and ethnographic evidence of use of high elevation trails
and passes is of value chiefly because lt bears out the thesis that all areas

of the Sierra Nevada, even those above the timber line, were known or utilized
by inhabitants on both sides of the range, It should be recognized, in addi-
tion, that whatever the discrepancy in numbers of known sites, trails, or

passes between the northern and southern parts of the range, seasonal occupa-

tion and use, which ultimately covered the entire range at virtually all alti-
tudes, must have started several thousand years ago, The widespread distribu-
tion of the Martis Complex, generally in,-the northern part of the range, sug-

gests a relatively homogeneous local culture, probably representing a seasonal
adaptation to an economy based on the hunting of large mammals. This culture
seems not to have been subject to such natural boundaries as existed between
the Maidu and the Washo in ethnographic times. Evidence of a hunting culture
similar to the Martis culture in the southern part of the range is as yet
lacking.

During the ethnographic period, and probably in the late prehistoric

period of Sierran archaeology, the situation outlined above was apparently

reversed, i.e., an essentially uniform widespread culture, based on trade as

well as on hunting, seems to dominate the southern part of the ranges In the
north the linguistic differences between the Penutian-speaking Maidu and

Miwok, and such groups as the Washo and the Northern or Owens Valley Paiute
on the eastern side of the range were emphasized by a relative lack of trade
or other intercourse.

Ample reasons have been recorded for the almost total exploitation and

seasonal occupation of the Sierra Nevada, These include such diverse factors
as the following of deer and other large mammals; procurement of desirable

plant foods available in the summer time only (Powers, op. cit.; Muir, 1913);
health (Derby, 1933); and possibly aesthetics (Elsasser, op. cit.). It may

be stated, therefore, that although trans-montane trade was probably more im-
portant in the south than in the north., it did not offer the only inducement
to the Indians to occupy the high altitude land during the summer.

28 -

Archaeological Time Markers in the Sierra Nevada

Artifact types whtich c--an be used. for approximate dating in the Sierra
Nevada are relatively rare,O Beats:Lones (atlat.i weights?) and "large" pro-

jectile points (i.e., thoso consistently wei..ghing more than 3 grams) may be
mentioned. tentatively for the Martis Complex, and l.arge projectile points
only for the presumed early comr.plexes of the archaeological sequence in

Yosemite NatLional Park (Bennyhoff, 1956).  For the later cultures, mostly
zn th.e southern part, of the rarnge, potterv, steatite arrow st-aighteners,
and certain tvpes of small triangular points appear to qualify as time

markers, since thiey can be placed fairly deflLnitely in the local chronolog-
ical sequence (usually late Drehistoric-protohistoric-historic) and may be
related to known sequences elsewhere to the east,

M.ost of the projectile poL.nt types from the Martis Complex, although
they resemble in a general way points occurring in the Middle Horizon of
the Cent-ral Cal.ifornia sequence, have not as yet been found amenable to

classification in terms of their historical meaning, hence are at present

practically valueless as time markers. The great majority of the projectile
points found in excavations at MartiLrs Complex sites and in the earlier com-
plexes in the Yosemite region as well do not demonstrate an-y specific motor
habits of the kind which would. produce a dominant type of point durlng a

particular segment of the cecupation period to wh ich they have been asslgned.
The specimens recovered generally cannot. be shown, without additional excava-
tion, to have sufficient cultural association in time or area to merit any

more than treatment in purely descriptive expressions, such as "shouldered,"
"tanged," and the like,o

Variants of the so-called. Pinto type of projectile point, or at least
types which resemble the latter- occur frequently in the Marti,s, Mono, and

Yosemite areas (Heizer and Elsasser, op. ci1t; Meighan, 1955; Bennyhoff, 1956).
If all the claims which have been made fox the early date of this type of

point in western North America were consistent , it could have some value as

a time marker,  However, Lister (1953, p. 265) notes that estimates of age of
points resembling, if not in fact, Pinto points, from more than seventeen

sites iLn the western United States, vary a. great deal (range shonm is from
Pueblo II tines to 10,000 years ago), Although the "stenmed, indented base
point" wall. might occur "between the Folsom and recent Horizons" (ibid.),

this kind of span is almost without meaning when applied to Sierra Nevadan
archaeology,,

If the use of the so-called boatstones as atlatl weights may be ques-

tioned, there seems little doubt that their time of occurrence in the Sierra
Nevada was during a period corresponding to the Middle Horizon in Central

Californla (ca. 1.500 B.C;, to 300 A,,D,),  This J.S supported by the fact that

- 29 -

such specimens have been found in two sites identified as of Middle Horizon
affiliation in the Sacramento Valley.  Moreover thev have never been found

in any late aLrchaeological contexts in California (Heizer and Elsasser, op.

cit., p. 25).  SinCe publication of the report on the Martis Complex in 1953,
several additLional boatstones have been reported from Owens Valley (Riddell
and Riddell, op. cit., p. 30), and from the Martis area, e.g., from sites

near Hobart Mills and Lake Almanor in California (personal communication with
F, A. Riddell),, In addition, two specimens were recovered at the Karlo site,

where supposed atlatl hooks of bone and stone also were found (Riddell, 1,956c.,
p. 46).

Several excaviatilons in the Marris area during the past five years, how-,
ever, have fai.led to yield boatstones.  This is significant only in the case
of the excavation of site Nev-15, in the western foothills of the Sierra

Nevada,  At this site, where a large number of Martis type points of a size
and weight which might suggest use as atlatl darts rather than arrow points
were found, one coul.d reasonably expect also to find at least one boatstone
or atlatl weight to confirm the association of "heavy" points and weighted
throwing sticks,

Turning now to late time markers in the southern part of the range, we
may first examine pottery. The only type of pottery found in significant

quantity in the Sierra Nevada and immediately outside its eastern and western
borders falls -?nto the category which has been named Owens Valley Brown Ware
(Riddell,A H, So,, 1951; see also Gayton, 1929),  This ware may be character-
ized briefly as a reiatively crude, unpainted, unslipped type of coiled,

scraped pottery that has been fired "in an oxidizing atmosphere" (Riddell,

H, S., op, Cit., p,, 20), resulting in surface color ranging from grayblack
to redhbrownO, The pottery occasionally has handles or lugs, and is rarely
decorated with. single or double bands of finger-nail impressions. Round or

flat bowls and conical, flanged forms are those usually described as distinc-
tive of this ware,  Owens Valley Brown Ware has a Sierran distribution as

shown on Map 7, where each triangle on the map may represent one or several

archaeological sites which contain pottery. The numbers of si,tes, by CoLtnty,
recorded to date irn the files of the University of California Archaeological
Survey, where this ware occurs in the region under consideration, are as

follows    c Monc, 3 sites; Madera, 2 sites; Fresno, 18 sites; Tulare, 12 sites;
Kern, 12 sites; Inyo, 169 sites, Map 7 shows the known westernmost point of
archaeological distribution in the San Joaquin 'Val.ley, in the ethnographic
Yokuts area9 bu t does not show the eastern limits of the type which include
a fairly large segment of Inyo County east of Owens Valley (ibid,, Map 2)"

Although the distribution of Owens Valley Brown Ware, as described by

Riddell, certainly seems centered in Owens Valley, recent investigation (e.g.,
by Prince., n,d,) has tended to place this ware as a subtype of a widely rang-

- 30

Scole

40 miles

-- - County boundaries
-- Stoto boundaries

,       Limits of the Sierro

Nevadon geomorphic
province

Al

0

47

A

A Pottery Sites

MAP 7: Pottery Sites in the Sierra Nevadan and Adjacent Regions

ing type of pottery in the Great Basin which includes ethnographic Shoshoni

(Steward, 1941) and Southern Palute Utllity Wares (Baldwin, 1950).  This con-
cept underscores the overlapping of traits shown by the three subtypes of the
widely rangilng type, thus tends in turn to alter the distributional picture,
to the east, of Owens Valley Brown Ware proper0

On the basis of such differences or resemblances as do exist between the
putative subtypes, it would seem that the nearest relative and perhaps the

progenitor of Owens Valley Brown Ware tis Shoshoni Ware (Eberhart, n,d,, p. 69).
This ware has been identified in sites in eastern Nevada, western Utah, south-
ern Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.  In no case is its placement in any of these
areas prior to 1300 A,D. (cf,, e.g., Rudy, 1953, Enger, 1950), and 1300 A,D.

is therefore taken as the earliest date at which Owens Valley Brown Ware could
have been made in California (Eberhart, op. cit., p. 73)0 In those reports
concerning the subject of Owens Valley Brown Ware where dates are mentioned

specifically, however, its occurrence in California is placed at a much later

date than 1300 A,DI,  For example, H, SO Riddell (op. cit., pp. 23-24) suggests
some time after 1650 A.D, for its appearance in the type site in Owens Valley
(Iny-2), while Meighan (1953, p. 189) believes that there was no pottery,

either Southern Paiute Utility Ware or Owens Valley Brown Ware, in the Death
Valley region before 1700 A ,D,

Complementing Owens Valley Brown Ware at many sites., but with a much

wider distribution in the Sierra Nevada, are one or another of the following
five types of small., light, triangular projectile points:  (1) simple triang-
ular with straight base; (2) simple: triangular with concave base; (3) side-
notched, straight based; (4) side-notched, concave based; (5) side-notched,

end-notched (or with' "V'0 shaped base), All of these types have been found at
protohistoric and historic sites in California, Bennyhoff (1956, pp. 35-39),

in connection with his finding in Yosemite National Park, has summarized their
occurrence in California and to some extent in the Great Basin and the South-
west. Eberhart (op. cit.) has made a detailed study of the literature con-

cerning all but the first type of the point outlined above (simple triangular
with straight base), in the western United States, This includes a list of

regions outside of California where the remaining four types have been noted,

and the most probable times of their occurrence.4   Finally, Baumhoff and Byrne
(op, cit,,) have completed a study of triangular side-notched, concave, or

notched based forms which represent, following statistical analysis, four sub-
types of the generalized form prevlously designated "Desert Side-notched" by

Baumhoff (1957, p, 10) .  The subtypes which have been found in the Sierra are
named. by Baumhoff and Byrne as follows:,  (a) "General" subtype (side-notched,
concave based), As the name implies., the distribution of this subtype in-

cludes all of the Sierra Nevadan province, without regard to elevation. (b)
"Delta" subtype (side-notched, with "V" shaped base), This subtype appears

frequently in the delta region of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers.   It shows,

- 31

however, a continuous distribution from the ethnographic central Sierran

Washo territory (Kings Beach Complex area) through Maidu, Plains Miwok, and
into Yokuts territory.  (c) "Sierra" subtype (side-notched, end notched).

Points in this category have been found throughout the length of the Sierra
Nevada, but seem never to occur in the province below 5000 feet elevation.

Data from the Great Basin, the Southwest, and Central California sug-

gest an eastern origin, with relation to California, for the small triangular
points. The probable date of origin to the east (specifically, the Southwest)
was somewhere between 800 and 1000 A.D. (see End Note 4). While there might

have been an independent development of certain of the subtypes of the Desert

side-notched points (judging from its distribution, the "Delta" subtype, for
example, could have had its source in the western foothills of the Sierra

Nevada [Baumhoff and Byrne, op. cit.]), it seems that the general direction of
diffusion of small triangular points into California was also from the South-
west.

Specimens representing both "General" and "Delta" subtypes of Desert side-

notched points have been found in lowland sites in the Sacramento Valley, dating
from probably terminal Phase I, Late Horizon of the Central California sequence
(ibid.) Late Phase I in this sequence is thought now to extend from 1100 A.D.

to 1600? A.D. (see Heizer, 1958b, p. 6).  If we take 1500 A.D., therefore, as at
least a tentative date for the earliest introduction of these two subtypes into
Central California, we may then allow another time lag, and suggest (after

Baumhoff and Byrne) that at least some representatives of the small triangular

side-notched types of point reached Owens Valley and the southern Sierra between
1300 A.D. and 1400 A.D., and gradually moved west and north in the Sierra Nevada,
finally reaching the northen part of the range and the Sacramento Valley between
1500 A.D. and 1600 A.D. There is some evidence that the "Sierra" subtype of

Desert side-notched points entered the mountains or other regions of California
slightly later than the other two subtypes (unpublished data on excavations in
Northern California by J. A. Bennyhoff).

For the non-side-notched points, and for the side-notched, straight based
form, it is not possible, on the basis of data available, to present such a
rel'atively refined estimate of the time of first appearance as shown for the

other types., i.e.., the side-notched, concave, notched (or "V't shaped) base pro-
jectile points.

Steatite disc beads and steatite arrow shaft straighteners both seem to
have a distribution in the Sierra Nevada limited to the southern part of the
range, and both seem to occur in late prehistoric or historic archaeological

contexts. It is possible that future investigation will reveal northern Sierra
occurrences of steatite disc beads, since it is known that they have a wider

non-Sierran distribution in California than the arrow shaft straighteners (cf.

- 32 -

Beardsley, 1954, p. 79; Fenenga, op., cit., p. 345).  It has already been
rLoted that at southern Sierran sites such as the Slick Rock Village site

(Fenenga, ib3id), site Iny-2 (H. SO Riddell, op. cit.), the Vermilion Valley
site (Lathrap and Shutler, op. cit.), and at sites identified as late pre-
hi-storic or historic in Yosemite National Park (Bennyhoff, 1956) steatite

disc beads have been found in excavations,G In all but the last case, glass
trade beads were also found in the same deposits with these beads,

Steatite shaft straighteners seem to be lacking, ethnographically or

archaeologically, in the northern portions of the Sierra Nevada as well as

in Northern California generally (Eberhart, op., cit.). Apparently the two-7
piece shaft straightener, or more properly "smoother" (see Dixon, 1905, p.

135 for illustration of a Northern Maidu sandstone smoother, referred to as
an "?arrow straightener"), has a marked northern distributiono  In at least

two instances, one in the southern Sierra (site Fre-123; field notes on file
at the University of California Archaeological Survey, Berkeley) and one in

the southern San Joaquin Valley (site Ker-74, Riddell, 1951a), steatite shaft
straighiteners, steatite disc beads, and glass trade beads have been found
associated in the same deposits$

Summarizing the status of time markers in Slerran archaeology, it is

seen that aside from the boatstone, the types of artifacts which can be thus
categorlzed are late prehistoric in time, with their period of use extendinrig
into the full.1 histor'i'c period, In certain cases, for example, with several

of the small triangular projectlle point types, reasonably exact interpreta.-
tlons of directi-on cf movement or time of origin may be based on documentat

tion of occurrence and time estimates in the Southwest or in Central Califor-
n1ia, where cultural chronologies have been worked out with a degree of exact-,
itude not yet found posslble in the Sierra Nevada,   It follows from this that
any changes or modifications of chronology in either the Southwest or Central
California will demand adjustments in the calculations for the time of the
Sierran occurrences,

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THREE MARTIS COMPLEX SITES
Site Nev 15

Description of Site,   In terms of artifacts recovered, Nev-15 is the

most important Martis type site excavated to date.   Its location (see Map 10)
is far to the west of the supposed center of the Martis area (e.g., site

Pla 5) on the western sLde of the main Sierran crest and at a lower elevation
(ca. 2 400 feet) than the majority of Martis type sites previously reported
(Heizer and Elsasser, op. cit,,).  These factors also give importance to the
site as an ald in interpreting the position of the Martis Complex in Sierra
Nevadan archaeology.

- 33 -

* Nev-15 was first reported to the University of California Archaeological
Survey in 1953, by James Fogarty of Oakland., California.  Specimens shown at

the time of recording immediately were seen to resemble those published earlier
in the year by Hetzer and Elsasser, and were identified as belonging to the

Martis Complexo A subsequent visit to Nev-15 disclosed an extensive site about
200 feet in diameter, with a midden deposit of dark soil capping a small, natu-

ral knoll1, The soil surrounding the knoll is of the red, lateritic type charac
teristic of large parts of the western rfoothill regions of the northern Sierra

Nevada.  The soil type seems to correspond closely to what has been described as
Aiken clay loam (Watson and Hannon, 1.921, p. 25), The midden soil is a darkish,
sandy loam with a friable texture and evidently of a highly permeable nature,

The site is located about two miles due east of the Gold Rush town of North
San Juan, on a low ridge which separates Shady Creek, to the south, from the

Middle Fork of the Yuba River, about one and one-half miles to the north, The
immediate water supply for the inhabitants of the site probably was a small,
permanent spring close to the north edge of the site,

Nev-15 lies at the lower range of the Transition life zone (cf. Maps 2, 10).
Plant species near the site, in small canyons and on neighboring ridges, consist
of typical Upper Sonoran and Transition zone species, such as the black oak

(Quercus kelloggii), digger and (predominantly) ponderosa pine (Pinus sabiniana

and ponderosa), madrone (Arbutus menziesii), incense cedar (Libocedrus decurrens),
manzanita (Arotostaphylos manzanita and other species), and (rarely) buckeye
LAesculus californica).

The situation of the site seems ideal for a relatively permanent type of
village.  It is favorably located with regard to plant species, as indicated
above, and in addition seems to be within the winter range of the deer (Long-

hurst Leopold, and Dasmann, 1952, p. 24),   Although few or no bones of animals,
including deer, wezre found in the midden deposi.t, which could be designated

aboriginal food remains, it is bellieved that at. the time of occupation of the

sit.e an abundance of mammalian and avian species must have been available to and
utilized by the inhabitants.  Possibly the same factors which contribute to the
red color of the soil. are at least partially responsible for the disintegration
of food bone, whether rejected casually or concentrated in refuse heaps,,

The 1954 Excavation, When it was realized that MartisUlike material was

present in a site which contained a midden deposit, plans were made to excavate,
Accordingly, under the direction of R. F., Heizer, a class in archaeological

methods spent about five weeks during the summer of 1954 at the site,, Follow-
ing a prepared grid system (see Map 8), about, 75 test pits, 5 by 5 feet on

their sides, were excavated, thus gilving the deeper portions of the site almost
complete coverage,  Although some of the pits near the certer proved to be

- 34

IU  1  14 16j 18  20 22 24 2G6t'              Scale "

0       20ff

fences

t  '          contour interval = I ft.

~--*-/                         (Datum B located at Az. 3120

from Datum A).

excavation unit = E

MAP 8- Site Map of Nev-15

about 40 inches deep, the average depth of all the pits dug was about 24

inches.  With these figures, it may be calculated that about 140 cubic yards
of soil were excavated during the entire project.

Part of the midden soil excavated was put through shaker screens of

one-quarter inch mesh, but this practice was abandoned when it was discovered
that the artifact yield from adjacent pits was not decreased if shovels and
trowels only were used for probing the excavated soil.

In contrast to the rich yield of lithic artifacts from the midden, no
human burials were found in the deposit,, and only a small amount of animal

bone was recovered.  It is believed that such animal bones as were recovered,
chiefly of rodents or lagomorphs, are of animals only recently dead, Al-
though the site deposit did not appear to have been markedly disturbed by

rodents or other small mammals, there remained some fairly fresh evidence of
animal burrows in several of the pits excavated.

Following is a list of the total artifact recovery at the site, Descrip-
tion of these artifacts is outlined below,  Depth distribution is given only
for projectile points and manos, i.e., for types of specimens which may be

classified into several distinct subtypes and which appear in sufficient quan-
tity to allow valid inferences of relative popularity between subtypes at dif-
ferent levels,

Projectile points          300     Hopper mortar                    1
Drill1s                      15    Pestles                          5
Blades                      23     Miscellaneous:

Scrapers                   147        (a) Steatite pendant          1
Hammerstones                32        (b) Polished pebbles          3
Choppers                    41        (c) Steatite pipe fragment    1
Worked cores                73        (d) Polished slate "pencil"   1
Worked steatite frag s.      19       (e) Granite bowl fragment     1
Manos (whole or frag.)      192       (f)- Quartz crystal frag.     2
Metates (whole or frag.)     19

Artifacts Recovered

Projectile points.  The total collection of points or fragments at
Nev-15 is large, by any Californian site standard, with materials used as
follows:4

- 35 -

Table 3

Material of Nev-15 Projectile Points

Typable     Not typable
Material           specimens     specimens

Basalt                239           31
Chlorite schist         9            9
Chert                   5            3
Obsidian                4

The identifiable chlorite schist points are similar in form to the

basalt, i.e., Martis Complex, specimens, and are included with them in the
computations in Table 4, below0  The column in Table 4 showing the Desert
sd.e-notched points accounts for the 5 chert specimens (one Desert side-

notched point is of basalt).  The remaining obsidian specimens, considered
here as unique at the silte, are all illustrated in Plate lCi-l, but are not
further described,

In a point sample of this size, one might expect some positive chrono-
logical significance to emerge from analysis of the specimens.   It has al
ready been stated that evidence of rodent disturbance at the site was not

marked., Whether i"n fact rodents are responsi'ble at Nev 15 for the type of
mixing and destruction of stratigraphy which they have cften been accused
of elsewhere is not definitely known,

In any event,, while examination of Table 4 shows a preponderance of

two general. types of point, i.e,, Type 3 (shoul-dered) and Type 5 (tanged),
it is not possible to construct a graph which expresses a regular waxing
and waning of Popularity of these types.c According to the figures given

in Table 3., it is clear that one or another of the subtypes of Types 3 and
5 occur with fair, regularity throughout the deposit, except in the lower
level (36-42 inches) which shows a teduced number of points of all kinds0

Analysis of 19 plts out of 75 excavated, from which identifiable projectile
points were recovered below the 24 inch level., tends to confirm the results
of Table 3.  The reduced form of the following table (Table 5), however,

does suggest that Types 3 (shouldered) and 5 (tanged) might be earlier than
Type 4 (side-notched) points at Nev-l5,

- 36 -

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Table 5

Number of Occurrences of Types of Projectile Points

in 19 Excavated Pits from Which Points Were

Recovered Below the 24 Inch Level

Point Type

Level       1       2      3      4      5      8     11
24-30"      1      0       6      4      7      1      0
30-36"1     0       2      7      1      6      1      3
36-42"      0      0       1      0      2      0      0

The other types of points (1, 2, 8, 11) shown in Table 4 are even more
inconclusive so far as demonstration of stratigraphy is concerned. In only
two pits were other types of specimens found at a lower level (below 24

inches) than either a Type 3 or 5 specimen. One of these pits produced a
Type 2 point and the other a Type 11 specimen.

Weight of specimen gives no distinct clue here as to chronology.   It
would appear, in fact, that if a weight criterion such as that employed

effectively by Bennyhoff (1956) 'in Yosemite National Park were applied, oppo-
site results to Bennyhoff's would obtain.   Thus, the Type 3 and 5 points,

which have been suggested as perhaps the oldest points in the deposit, average
lighter in weight (see Table 6) than any of the other types, and therefore
their first appearance should be later in time than the other types if the
usual "early-heavy weight"-"'late-light weight" relationship were invoked.

The depth of occurrence of the Desert side-notched points is enigmatic.
According to the discussion of time markers above, these points should occur
uniformly at or near the surface of the site. It is easily conceivable that

the top 12 inches of the deposit have been disturbed by the repeated plowings
which have taken place on the site, hence three of the Desert side-notched

points found could have been plowed under. The remaining three specimens all
occurred at depths below 12 inches (in the 18-24 inch level), and in addition
were in pits where Martis Types 3 or 5 points were found stratigraphically
above them. In view of the relatively small number of Desert side-notched
points recovered and of what is known elsewhere of the relationship of this
type of point with Martis Complex specimens, it seems reasonable to suggest

either that more wholesale disturbance by rodents has taken place than could

- 38 -

Table 6

Mleasurements of Martis Complex and

(I Basalt, S Chert) Projectile

Desert Side-Notched
Points at Nev 15

No. o f           Length          Wfidth         Weight
Type          specimens          (cm.)           (cm.)          (gms,)

la
lb
2

3a
3b
3c
4a
4b
4c
4d
5a
5b
5c
8

Ila
llb

Desert

S ide-

notched

3
3
10
44
17
14
15

3
10
10
12
17
55
14

8
15

4,4
4.1
3,8
30 9
3,6
30 7
4,0
3. 1
3.6
4.3
208
3o 2
3,4

430

4,l1
4, 8

1, 7
1, 6
1. 9
1,8
10 9
2., 1
2, 0
2. 3
2, 1
2. 3
2,0 O
2 0 2
2.3
2.4
1.6
2.4

4,6
3.,3
3,7
3,2
3,0
2.8
4, 2
3,4
3,6
5, O5
1,,5
2 6
3,0
3.3
3, 7
9, 3

6

2.7

1, 2

e7

- 39 -

be observed at the time of excavation, or that, coincidentally, three Desert

side-notched specimens were subjected to similar treatment by localized farm-
ing or rodent activity within the site.

Summarizing the occurrence of all the projectile points in the de-

posit, it seems that the types of points most heavily represented numerically
throughout the deposit (Types 3 and 5) are also possibly the earliest types

of points to have been used at the site. Since the pattern of deposition and
deflation of the soil, as well as the true extent of disturbance by rodents,

cannot be determined, and since no physical layering could be discerned while
executing any of the profile drawings of individual pits, the evidence for

cultural stratigraphy as expressed by projectile points at Nev-15 is not con-
vincing, and can only be placed in the tentative category.

Drills. Of the 15 basalt specimens recovered and identified as

drills, 12 are fragments, i.e., tips, varying in length from 3.2 to 4.8 cm.

The three typable specimens, according to the Heizer and Elsasser classifica-
tion (op. cit., p. 15), are all of Type B, that is, they have small, shaped
(circular or subcircular), flat bases and long tips.  The specimens are all

of approximately the same size, and average 5 cm. in length (see P1. lCq-s).

Blades, Ten of the 23 blade specimens are complete enough to sug-
gest a size range for these implements, The largest specimen (No. 1/172420)

is 9.3 cm. long and 4.1 cm. wide (P1. lDd), while the smallest (No, 1/172426)
is 58 cm. long and 2.7 cm. wide (Pl. lDe),  One finely chipped example (No.

1/127423) is of brown chert (P1. lDf), and the remainder of the specimens are
of basalt.  All blades are of some variant of the leaf shape, and all are

chipped bifacially. If these specimens were used as knives, it would appear
that the majority of them could have been employed without hafting.

Scrapers,  The vast majority of this type of implement are flake

scrapers, i.e., flakes with varying degrees of retouching on one or two edges,
unifacial or bifacial ,  Material is mostly basalt; of the 1i42 specimens , 14
are of chert., I is of obsidian, and 1 of agate. Only two specimens are dis-

tinctive enough to be tiescribed: Nos, 1/172411 and 1/172980c These are small
plano-convex discoidal implements, finely retouched on one face only. One

specimen is fragmentary, but seems to have been identical in size and finish
with the complete one (No, 1/172411),, which is 3.3 cm. in diameter and has a
completely retouched edge (P1. lDg).

Hammerstones, Although specimens called hammerstones here are basic-
ally simple implements, with the typical battered edges which serve as their
chief identifying feature, they display a diversity of form and material as
follows:

- 40 -

Table 7

Hammerstone Types and Materials (Nev-15)

Material

Type of                                                  Average

hammerstone        Granite  Basalt  Chert  Quartzite     measurements

I                       13      1         1        12 cm. diam.
(Battered core)

II               4                                  7.5 cm. diem.
(Round cobble)

III7                      1                         (9.6 cm. length
(Pestle-like)                                            (5 cm. diam.

IV               3        1                         (10 cm. length
(Tabular)                                              (2.4 cm. thick

1                                  8.0 cm.;diam.
(Grooved)

Type I hammerstones are the simplest--possibly they represent

cores from which flakes for projectile point manufacture have been removed
and then employed secondarily as hammerstones. Battering on their edges is
irregular.

Type II specimens appear to be ordinary round stream cobbles or

perhaps irregular cobbles shaped by pecking into the rounded form. Batter-
ing is shown most often on two opposing sides of the specimens.

Type III examples are elongated cobbles with shaped sides and
battered ends. Perhaps some of these specimens are incipient pestles.

Type IV, tabular specimens, are similar to those of Type III, ex-
cept that the cobble, instead of being round in cross-section, is flattish,
and the sides are not additionally pecked.

Type V is represented by but one specimen (P1 lDa). This is a

shaped, subspherical cobble with an encircling groove 11 mm. wide and 3 mm.
deep (No. 1/172848).

- 41 -

Worked cores. These are doubtful artifacts at best, and are in-
cluded here only to indicate the kinds of lithic material which may have

been used at the site for the manufacture of finer implements. Some of the
specimens might have been used once or twice as choppers, scrapers, or per-
haps as metate "sharpeners," but evidence even of use-retouching on such

specimens is negligible. Other specimens in this category perhaps represent
crude blanks., i.e., pieces which ultimately could be fashioned into usable
tools like hammerstones or choppers. Of the 73 cores recovered, 65 are of
basalt, 4 of chert, 3 of granite, and 1 of quartzite. About 27 of the

basalt cores do not display fresh flake scars, and some of these are heavily
patinated. The latter may represent pieces which were gathered or quarried
elsewhere, but were never subsequently flaked or put to other use at Nev-15,

Choppers. This category of artifacts is likewise offered with

misgivings as to interpretation of the ultimate function of the specimens.

Twenty-four of the pieces are of basalt and 7 are of granite. Most of them
are unworked cobbles which have been broken in such a way that a crude cut-
ting edge has been produced at the point of fracture,  There is only slight

evidence of retouching on some of the edges.  Furthermore, while the granite
specimens generally resemble the basalt specimens in form, they probably
could not have been effectively used as choppers because of the nature of
the stone,

Worked steatite fragments. Three pieces of the 19 steatite speci-
mens were recorded as occurring at depths below 12 inches.  The remainder

were found on the surface or in the upper 12 inches of deposit. The majority
of the specimens (13) apparently are vessel sherds, and 8 of these are (in-
curving) rim fragments.

Probably platters or shallow bowls are represented., but the sizes

of the sherds and the irregularities of their curves hardly allow reasonable
estimation of the original sizes and shapes of the vessels, Thickness of

the vessel sherds ranges from 11 to 24 mm., with an average of 16 mm. The

remaining, probably non-sherd, fragments are all irregular pieces which can-

not be specifically identified as functional artifacts, Five of these speci-
mens are evidently quarried fragments averaging about 5 cm. in length and 2.4
cm. in thickness,  Finally, there was found on the surface of the site a thin
(9 mm.), subrectangular fragment (No. 1/171503) with all edges marked as if
by gnawing of rodents. This kind of incision or grooving has been noted by

the writer as a seemingly integral element of a decorative steatite specimen
displayed in the State Indian Museum, Sacramento., California,  There is no

other indication on the Nev-15 specimen that it was intended to be a decora-
tive pendant.

Steatite vessels are a widespread trait on the western side of the

- 42 -

Sierra Nevada.  They have been noted ethnographically in the central and
northern Sierra, among the Miwok (Barrett and Gifford, opo cit., po 211)

and the Northern Maidu (Dixon, 1905, p. 138),  Bennyhoff (1956, p, 25) sum-
marizes their archaeological occurrence in Yosemite National Park and notes
that steatite sherds have also been reported elsewhere in the southern part
of the range.  In addition (ibid., p. 53), he associates steatite sherds
with the Mariposa Complex, i0e,, the protohistoric Miwok occupation in
Yosemite National Park,

On the basis of the absence of this trait at other Martis Complex
sites, it is suggested that the steatite sherd fragments at Nev-15 are an-

other i ndication, like the Desert side-notched projectile points, of a late,
possibly short-lived, occupation by a protohistoric Maidu group. All but
one sherd specimen., which was found at a depth of 19 1/2 inches, occurred

on the surface or close enough to the surface of the deposit to be explained

as late arrivals, subject to disturbance by plowing.  The single, questionable
specimen (measuring 301 by lo8 cm,,) must be placed in the prosaic "subject to
unusual disturbance" category, or it must be considered as a trait which was
present, though rarely, in the Marti.s Complex.

It does not seem profitable to speculate about the use of steatite
in Martis Complex sites, Since steatite is so admirably suited for domestic
processes involving fires, it may be that the unldentified fragments found

at Nev15 were used as cooking stones by the Martis people, or by the people
who succeeded them at the site. It is conceivable that a secondary use of

the sherd specimens was for cooking stones as well, In any case, if cooking
stones are truly represented, it may be noted that pitiful.ly few specimens

were recovered to allow the inference that such specialized stone was employed
for such a commonplace purpose0

Manos,  All of the manos at Nev-l5, regardless of type, are of a
granitic material, Of the 192 manos recovered, 77 are complete specimens1

and 115 are fragments.  Of the latter, 13 may be distinguished as unifacia.1
56 as bifacial; 46 specimens are fractured in such a way that the number of

ground surfaces could not be determined.  Several of the features (identified
tentatively as fireplaces) at the site contained, besides quantities of frac-

tured rocks, ore or several mano fragments.  This peculiar occurrence suggests
that broken manos were used secondarily as cooking stones, in stone boiling of
acorn mush, for example. The complete specimens occurred at random throughout
the site and were presumably employed solely as grinding tools in conjunction
with metates$

For convenience in description, the complete manos have been divided
into three separate types, as follows-,

- 43 -

(I) Round or ovate cobbles with wear on one or two faces;

(II) Shaped cobbles, i.e., with pecked or slightly ground sides

and bifacial wear;

(III) Irregular cobbles with grinding evidence on from one to

four separate faces.

In Types I and II, the plane of the wear is approximately parallel
to an imaginary plane bisecting the stone through its greatest thickness.
The grinding surfaces of Type III specimens, however, are not parallel to
this imaginary plane, which is shown as a dotted line through the cross-
section of the schematic drawings in Figure 1.

The unifacial specimens of Type I are amenable to further subtyp-
ing in that the degree of wear on some of the specimens is not so marked as
on others,

Aside from these arbitrarily chosen typological differences, there
seems to be a significant difference in size groups within each of the three
types (see Table 8). This size difference is probably related to a differ-

ence in use of the specimens, that is, the manos were used on different sized
metates. Examination of the metates found at the site shows that there were
two general types, one of large, heavy blocks, and another of small, light,
thin, finely made slabs, It is not unreasonable to suppose that the latter
were portable, and used along with corresponding small manos, while the

larger blocks were left permanently at the site, About two-thirds of the
complete mano specimens from Nev-15 are in the small group0

Observation of type frequency and depth of occurrence in the depo-
sit does not seem to allow the assigning of chronological significanre to any
one typeo  As observed for the Nev-15 projectile points, the mano types oc-

curring in greatest number also seem to occur fairly consistently throughout
the depth of the deposit,

Metates, Fifteen slab metates or fragments and 4 block type meta-
tes were recovered at Nev-15. The distinction drawn between slab and block
types is based simply on the different thickness of the specimens, not upon
their other dimensions or qualities.   Thus the dividing line between slab
metates and block metates is at 5 inches (of thickness),

Slab metates made from flattish rocks, and often with shaped edges,
apparently may range in length from 8 to 16 inches and in width from 7 to 11
inches, Of 12 granitoid slab fragments, 8 could have been portable. On the
other hand, of 3 complete slab specimens, only one could easily have been
portable.

- 44 -

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The block metates, which are "subcubical" in shape., have unshaped
sides with top surfaces averaging in length about 14 inches, and in width

about 10 inches0 The average thickness of the specimens recovered is 8 in-
ches, and they weigh about 60 pounds each.

All of the metates are of the basin type, with shallow, subcircu-
lar basins about 3/4 inch deep and from 3 to 8 inches in diameter.

While granite is the predominant material for the slab metates, 2
specimens are of fine-grained meta-andesite. The block metates are all of
a similar andesitic or basaltic material. Some of the metates obviously
have been "sharpened" by pecking, but some have smoothly ground basins.

Only one slab specimen was noted which had depressions on two
sides.

Pestles. Five granitic pestles were found, 3 of them fragmentary.
The latter all had the rounded ends and relatively untouched sides which may
characterize use with a hopper mortar, The two complete specimens (each

about 22 cm, long and 9 cm. in diameter) had been used at both ends, possi-
bly in a bedrock mortar (see below), and one of these specimens had appar-
ently been used as a mano on one of its sides,

Hopper mortar, Only one specimen recovered. This is a rectangu-

lar granite slab 11,5 cm. thick, 28 cm. long, and 26.5 cm. wide, with a hole
near one edge 11,1 cm. in diameter and 3.1 cm. deep,

Miscellaneous artifacts, (a) Steatite pendant. A fragmentary
specimen, ca. 2 cm, long, 1 cm, wide, and 3 mm, thick, with a biconically
drilled hole 3 mm. from its rounded end, This pendant was of a greenish
colored steatite, polished all around,

(b) Polished pebbles. One specimen is of shale, 2 are of basalt,
The pebbles are lenticular in shape', averaging 5 cm. in length, and about

3 cm. in thickness. Two are polished all over, and one specimen (No. 1/172159)
is polished on one surface only and has ground edges.

(c) Steatite pipe fragment. This specimen (No. 1/172748) is of

blue-gray steatite, smoothly ground and roughly conical or cup-like in shape.
It is 3.9 cm, long, 3.2 cm, wide at one end and 1.5 cm. wide at the opposite
end, with a conically drilled hole 1,8 cm, in diameter at the wide end, 1 cw.
at the constricted end. The average thickness of the walls of the pipe is 8
mm. The depth occurrence (24 inches) is greater than that of any other stea-
tite specimen. Cup-shaped stone pipes occur as ceremonial objects in Central

- 46 -

Californian 'Middle 'Horizon- provinces (Beardsley, 1948,- pp 13),- and thi-s -may
be- sufficient-- grounds- for associating the Nev-15 speicimens with true Martis

Complex artifacts,  Otherwise it may be looked upon as-a protohistoric arti-
fact which had, through disturbance of the midden deposit, finally come to
be found at a greater depth than is usual for steatite artifacts (Pl 1Db)o

(d) Polished slate "pencil" fragment. Another probably decorative
specimen, highly polished, 4 cm. long, and 5 and 7 mm, in ovoid cross-sec-
tional diameter at the broken, unpointed end (Pl. lDc).

(e) Granite bowl fragment. This is a rim sherd 1.6 cm. thick,
similar in form to some of the steatite sherdso

(f) Quartz crystals, Two specimens recovered, both semi-opaque
quartz. One specimen has both formerly pointed ends battered, while the
other example has an irregular break at one end, but an intact tip at the
opposite end, also battered,

Features. Thirteen notable instances, either of close concentra-
tions of artifacts or of unmodified rock concentrations with or without

artifacts, occurred throughout the midden deposit. Two of the features were
of artifacts only:  (a) Four pebble tools (2 scrapers, 1 hamerstone, 1 chop-
per); (b) 1 metate and 3 manos, Five features were irregular collections of
angular or subspherical stones ranging from 3 to 12 inches in thickness,
associated for example with metates, manos, choppers, or basalt flakes,

Five of the features were simply collections of rocks without any artifact
association whatever,

One feature was noted with several rocks and the articulated fore-
leg and cranium of a mammal about the size of a large jack rabbit, The

feature was found at the 6 inch level of the deposit, The animal bones were
in an extremely crumbly condition., and this, taken with the fact that no

human burials or other remains of animal bones were found at the site, seems
to indicate that the bones associated with the "feature" were introduced
perhaps within the past five or ten years before their discoveryO

Rock concentrations as features within deposits are quite common
in Californian archaeological sites, It is not possible-in many cases to

interpret their true function, although fire hearths are most often suggested.
In the Nev- 15 examples neither extensive burning of the rocks nor ash was
noted as characteristic of the rock features. This is not so significant,
however., when it is observed that no other positive remains of fireplaces
could be identified anywhere within the midden,

- 47 -

Bedrock Mortars, About 75 yards south of the midden deposit is a small
outcrop of heavily weathered granitoid rocks. On several detached flat

boulders of this outcrop are a series of bedrock mortar holes (ca. 12 holes
scattered on 3 separate boulders). It is not certain that the bedrock mor-
tars were truly associated with Nev-15, since they are located close to an-
other spring and in a spot favorably situated for a small temporary camp

site. Evidence of the camp area could have been obliterated by the erection
of farm buildings and dwellings of the modern residents.

Discussion, Site Nev-15 serves to emphasize the widespread distribution
of the Martis Complex in the Sierra Nevada. The close correspondence in types
of a large assemblage of basalt projectiles recovered from the midden deposit
at Nev'15 with specimens from the surface of the Martis type site, Pla-5., on

the eastern side of the range, represents the chief evidence for the essential
unity of the Martis Complex over a large area.

Hints of stratigraphic differences in artifact types within the midden
deposit at Nev-15 are seen in the analysis of projectile points. Although
Types 3 (shouldered) and 5 (barbed) are the most numerous points found at

all levels of the deposlt, they were present at the lowest levels (below 24

Inches) to tbe virtual exclusion of all other types, and in only two instances,
i.e.   n two pits. were other types of points (Types 2 and 11) found below*

specimens of Type 3 or 5 (see Tables 4 and 5), No similar relative chronolog-
ical observations could be made here with respect to other artifact types,
The role of disturbance by plowing or by rodent activity in the midden de-
posit cannot be assessed with accuracy at present. The lack of observable

layering and artL.culated human burials, for example, made disturbance subse-
quent to occupation extremely difficult to detect,

The ecological situation at the site suggestswinter rather than summer
occupation. Predominance of projectile points over other types of artifacts
certainly implies a culture which strongly emphasized hunting,    If we are
correct in assuming that deer were the mammals chiefly hunted, then Nev-15
would be at toc low an elevation durtng the summer months for such hunting,
but woul.d be ideally l.ocated for winter headquarters for this purpose,

Furthermore, other factors, such as closeness to acorn sources and to local-
ities where a variety of other Upper Sonoran and Transitionlife zone food
plants and animals abound would make the site favorable for late fall and
spring cccupation as well,

Even though Nev15 is much closer to the Great Valley of central
*I, e,, at depths lower than 24 inches,

- 48 -

California than any other definite or at least extensive Martis type site
hitherto discovered, the concept of the cultural relationship with Middle

Horizon groups of the Valley has not been entirely clarifie.d by the results
of excavation at the site, Positing of cultural relationships on the basis
of projectile points alone is risky, unless there are large quantities of

distinctive points to work with, Thus it is not difficult to compare Martis
Complex sites one with another, but comparisons of Martis Complex projectile
point assemblages with others that correspond only generally, or exactly in
but few cases, do not ordinarily offer successful results.

Until Martis sites are excavated which include such types of arti-

facts (shell beads or ornaments) as were recovered at the Karlo site (Riddell,
1956b), little more can be said with regard to the point of origin or the
center of strongest influence operative on the Martis Complex.

Site 26-Do-12

Description of Site. During an archaeological reconnaissance of the

Carson Valley in the state of Nevada in the summer of 1955, the University

of California Archaeological Survey visited a site known locally as Hobo Hot

Springs, Living Washo Indians in this part of the Carson Valley have a native
name for the spot, which may be translated as "trapping place    hot springs."
The surface of the site previously had yielded several known private collec-

tions of obsidian and basalt projectile points.   Part of the data included in

this section of the present paper is based upon the collection of Mrs. C. L, A,
Schmidt, of Berkeley, California, and others who have kindly allowed me to re-.
cord their specimens,

The Hobo Hot Springs site, which henceforth will be referred to as site

Do-12, is situated at the south end of a low spur which extends into the west-
ern side of the Carson Valley from the lower elevation of the steep eastern

face of the Sierra Nevada, The site itself is at an elevation of 4,900 feet,
in the Transition life zone, About one mile to the west, the Sierra Nevada

rises abruptly from the plain, at an altitude of 5,000 feet, up to about 9,000
feet, presenting the appearance of a tremendous wall, often with but a sparse
growth of pine forest on its slopes, extending many miles to the north and

south. Although the region is in the Transition life zone, the plant cover is
meager at the site, sage brush (Artemisia tridentata) and rabbit brush (Chrso-
thamrus sp) being the dominant vegetation. The area surrounding the site has
been considerably modified by irrigation projects connected with the growing

of forage crops, Jack's Creek, a small stream emanating from a high elevation
canyon not far away on the slope of the Sierra, evidently once ran close to
the edge of the site, Presently, two dams create small reservoirs, one of

which covers part of the site, Hobo Hot Springs, just off the southwest edge

. 49 -

of the site, is surrounded with reeds, and a small pond or pool, supplied by

the spring, evidently has been dug out in recent years to be used as a bathing
spot, especially by the Washo Indians living in Carson Valley. It is not known
whether the spring itself,or Jack's Creek, was the chief source of water for

the aboriginal inhabitants. Questioning of several Indian informants failed to
elicit any specific, substantive information concerning the condition of the
site and the adjacent spring before it had been modified. On the surface of

the site were found several indications of a post-Contact period dwelling (iron
nails, bottle fragments, and the like), but no local informant volunteered de-
tails about the former resident.

At this point it should be noted that no glass trade beads, usually a

certain clue to early historic or at least nineteenth century commerce between

the local Indians and the intruding white man, were found at the site. Further,
in all of the projectile point collections taken or observed at the site, only
one Desert side-notched point was recorded. The Kings Beach Complex (proto-

historic Washo) is partially identified by this type of projectile point. If

Do-12 were occupied at all intensively during the Kings Beach period, one would
expect to find numbers of these points or at least identifiable fragments there-
of on the surface or in the midden deposit of the site.

The soil of the site is dark brown in color, sandy (decomposed granite)
and porous. It is homogeneous in texture and color until the sterile bottom

is reached.  The latter is a lighter brown to yellow in color, also sandy, but
considerably more compacted than the midden lying above it. The primary defin-
ition of "midden" is based on the presence of artifacts; since the top soil is
porous, it is likely that some of the ash and other organic refuse, presumed

to have been left by the early inhabitants of the site, has been leached out of
the deposit.  Nevertheless, one human burial (the only one found) and the osse-
ous remains of numerous mammals (see list below) from nearly every pit exca-
vated, testify to the incompleteness of the dissolving processes in the soil.
It should be noted, however, that the sagebrush and rabbit brush contribute,

through their root systems which are coextensive in depth with the midden de-
posit, to the darkness and generally loose quality of the midden soil.

Animal bone recovered from the deposit (identified by Mr. Alan C.

Ziegler, a student in the Zoology Department, University of California, Berkeley)
is varied, and includes fragments of two mammalian species not now inhabiting
the area, i.e., mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis) and the pronghorned antelope

(Antilocapra americana). For the rest, any of the genera listed may be expected
to be found living presently in the Carson Valley or in the immediately surround-
ing area.  The species designations, where given, are not necessarily exact,
since they are based upon knowledge of living species in western Nevada.

- 50 -

Anas sp.

Antilocapra americana
Canis latrans
Citellus sp.

Dipodomus sp.
Fulica sp.

Lepus californicus
Lynx rufus

Odocoileus hemionus
Ovis canadensis
Sylvilagus sp.
Taxidea taxus
Thomomys sp.

duck

pronghorned antelope
coyote

ground squirrel
kangaroo rat
coot

hare, "jackrabbit"
bobcat

mule deer

mountain sheep

cottontail rabbit
badger
gopher

The 1956 Excavation.  In July, 1956, excavation, under the direction of

the writer, was begun at Do-12. It was decided that an adequate sample of the
total midden deposit would most likely be obtained through the digging of a

large number of small test pits, rather than a small number of large pits or

trenches.  In consonance with the relatively even vegetation cover of the site,
square pits with 3 foot sides were dug, and located on the contour map of the
site according to the plan of a rough grid system which covered the deposit.
Datum A (Map 9), near the center of the deposit, was represented throughout
the excavation by a stout wooden stake driven into the sandy soil.   Datum A

was located 116 feet, at Az. 158 degrees, from Datum B, whi6h was represented
by the northwest corner of a masonry structure formerly used in connection

with part of an irrigation control system at the site. All pits were located
with reference to Datum A, but are shown on the map as squares in a number-
letter grid system. The attempt to excavate as wide an area as possible by
spacing the pits not more than 30 feet from each other was realized in the

time allotted the excavation. The sandy nature of the soil demanded that all
of the excavated material be passed through rocker screens of one-quarter
inch mesh if maximum artifact recovery were to be achieved. Each pit was

excavated in arbitrary layers 6 inches deep. The use of the screen and the
control afforded by assigning of such levels seemed to be a reasonably effi-
cient method for executing the requirements of the chief problem at hand.

Except in the case of several large artifacts and in the one burial en-
countered., trowels and other fine tools were not employed in the excavation.
A total of 35 pits was excavated, ranging in depth from 5 inches (near the

south edge of the site) to 54 inches (near the north edge of the site). The
average depth of all the pits dug was thus 20 inches, The bottoms of the

pits were easily identified by a distinct change in color from the dark brown
midden type soil to the light brown or yellowish underlying sterile sand.

- 51 -

As a check of the soil profile., if any observable, and of the efficiency
of the screening technique, a trench 30 feet long by 2 feet wide was dug.

The trench intersected Pit F-10, and the deposit was dug to its bottom, to an
average depth of 25 inches, as measured at 5 foot intervals along the trench.
No screens were used in this excavation, The entire yield of projectile

points in the trench, excluding Pit F-l0, was less than from Pit F-10 alone,

where the midden material had been passed through the screen. Observation of
the walls of the trench did not reveal any information concerning soil compo-
nents not already yielded by the method of digging pits at regular intervals.

Artifacts recovered

It should be stated at the outset that it was not possible to re-

cover a complete sample of artifacts from the site, A good portion, perhaps
one-third of the total area according to several local reports, has been ob-

literated by the construction of an earth dam at what is now the western edge
of the site (the dam is represented by the heavy regular line running about
north-south in the "O"' and "P" grid zones (Map 9) and by the filling of a
pond behind the dam.

In spite of this area lost to investigation., it is felt that the

information gained from the study of the private collections mentioned above,
plus that from the excavation, represent a fair sampling of the artifactual

content of the site, Unless a burial area or cemetery has been destroyed or
covered by the reservoir, the material reported upon here should be essen-

tially identical. with that which was not available for excavation, The folP
owing list outlines the number and kinds of artifacts recovered from the
excavation and those in private collections frcm the surface of the site:

Identifiable projectile polnts           365

or fragments

Obsidian crescent                          1
Mortar f ragment                           I
Unshapea pestle fragments                  2
Manos                                     48
Basin metates                             49
Stone discoidal                            1
Bone awl                                   1
Bone dagger                                1
Incised bone fragment                      1

Projectile points.   In the analysis of projectile points from

Do-12 (summarized in Tables 9 and 10), all specimens known to have come from
the site are included,  Several private col-lectors interviewed by the author

- 52 -

MAP 9: Site Map of 26-Do-12

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Table 10

Measurements of Martis Complex and Other

Types from Site 26-Do-12

Projectile Point

No. of      Length    Width    Weight
Type                specimens     (cm.)     (cm.)    (gm8s.)

la
lb
2

3a
3b
3c
4a
4b
4c
4d
Sa
5b
5c
5d
7
9
10

3
14

1
5
6
5
6
14
11

7
1
9
4
1
1
4
2

5.5
3.7
3.2
3.0
3.2
3,9
3.1
2.8
2.6
3,0
2.4
2.7
2D 2
1.8
4.8
2. 9
3.0

1.6
2.0
1.5
2.0
2.1
2.1
2.1
1.9
2.1
2.5
1.6
2,3
1.8
1.9
2.5
3.2
1.8

1.6
1.9
2.3
1.3

3.6
5.0
2.9
3.2
4.6
5. 1
4. 1
3.0
3.4
5.8
1.1
2.3
1.8
1.3
10.0

6.6
2.2

2.1
2.3
4.5

Humboldt Concave

Base A

Humboldt Basal

Notched

B-11 (Yosemite)
Desert Side-

notched (DSN)

10

2
1
1

2. 2
2.6
3.8
2.7

. 9

- 54 -

have stated that they have made repeated collection trips to the site0 By

making their specimens available to the University of California, they have

therefore contributed to the present report.   The surface collections, repre-
senting slightly more than one-half of the total projectile points collected,
reflects the comparative richness of the site.   It was not possible to keep a
tally of the relative amounts of rejected chips, presumably from projectile
point manufacture, which were picked up by private collectors at Do-120   To
compensate for this, all chips were saved during the excavation and later
sorted and counted, with the resul.ts shown in Table 11 below0

The seeming preoccupation with the raw materials of projectile

points is explained by considering it as one factor in an attempt to relate

Do-12 to other sites or cultures, for example, in the Great Basin or Yosemite
National Park0  Aside from this, the meaning of the various proportions of

chips to finished artifacts is not readily determinable, Perhaps the domin-
ance of obsidian chips suggests that obsidian was acquired through trade to

the south, then locally worked into artifacts,, Complete basalt specimens may
have been acquired from groups to the north, around the Truckee region, ioeo0,
nearer the center of the Martis Complex.

The evidence from the analysis of projectile points suggests a

later phase of the Martis Complex than that expressed at Nev-15, and at the
same time a mixture with another complex, Le0, that called by Bennyhoff

(1956) the Tamarack  Complex, in Yosemlte National Park.   It will be recalled
that -at Nev-15, projectille point Types 3 and 5 predominated, and that these
types also were recovered generally at the, lowest levels in the deposit0 At
Do-12, Types 3 (shouldered) and 5 (tanged) are present, but they occur in
reduced number compared now to Type 4 (siLde-notched), Furthermore, it is

clear that Types 3 and 5 do not consistently underlie Type 4 in the deposit
(Table 9), While this evidence is admittedly tenuous, in view of possible
disturbances of essentially shallow midden deposits, it appears that there

is the beginning of a trend, mainly based upon relative type frequencies, in
the direction suggested0

The relationship of Do-12 with other sites or cultures in a wider
area is discussed below, and is summarized   so far as projectile points are
concerned, in Table 14.

- 55 -

Table 11

Materials of Projectile Points and Fragments from 26-Do-12

Basalt   Obsidian   Chert
Unworked chips recovered             171       682       293

Projectile point specimens            60       100        57

(excavation - not typable)

Projectile point specimens            45        29         5

(excavation - typable)

Projectile point specimens            36        33        --

(private collection -
surface   typable

Totals - projectile points        141       162        62

Obsidian crescent. The single specimen recovered is 3.7 cm. in
length and 6 mm. in thickness (P1. 2Bo). It is similar to specimens from

the Humboldt Lakebed site (26-Ch-15), and from Owens Valley, in the collec-

tions of the University of California Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology,
The type has also been found at the Karlo site (Riddell, 1956b). The func-
tion of this kind of object is problematical.   Possibly it was part of a

shaman's kit, though in the several such kits found in dry caves in Nevada
to date no crescents have been discovered (cf. Heizer and Krieger, 1956).

Mortar fragment. One specimen only was recovered from the surface
of the site. This was approximately one-half of a complete specimen, a

gliobose boulder, of gray rhyolite. The fragment measures about 24 cm. in
full cross-section. The hole was about 11 cm. in diameter at its top and
was ground to a depth of 10 cm.

Unsha4 pestle fragmets.      Basalt pestle fragments (2 specimens)
were likewise found on the surface of the site. Both were subcylindrical,

roughly ovoid in cross-section, and about 9 cm. long and 4.5 cm. in diameter.
Both had clean breaks at one end and show slight wear at the other. These
specimens probably were used in shallow bedrock mortar holes. Bedrock mor-
tars were reported (on a ridge quite near the site) by W. L. d'Azevedo
(personal communication) but were not seen by the present author.

- 56 -

Manos.  A total of 48 manos (see Table 12) were recovered at Do-12.
These may be divided among the 3 types defined for site Nev-15 (see p. 44
and Fig. 1) as follows:

Type I:       25 (21 fragmentary) specimens
Type II:      14 ( 9 fragmentary) specimens
Type III:      9 ( 7 fragmentary) specimens

The great majority of the manos were bifacial, of granitic rock
(though basalt and rhyolite are also represented by a few specimens). It

was not possible, as with the Nev-15 specimens, to suggest two ideal sizes
(large and small) for the Do-12 manos. No particular significance as to
depth of occurrence could be attributed to any type or subtype mano.

Basin metates.  All of the 49 metate fragments recovered at Do-12

(38 specimens on surface) appeared to be basin metates of the thin slab type,
except one (No. 2/32251) which conceivably could have been a hopper mortar

slab. This specimen does not have a definite basin; the maximum depth of its
depression is 1.5 cm. About one-half of the metate specimens were of basalt;
the other half were of rhyolite or basalt. Fourteen of the specimens were
definitely worked on both sides, and of the remaining pieces,, most showed

some faint evidence of use on the reverse of the positive working side. Sizes
of metate fragments randed from 40 to 90 cm. in length or width, and from 5 to
12 cm, in thickness. More than one-half of the specimens seem to represent

about one-third of the original specimen. Efforts at fitting the broken frag-
ments together failed in all cases. The majority of the specimens showed some
sort of edge shaping, but it is difficult to determine how much of any given
ed.ge was modified from the original shape of the stone.

Stone discoidal. One specimen only was found (Pl. 2Bq).    This is of
a hard, fine grained, argillitic stone, evidently a segment representing about
one-quarter /of a centrally perforated circular disc. The width of the speci-
men ("radius") is 3.4 cm., and it has a maximum thickness of 7 mnu  near the

biconically drilled central hiole. Reconstructed, the specimen is a disc al;bou.t
7.3 cm.in diameter, with a central perforation about 5 nun, in diameter. The
thickest part, near the hole, tapers out to a sharp, finely ground edge, all
around the specimen.

The Do-12 discoidal fragment is polished all over, except where the
breaks occur on either side, and probably should not be placed in the cate-

gory of "perforated sinkers" which have been reported from the Humboldt Valley
in Nevada. Ioud and Harrington (1929, p. 107) state that certain similar

specimens from Lovelock Cave "are better adajpted as spindle whorls." In the
opiniiotn of the present writer, the Do-12 specimen either served this latter
purpose or was perhaps used as an ornament1

- 57 -

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- 58 -,

Perforated stone discoidals have a fairly wide distribution in the
Great Basin, and have also been found in Late Horizon archaeological sites

in central California (Lillard, Heizer and Fenenga, 1939, p. 79:- "The Late
Period").  At the Karlo site, in Lassen County, among several such specimens
found, one is virtually identical to the Do-12 example,

Bone awl. Although a considerable amount of unmodified-animal bone
and one human burial were found at Do'12, only three bone artifacts were dis-
covered in the excavation. One of these is an awl 15.5 cm, long (Pl 2Br)

with a shouldered tip, The specimen is evidently made from a deer metapodial,
and, aside from the ground tip, is only slightly worked,

Bone dagger (?). This specimen (Pl 2Bs) was evidently made from
a long bone of an artiodactyl (deer?), While it, too, may have served as an
awl, its size and weight suggest a more rugged function, Its length is 19.3
cm,, not including the broken tip,

Incised bone fragment, One small fragment,, 1,8 cm, long, of bone
(No. 2/31836) from 'a small mammal, was found, This specimen has numerous

transverse incisions along its entire length, on one side, These are placed
in such a way as to indicate a decorated bone object (a needle or hairpin?).
There is no evidence to confirm the speculation as to its original use,

Bedrock Mortars. (See description above, under "Unshaped pestle frag-
ments,"1)

Burial, The one burial found, at a depth of 17 inches, provides little
data for interpretation. The burial was in a loosely flexed position; there
were two projectile point bases associated with it, Rodent holes near the
skeleton explained partially the disturbed appearance of the bones--many

were missing, and those that remained were not in an easily recoverable state.

Discussion, Site Do-12 is the first Martis type site found which con-
tains sufficient artifactual material-to allow the suggestion of another

culture complex mixing with the Martis Complex.  Although the correspondences
with Do-12 are not exact, the Tamarack Complex, in Yosemite National Park,

appears to be the candidate for the successor or at least the representative
of the terminal Martis period in the Carson Valley. The probable linkage

between the Carson Valley and the Yosemite National Park area may have been
in Mono County, but this cannot be asserted definitely until stratigraphic

excavation is carried out, perhaps near important obsidian quarries in Mono
County.

- 59 -

There is little doubt that the culture disclosed at Do-12 is an
outlying manifestation of the Martis Complex. Do-12 could have been used

for year-round occupation, since it is closely associated with a warm spring
and, in addition, is so located with reference to elevation and shelter as
to make winter occupation bearable. The site may therefore be an eastern-

slope parallel to site Nev-15, i.e., a predominantly winter campground which
could also have been partially occupied in the summer.

It seems to be true that all Martis-type sites excavated, including
Do-12, have relatively shallow midden deposits when compared, for example,

with low elevation sites in central California. These deposits, furthermore,

probably have been subject to post-occupation disturbance, chiefly by rodents.
At Do-12, as at all other excavated Martis sites, therefore, the determination
of chronologically significant artifacts is extremely tenuous. While it has
been possible to make some essays in this direction at Do-12, the results

should not be taken as conclusive. Perhaps more to the point in differentla-
ting this site from other Martis sites farther to the north, or in suggesting
that it is a later example of the complex, is the observation that at Do-12
there seems to be a dearth of the crudely chipped basalt blades and scrapers
which are so characteristic of the northern sites. On the other hand, this
lack may be attributed simply to the fact that Do-12 is not close enough to
any basalt sources to have made desirable the carrying back of large chunks
of the material to the site by its occupants.

Site Do-12, in spite of the numerous gaps or inconsistencies shown
in the analysis of the material recovered from the deposit, appears to play
an important part in tying together several of the loose ends which are so
prevalent in Sierra Nevadan archaeology. This will be the concern of the
next section of this paper,

Site Sie-20

Description of site. This site is located in Sardine Valley, about 15

miles north of the town of Truckee. It was first reported to the University
of California by Mrs. Gladys Smith, of Reno, Nevada, and was named the Smith-
neck Creek site, after the designation of the road near the site which con-

nects Truckee and Loyalton, also about 15 miles away, to the north. The site
proper is located on a so-called sage brush knoll or slope on the western

margin of the large grassy meadow which makes up Sardine Valley. Its eleva-

tion is 6,100 feet. A small spring on the northwest margin of the site prob-
ably represents the aboriginal water supply. Unlike site Pla-5, to the south,
the type site for the Martis Complex, Sie-20 is not located near the center
of the open plain or meadow, but rather is intimately associated with a stand
of yellow pine (P. ponderosa) on its western edge, and several trees grow on
the midden deposit of the site itself.

- 60 -

Like site Pla-5, however, Sie-20 is much more extensive than is usual

for a camp site or village in this area. Basalt chippage and tool fragments
are spread over an area amounting to more than one-half of a square mile in
Sardine Valley.  That portion of the site where excavation took place should
be thought of as an area of concentration of artifacts, where about 18 inches
of darkish midden soil has been deposited over but comparatively few acres,

Not far to the south of Sie-20, and also on the western side of Sardine Val-
ley, is another, probably smaller, concentration spot, designated Sie-210
The same type of basalt detritus as at Sie-20 marks the area surrounding
Sie-21, and even appears to overlap with that of Sie-20, These two sites

could reasonably be classified as one, and it is only a matter of convenience
to deal with them as two separate sites,  In any case, only limited excava-
tion was carried out at site Sie-21, and the few identifiable projectile
point specimens recovered are reported here along with those from Sie-20,

Previous Investigation,  Dr. L. Payen, of Sacramento, California, has a
large collection of artifacts taken from the surface of several sites or ex-
tensions of sites, as I have defined them here, in Sardine Valley. The col-

lection is uncatalogued as regards exact location within the Valley, inasmuch
as members of the Payen family have been collecting from the general locality
for many years. (It is through the interest and support of the Payen family
that the University of California was allowed to excavate the site in 1958,)
The Payen collection has been recorded by the University of California Arch-
aeological Survey, Berkeley. It displays a great preponderance of Martis
type projectile points, which, in.s pite of the lack of exact accompanying

data, allows the drawing of a parallel between Sardine Valley and Martis Val-
ley to the south, Both localities apparently were extensive workshops and
possibly centers for the hunting of antelope or deer in the early summer,

Another surface collection, specifically from sites Sie-20 and 21, which,
as has been pointed out, actually adjoin each other, has been taken by Mrs.
Gladyf Smith, Her collection also shows a predominance of Martis type pro-

jectile points, although one Desert side-notched form, of the "Delta" subtype
(Baumhoff and Byrne, op. cit.), was found at site Sie-21. It is not known if
any excavation had taken place at either site Sie-20 or 21 prior to 1958.

The 1958 Excavation, During the summer of 19589 a class in archaeolog-
ical field methods from the University of California, Berkeley, under the

leadership of Dr. A, D. Krieger of the Riverside Municipal Museum, excavated
4 test pits, measuring 10 by 10 feet on the sides, at Sie-20.  Since the ex-
cavation was intended to be exploratory, only brief field records, not in-

cluding a site map, were kept, Artifacts, however, were carefully recorded

as to depth in each pit, and it is these artifacts, as well as those recovered
from the surface of the site while the excavation was in progress, that will

- 61 -

be described in this report. In some cases specimens from site Sie.21 will
be included in the descriptions. The depth of artifact-producing midden

proved to be but 12 inches or so in all 4 test pits. Below that, to a depth
of 18 inches, was darkish soil charged with large cobbles or boulders which

finally necessitated a termination of excavation at the latter depth. Shaker
screens were used throughout excavation, since the fine dark midden soil of
the "sage brush knolls" made artifact detection difficult if shovels or

trowels only were used for probing the excavated soil. No human or animal

bones were recovered in the excavation. This corresponds to results in two
other excavations in the nearby Martis Complex area, at Nev-67 (Davis, n,d.)
and at site SP-6 in Martis Valley (Arnold, n,d,),

Artifacts Recovered. About 218 artifacts were found in the excavation
or on the surface of the site. These were in the following categories and

numbers: (1) Post-contact artifacts, i.e., square iron nails, white earthen-
ware sherds, glass bottle fragments: 25. (2) Projectile points: 79 typable
specimens; 68 tip or mid-section fragments.   (3) Drills:  2 typable specimens;
2 fragments. (4) Flake scrapers: 7. (5) Ornaments: 1 stone; l shell,

(6) Manos: 11. (7) Pestles and/or hammerstones: 3. These artifacts are
described below in the order given.

Post-contact artifacts, All of these specimens evidently were left
by early white settlers or travelers in Sardine Valley. The immediate area
of midden concentration has presumably been used for many years in cattle-

raising activities connected with the Payen Ranch,   It is said also that one

of the wooden sheds associated with the site was once used as part of a stage
coach station along the Smithneck Creek Road. This would explain the recov-
ery of the relatively great cz-:mber of square (horseshoe) nails at the site,
The historic material occurred in the aboriginal artifact-bearing deposit

(0-12 inches), hence it must be assumed that the part of the site chosen for
excavation, while perhaps the richest portion in terms of artifacts, also had
been subject to considerable disturbance since the time of Indian occupation.

Projectile points,  Of the 147 specimens which could be identified
as projectile points., all were of basalt except 13 chert specimens, 3 of

schist, and 11 of obsidian.  Of the 79 typable specimens, 44 were complete
enough to be measured, with the results shown on the following page.

No attempt was made to place these points in a chronological sequence
since the midden deposit was so shallow, and., in addition, showed signs of

having been disturbed subsequent to aboriginal occupation. All of the points

fit into the Martis classification as based originally upon.the Pla-5 material,
except 2 asymmetrical specimens which display tangs on but one side only0

This is thought to be a type simply not recovered or recognized at Pla-5 (the

- 62 -

Martis type site), hence is incorporated here as a new type in the classi-
fication (Type 5f). The type, or subtype, has been found recently at an-
other Martis Complex site in the Truckee region by Davis (op. cit.). In
view of the relative paucity of specimens made from obsidian, and their

similarity in form to the classic Martis basalt forms, the obsidian speci-
mens are included, for convenience, in the Martis classification.   It is

possible in some cases that the comparative lightness of the obsidian speci-
mens may affect the weight averages of the points given in Table 130

Table 13

Measurements of Martis Complex Type Projectile Points from Sie-20

No, of         Average        Average       Average
Type        specimens        length         width        weight
of point      recovered         (cm.)         (cm.)         (gms.)

lb             2              5.8           2.1           7.3
2              2              3.5           3.4           5.7
3a             7              4.1           1.9           3.9
3b             7              3o4           2o2           3a1
4a              1             303           1.4           2.7
4b             6              2.5           2.0           2,8
4c             6              3.8           2.1           4.6
4d             6              2,7           1.9           2.8
5a             3              3.9           2.3           2.9
Sc             2              3.2           2.3           3.0
5f             2              3.8           2.7           5,4

All chips except those of basalt, of material which probably would

have been used in projectile point manufacture, were collected. Basalt occurs
locally as float material, hence innumerable chips recovered in the screening
were rejected on the spot. Chert and obsidian, on the other hand, were no

doubt imported from elsewhere, in reduced quantity. The numbers of chips from
all the pits excavated were as follows:

- 63 -

Other silicified
Chert          Obsidian         volcanic material

484              126                   40

Representative projectile point specimens are illustrated in
Plates 2C, D.

Drills. These specimens are all of basalt. Two fragments are
worked tips only, and two specimens, not entirely complete, are, however,
identifiable as Types A and C in the Martis classification (Heizer and

Elsasser, op. cit.,). The Type A fragment (P1. 2Do) appears to have had a
large circular base and a short tip, while the Type C example (P1. 2Dn)
has a long point, with a continuous (unshaped) base.

Scrapers. The majority of the 7 scrapers recovered are unshaped
or roughly shaped flakes, partially chipped on one or both faces. The

specimen shown in Plate 2Dq is representative of this class. It is a crudely
shaped flake with secondary chipping along one face. The specimen shown in
Plate 2Dp is a finely made specimen which should perhaps be called a knife.

It is a tabular, shaped flake, with retouching along both lateral edges. The
retouching is alternately unifacial, i.e., both lateral edges are chipped,
but on opposite faces of the specimen.

Ornaments. Two ornaments were recovered, and both specimens are
illustrated (Pl. 2Dr,s). The stone ornament is a thin tabular pendant, 2

cm. long, with a single conically drilled hole 2 mm. in diameter at one end.
The specimen is fragmentary, though it is evident that it originally had an
ovoid shape. A full longitudinal break of the schistose material of the

specimen prevents determination of its original thickness, and whether or not
it had a biconically drilled hole.

The shell specimen (Pl, 2Ds) is of the green-backed abalone

QH. cracherodi). It is fragmentary, also, but its original shape can only

be guessed. Even though the original specimen probably was circular in out-
line, perhaps one of the variants of the C(l) or C(2) types (Bennyhoff and
Heizer, op. cit., p. 64), it cannot properly be used as a chronologically

diagnostic specimen since there is no way to determine the number of central
or edge perforations in the original specimen.

Manos. Eleven manos, representing Types I and II (see p. 44), were
recovered, all either from the surface of the site or in the first (and only)
12 inch level of the deposit..

Type I manos (round or ovate cobbles) are of granite (1), basalt (3),

- 64 -

and felslte (3),  Four of the specimens are Complete, 3 are fragmentary, and
all have wear on but one limited surface,

Four Type T, (loaf-shaped, bitacial) specimens are of basalt (3)
and granodiorite (I), Shapes of two of these manos are identical to those

shown in Figure 2B, C (Heizer and Elsasser, op. cit.), i.,e., the length does
not appreciably exceed the width of the specimens.  Of the remaining two

specimens, one, though fragmentary, appears to have been a "long" specimen
like the complete example (No, 208) which is 15 cm. long by 8 cm, wide,

Metates, No portable metates were found at the site, Probably

with addiLtional excavation, these would appear.  In addition, it is possible
that some of the heavy granit ic boulders which are distributed throughout
the surface of the slte could once have contained metate surfaces, since
mortar holes were present in at Least two of these boulders,

Pestles and/or hammerstones,  One smal l, roughly cyllndrical sec-
tion of felsite (No, 130) with smoothed sides, 308 cm, long and 2.9 cm. in
diameter, possibly could represent a mid-section of a small pestle0   Two

other spec.imens, one complete, of felsite, and one fragmentary, of basalt,

show a ground flattening on their ends,, The complete specimen is an irregu-
lar cobble 10,,2 cm  long, unworked on its sides but with distinct, smoothly

worn ends 6,5 and 5.5 cm. in diameter, indicating use as a pestle in shallow
mortar holes or perhaps as a hammerstone in some food- cr hi de-softening

process which required only a flat pounding under-surface,   The fragmentary

specimen (No, 236), 8e8 cm. long arnd wlth one smoothly ground end 5,2 cm. in
diameter, was pecked on its sides so that it has an ovoid cross-sectional

shape,, Its sides are not worn smooth. however, and the specimen thus sug-

gests u-se as a pestle 'in a shallow mortar hole or possibly occasional second-
ary use as a hammerstone,

Bedrock Mortars and Petroglyphs   Study of the grinding tool complex at
Sie 20 is hampered by the limited nature of the excavation, Ordinarily one
would expect to find metates or metate fragments along with manos, and not
have to depend. on a putative association of manos with possible bedrock

metates iMn order to explain the presence of the manos,  The small number of
pestles recovered, on the other hand, corresponds with the relative paucity
of bedrock mortars at the site, The latter are represented on two flattish-
topped, granitic boulders, each about 36 inches in diameter, imbedded in the
midden soil, One of the boulders shows 3 well developed mortar holes, while
the other has but one incipient hole,  It may be surmised that more shallow
mortar holes , or perhaps metates, were at one time present on other, similar
boulders at the site, but have become obliterated in the course of years,

The exposed nature of the terrain at both sites (Sie-20 and 21) leaves

- 65 -

open the possibility of obliteration of petroglyphs as well as evidences of
grinding surfaces on the bedrock or float boulders. At Sie-21, however,

there still remain a few petroglyph elemern on one boulder. These are one
straight-line groove separating two wavy lines (snakes?) in a field measur-
ing about 20 by 8 inches.

At site Sie-20 is a boulder which contains numerous small, conical pits
or "dimples" averaging about 6 cm. in diameter and from 2 to 4 cm. deep. A
similar petroglyph style has been observed in various Great Basin sites. At

the Grimes site, near Fallon, Nevada, for example, the pit (and groove) style,
on the basis of degree of patination of the element with relation to the

parent rock, is thought to represent a culture stratum in the Great Basin

perhaps dating from more than 5,000 years ago (Baumhoff, Heizer and Elsasser,
op. cit., p. 15)o  A pitted boulder has been observed at site Pla-5 in Martis
Valley by the present author, and Arnold (op. cit.) reports what appears to
be a pitted boulder in a site not far away from Pla-5, in the same valley.

Discussion.  Site Sie-20 and its adjoining site, Sie-21, have yielded

enough evidence from limited excavation and surface collection to indicate a
type of occupation in Sardine Valley which was probably identical to that

posited for the dominant occupation in Martis Valley, 20 miles to the south.

Both areas were probably used seasonally, e.g., as early summer headquarters,
for hunting groups who spent much time on the sites manufacturing domestic

stone implements as well. Of the complement of Martis Complex material exem-
plified at Pla-5, large leaf-shaped blades of basalt were not recovered in
the excavation of Sie-20. Also, no traces of metates were found at Sie-20,
either in the excavation or in the surface collection. These discrepancies
might be explained by noting the great amount of intensive private collect-

ing in Sardine Valley, and the relatively small amount of excavation carried
out at the site in 1958.

One previously unreported element found at both Sie-20 and Pla-5, the
pitted boulder, possibly could pre-date the Martis Complex. It could also
be an element which survived from earlier times and was used by the Martis
people, perhaps to increase their hunting luck,

Discussion of Martis Com

Since 1953, when the Martis Complex was first proposed, a great number
of sites have been discovered which seem to bear Martis affiliation. These
sites are distributed in an area extending from as far north as Honey Lake

in Lassen County to the southern end of Hope Valley, in Alpine County. Many
Martis-like sites have been located or identified around Peavine Mountain,

and in Spanish Spring and Washoe Valleys near Reno, as well as in the Carson

- 66 -

Scale

40 miles

--- County boundaries

--    State boundaries

......   Limits of the Sierra

Nevadan geomorphic
province

0

e Martis-affiliated

sites (surface)

A Martis-affiliated

sites (excavated)

U Other sites (excavated)

I . . . I

. . .

iz21

MAP 10: Distribution of Martis Complex Sites and     Other Excavated

I            SSites in the Sierra Nevada

Valley, in Nevada. At least one site has been reported from as far south
as Sonora Pass in California,

The general area of distribution may be seen in Map 10 A total of 150
Martis type sites has been recorded, with the occurrence in each county as

follows:  (1) California:  Lassen, 1 site; Plumas, 21 sites; Sierra, 21 sites;
Nevada, 46 sites; Yuba, 5 sites; Placer, 13 sites; Eldorado, 2 sites; Alpine,

9 sites, (2) Nevada: Ormsby, 1 site; Douglas, 3 sites; Storey, 1 site; Lyon,
I site; Washoe, 46 sites,

The locations of these sites tend to modify slightly ideas originally

set forth on the relationship between site location and function, It may be
observed that, if there is any area which could properly be referred to as

the characteristic "Martis area," this would fall largely into the Transition
Zone (cf, Maps 2 and 10), on the eastern and western sides of the range,

FurthaBrmore, of the three excavated sites reported upon in this paper, two

could well have been used as winter occupation sites, Thus the concept of an
extremely high altitude culture complex should be altered in favor of one re-
ferring to what may be called a mid-altitude optimum, which varies from about
2,500 to 6, 00? feet, and depends upon which side of the range is under con-

sideration, It has been shown previously that the Transition life zone com-
prises a different emphasis of life species and range of elevations where it
adjoins the Great Basin than where it faces the Great Central Valley of Cali-
fornia,  It appears that the distribution of Martis-type sites is closely
associated with this ecological phenomenon,

Davis (op. cit.) has recorded data pertinent to prehistoric economic

activity in the probable central region of the Martis Complex (i.e., north

of Lake Tahoe, in the Truckee River drainage area). Most of this information
was offered by Dr. A, Starker Leopold of the Department of Zoology, University
of California (Berkeley), and may be paraphrased as follows:

The sagebrush knolls upon which the majority of Martis Complex sites

are located were formerly grass-covered knolls, It was not until after the
land was utilized for sheep and cattle grazing that the once grassy vegeta-
tion was replaced by sagebrush and bitterbrush,

Deer eat only a limited quantity of green grass, and will not feed on
dry grass. Also, elevations from about 5,500 to 6,000 feet in this region
are too low for summer deer range, even with the present day vegetal cover-
ing,

In early historic times, before the vegetation change occurred, valleys
such as Martis, Prosser, Stampede, and Sardine furnished summer grazing for

- 67 -

antelope herds which migrated from western Nevada. The antelope drifted in
herds up to higher elevations during the sumer and returned to the lower

elevations during the winter. The approximate time of this drifting occurred
upward during the months of May and June and downward during late October and
November.

During the protohistoric period, no other large mammals, such as deer or
bighorn sheep, were in abundance in this region.

In aboriginal times Pyramid Lake supported a considerable population of
large cutthroat trout, which ran up the tributaries of the Truckee River,
such as Prosser Creek, to spawn. Two runs occurred annually from Pyramid
Lake, one during December and January, the other during March and April.
ifter spawning, the fish returned to Pyramid Lake during May and June.

The near absence of bone in these sites may be accounted for by the fact
that bone left lying on the surface of this mountain country disintegrates-

rapidly. Deer bones resulting from the starvation winter of 1952 have almost
disappeared in six years' time. Locations of carcasses and skeletons have

been checked periodically since 1952, and an informal notation of their rate
of decomposition has been made,

Locations of Martis-type sites on the western side of the main Sierran
divide probably may be explained in similar terms to those outlined for the
Truckee River drainage, with different animal species substituted where

applicable. If the Martis people followed antelope to the lower elevations
and deer over the higher parts of the range, and perhaps from one side of

the range to the other, neither the point of origin, the usual direction of
movement, nor the side where the bulk of the people spent the winter months
can be determined with the data at hand. The similarity of artifact mater-

ial on both sides of the main range certainly suggests regular trans-Sierran
trail routes in Martis Complex times, These routes could have followed gen-
erally the North, Middle, and South Forks of the Feather River, and the

Middle Fork of the Yuba River. Sites usually are found on ridges or upon
small flats close to the streams named, or their tributaries. The trails
themselves probably alternated between relatively low canyon sides and

easily accessible ridges. It has been noted above that the northern Sierra
Nevada is not characterized by numbers of definite passes or gaps in the

mountain wall, such as are encountered all along the southern Sierran divide.
Trails may be made in a much more wholesale fashion in the north., hence there
is no tendency to "channeling." Where prehistoric trails have been channeled,
or funneled, there is usually abundant evidence in the form of camp-spot
detritus spaced at intervals along the route,

- 68 -

A definite genetic relationship seems to hold between the projectile
point types on the two opposite flanks of the Sierra Nevada, at Nev-15 and

Pla-5 (western and eastern, respectively). In addition to the overwhelming
evidence from the excavations at Nev-15, it appears that the majority of

projectile points recorded from Hawver Cave (Wallace and Lathrap, op. cit.)
may easily be identified, from material, shape, and size, as Martis types.
Thus, of 13 points illustrated (ibid., p. 134), 6 of basalt, 6 of slate or
schist, and 1 of limestone, 10 are classifiable as Martis types (basalt:

3 of Type 4 [side-notched], 2 of Type 3 [shouldered]; slate or schist: 5
of Type 3 [shouldered]).

At Nev-15 there is reason to believe that some sort of change took

place through time in the popularity of projectile point types, Data from
ott.ir excavations of Martis sites on the eastern side of the range, except
in one instance, all tend to emphasize, however, the single-phase quality
of the Martis Complex.

Arnold (op. cit.),, for example, has found Martis projectile point Types
1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 at a site in Martis Valley.  There, only Types 1 and 3
were found in the lowest level excavated (30-36 inches)0

At Cave Rock (site 26-Do-1), on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, an ex-
cavation under the direction of the writer disclosed but 3 basalt projectile
points, all of them of Martis type (1 of Type 3; 2 of Type 4)0

Another excavation, carried out at a site (Nev-67) near Alder Creek, a
tributary of Prosser Creek (Davis, op. cit.), resulted in the finding of

Martis Complex projectile points, Types 1 and 4, in the lowest (6-12 inch)
level of the site.

From the excavations just mentioned, and from the excavation at Sie-20
reported in this paper, the samples were not large enough to merit any

attempt at drawing conclusions regarding relative chronology at the sites,
At site Do-12, also reported herein, there is not only evidence that per-
tains to relative chronology, but the projectile point types found there
indicate, for the first time, wider relationships of a site which can as-
suredly also be classified as representative of the Martis Complex.

Table 14 shows the affinities between site Do-12, the Humboldt Lakebed
site (26-Ch-15), the Mono County area surveyed by Meighan (1955), and the

Yosemite National Park sites excavated by Bennyhoff (1956). It will be re-

called that the Yosemite region projectile point specimens of the "C" desig-
nation have been placed in the early complex at Yosemite (Crane Flat), while
those with the "B" prefix are of the succeeding (Tamarack) complex. Benny-
hoff (ibid.) equated the Crane Flat Complex with the Martis Complex, and

- 69 -

Table 14.

Comparison of Projectile Point Types from site Do-12
and Other Sites in Nevada and California.

Mono

Shape         Do-12           Ch-15*          County**       Yosemite***

0     lb              A                2           Bl or Cl

B

4a          (Rose Spring          8           B4 or B5

side notch?)

Humbol-dt

X          concave base                          B3

A

Humboldt

X          basal notched          3              C5

4b                                9             Clla
4c              F                 4              37

A         |    a           Rose Spring

|    5a     |    contracting

stem

A5                     Eastgate

Sb, SC        expanding             6              310

stem

5d         Elko eared                            C15

Eastgate

X          split stem

K:Type not previously classified in Martis Complex.
**After Meighan, 1955.

*Unpublished data.
***After Bennyhoff, 1956,

- "0o -

suggested that the not-so-well-known Tamarack Complex followed both in time,
If the evidence for relative chronology from Nev-15 and Do-12 has any valid-

ity, then we may look upon site Do-12 as a later phase of the Martis Complex.
Taken with the evidence from Yosemite National Park, Do-12 would appear to

follow the same sequence that obtained there, according to Bennyhoff"s stra-
tigraphy, and possibly represents a transitional period between the earlier
(Martis or Crane Flat) and later (Tamarack) complexes.

Both Meighan (for Mono County) and Bennyhoff (for the Yosemite region)
refer to certain similarities in point types between these two localities
and the Martis Complex area. However., neither saw fit to emphasize clear=

cut comparisons between assemblages of basalt points and those of obsidian,
wh:ch characterized most of the specimens from Mono County and Yosemite. A
possible explanation for observed differences between basalt and obsidian
specimens is that a point maker might have the same general form in mind

when starting the flaking process, but the size and fineness of outline of
the finished product might depend on the material used. This distinction

in iterial thus could be important to the archaeologist engaged in classi-
fying a large group of points.

Specimens from site Do-12, as shown above, display certain similarities
to points recovered from the Humboldt Lakebed site in Churchill County,

Nevada, A wide range of specimens has been found on the now dry surface of
the lake bed, and the latter collection includes also several basalt speci-
mens which are easily identified as Martis Complex types.

At both sites Nev-15 and Do-12, points resembling Pinto type projectile
points have been recovered. The Nev-15 specimens are all of basalt (desig-
nated as Martis type 12), and are of the so-called "sloping shoulder" vari-
ety named by Harrington (1957, p. 50). The concave-based specimens from
Do-12 are perhaps too small to be equated with the "unshouldered" Pinto

points of Harrington (ibid.), although the resemblance in shape is definite.
In all, the Do-12 specimens probably show greater likeness to projectile

points which occur in quantity at site 26-Ch-15, called "Humboldt concave-
base A"l type, in the collections of the University of California Robert H.
Lowie Museum of Anthropology.

The occurrence of the almost unquestionably late Desert side-notched

type of point at sites Nev-15, Pla-6 (site excavated by Arnold [op. cit.]),
Do-12, and Sies 21 may be explained simply as the result of temporary camp-
ing on the sites by protohistoric or historic Maidu or Washo groups. At
both sites Nev-15 and Pla-6, however, such specimens (3 at Nev-15, 1 at
Pla-6) were found relatively deep in midden deposits, in the 18-24 inch

levels, as it happens. Evidence from the majority of Martis type sites re-

corded (mostly surface sites where the typical Martis specimens do not occur

- 71

in conjunction with the Desert side-notched points) suggests that these oc-
currences represent disturbance of the mound soil rather than an extension

of the Martis culture into the time of the late prehistoric or protohistoric
cilt?ures of the region,

In sum, three possibilities may be set forth to explain the areal dis-
tribution of the Martis Complex: (1) It was a higher altitude or summer

manifestation of a culture which was centered farther out in the Great Basin,
to the east; this perhaps had ultimate roots in the Southern California

deserts. (2) The same as above, except that the center or point of origin

was i. central California., during Middle Horizon times. (3) It was an essen-
tially autochthonous culture, i.e., one which developed in the Sierra Nevada
without strong reference to cultures on either side of the Sierra.

The first possibility is based upon the greater number of Martis type

sites on the eastern side of the Sierra and on the distribution of Pinto type
9oints in the Great Basin. The latter may point to early movements along the
eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, with utilization of locally available
material for implement manufacture. It may be suggested on these grounds
that the early culture of the Yosemite National Park area and that of the

Martis Complex area were derived from the same tradition, The penetration

of the Sierra as far as Yosemite Valley or the western foothills in the north
may be based partially on the following of large game animals over the moun-
tains from the east.

On the other hand, the second possibility (above) forces us to confront
the evidence of the strong resemblance of Martis Complex points with those
recovered from the Middle archaeological Horizon of central California,

Furthermore, investigation to date of the foothills on the western side of

the Sierra has not been carried on so intensively with regard to the Martis
problem as on the eastern side of the range,  Thus it remains possible that
the known high- or mid-altitude Martis sites represent a summer occupation
of a basically central Californian culture.

The argument for the third possibility is simply that what have been
defined as Martis type artifacts, especially the all-important projectile

points, are reasonably distinct assemblages, and while influence from far-

ther east in the Great Basin or from central California is obviously present,
as at site Do-12 (Great Basin), one would expect it to be strong enough to be
definitely identified at higher altitudes, i.e., at some distance from the

periphery of the Martis region or zone of direct impingement with either Great
Basin or central Californian cultures.

Whatever the case., all that can be said at this writing is that the lower

" 72 -

altitude sites with midden deposits probably represent winter residences,*
while the higher sites with scatterings of artifacts on their surfaces only
represent summer camp sites. In some instances, observed sites with midden
deposits such as those in Martis Valley and along Alder Creek near Truckee
can hardly qualify as winter sites, hence must be looked upon simply as
continuously preferred summer camp sites.

It is apparent that the number of wintering sites, being places of

concentration of population, would be less than of summer camp sites, yet
only a few of these probable winter occupation spots have been found and

excavated. It therefore does not seem unreasonable to state that knowledge

of the Martis Complex is by no means complete, and that excavation in future
may yield solid data which will aid in establishing closer Californian-Great
Basin archaeological relationships through the definition of a local Sierran
culture, which, no matter what its ultimate affiliations, could also serve

as a linking type of culture between the regions to the east and west of the
Sierra Nevada.

CONCLUSIONS

An attempt has been made in this paper to review all known data per-
taining to prehistoric culture chronology and distribution in the Sierra

Nevada. While no new concepts have been derived from this study, it is felt
that the ralating to each other of previously defined culture complexes over
the entire extent of the geomorphic province will be of value in future in
the interpretation of local Sierran archaeology, and of the influences re-

ceived by the Sierran cultures from cis-montane California or the Great Basin0

Unfortunately, the familiar demand for additional investigation before
the large problems of the region can be solved must again be voiced. The

speci'fic, immediate deficiencies are that not enough is known of the early

complexes in the southern or higher part of the range, while in the northern
part, especially on the western side of the range, there has not been suffi-
cient survey or excavation properly to outline the later complexes.

Keeping in mind the background of comparatively intensive survey in

certain regions, like Yosemite National Park, and the virtual neglect or but

sketchy outlines of the archaeology in the foothill region between Nevada City
and Placerville, for example, we may tentatively summarize the broad conclu-
sions of this paper as follows,

*These may have also been occupied in the summer, perhaps by a smaller number
of people than in winter,

- 73 -

(1) In the early period of Sierran occupation by man, the beginning of

which is tentatively dated here as about 2,500 years ago, the Martis Complex
was thriving in the northern part of the range. This evidently was a rela-
tively homogeneous culture which seems not to have been subject to such

natural or artificial boundaries as existed between the ethnographic groups,
the Maidu and Washo, which later occupied the same general area, The Martis
people either were confined fairly strictly to the Sierran geomorphic prov-
ince itself, like the ethnographic Northeastern Maidu, or they represent a
summer manifestation of lower altitude groups on one or both sides of the

Sierra. Unlike that of the Northeastern Maidu, their cultural affiliation
with central Californian (Sacramento Valley) peoples cannot definitely be

established. Neither can their origin be positively connected with the Great
Basin.

The existence of any Sierran archaeological culture equivalent to the
Martis Complex south of the Yosemite National Park region is only vaguely
known. Bennyhoff (1956) has, however, demonstrated at Yosemite a possibly
continuous sequence found in stratified relation, and the report in the

present paper on site Do-12 may be the first step in determining a transi-
tion from the Martis culture to a succeeding culture equatable with the
Tamarack Complex in Yosemite. Although at two Martis type sites (Nev-15

and Do-12) there is some slight evidence of culture change reflected by the
position in the midden and popularity of certain projectile point types,

this is of tentative nature only, and cannot soundly be usedas a basis for
separating the Martis Complex into "early" and "late" periods (see Table 15
below).

(2) For the later period, i.e.,, in late prehistoric or protohistoric

times, evidence of movements of people (trade routes, commonly used hunting
trails, for example) and their distrlbutional patterns, in the area which

previously was occupied by the Martis Complex, tends to be scanty. Lacking
over most of the area, except as noted, at site Do-12, is evidence of a

transitional culture between the Martis Complex and the protohistoric Maidu
or Washo. If the estimates of the dating of the Martis Complex as given
here are correct (ca. 1500 B.C. to 500 or 600 A.D.), there is a lapse of

more than 500 years before the supposed appearance of the late prehistoric
expressions of these ethnographic groups. The depth association of Desert

side-notched points and shaped steatite specimens with Martis Complex arti-
facts at Nev-15 may conceivably be evidence for the bridging of the gap,

which would almost certainly be represented as a survival or extension of
the Martis Complex into a period later than that indicated in this paper.

The types of steatite objects found do not here present serious difficulty,
since their temporal affiliations are not precisely known, The problem of

the Desert side-notched points possibly may be resolved with additional ex-

cavation, especially if sites are found in which "disturbed midden" does not

- 74 -

Table 15. Tentative Archaeological Chronology of. the Sierra Nevada.

(Adapted from Bennyhoff, 1958)

Southern

Sub-Region           Owens Valley        Sierra     Yosemite      Northern Sierra

ICt .a                                          & .

Historic
Group
Dating

BP    BC-AD
(1950)

1700

800    1100
1500     500

0-AD
2000

3000    1000

Owens Valley

Paiute

Western
Mono

I                       -

Rose     Cottonwood
Spring      Creek

(Tny-2)

Earlier     Earlier

Rose      Cottonwood
Spring       Creek

*

Vermilion
Valley

-so

T

Earlier

Vermilion
Valley

*

p

---
m
m

Tamarack*

i

Crane
Flat*

4

Central &
S. Hiwok

Mariposa*

i

a

I

a
a

0

.w

Kings Beach*

----------------I. -  -

Haidu and

Washo

Stahl

-

Hartis*

*

op

I

pl

Pinto Gypsum*

?

a                                                                            I    -

a---

. . - . .

- * Named complexes--unstarred names are of individual sites.

xxx - Base line for "Shoshone" ceramics (Owens Valley Brown Ware).

--- a Approximate temporal boundaries.    -

have to be invoked in order to explain what are thought to be anomalous, deep
occurrencl'es in the deposit of "late" specimens,0

Ira the sout-hern part of the range, on the other hand, there is much

evidence of a homogenecus late prehistoric or protohistoric culture, based
upon hunting and most, probably upon trade as well.  It is assumed that this

apparent homogene-1ity may in turn have been based on linguistic kinship of the
Shoshonean peoples who lived on either side of the range0

Ta'bbe7. 1i>e -.=t--stmarizes the estimated chronological relationshtps between
the archae.ological. cultures of the Sierra Nevada0

Throughou,t this paper, reference has been made to sites on the outer edge,
or ent-rely cutside, of the Sierra Nevadan province0  The Karlo site in Lassen
County, site Iny-- - in Owens Vallev, sites in Mono County surveyed by Meighan
(195.51, and e'ven the Martis type site, Do-12, are all, properly speaking, in
the. Great Basin.  There is certainly no question, however, as to whether or

not s;uch site;as are necessary tco the interpretation of Sierra Nevadan archaeol
ogy, The onl.y real. question here :i',s how muc.h more regions like the Humboldt
Valley, inP Nevaxdax Owens Valley; or the southern end of the Cascade Range in
Tehama County should have been considered as essential bases for comparison

with the data from the Sierra Nevada proper0  The answer of course is tzhat all
of these reg:,ons ultimately are archaeclogically interdependent0  Collections
of data from. all, of them, and fromr the Sierra Nevada as well., still must be
built to the point where they can be easily and withcut st'rain compared to

each other 0  Only ther. can the prehlstory of any, of the regions separately and
of wez?tern Ncoc,th America as a whole be meaningfully synthesized0

- 76 -

END NOTES

1. In addition to Kroeber's Handbook (1925), the following

sources have been consulted for the groups indicated:

ethnographic

Maidu:
Washo:

Dixon (1905)

Voegelin (1942)

Littlejohn (1929)
Beaks (1933)
Faye (1923)

Barrett (1907)
Lowie (1939)

Stewart (1941)

Owens Valley Paiute:

(E. Miono)

Yokuts:

T4Ubatulabal:

Steward (1933)
Driver (1937)

Gayton (1948a, b)
Aginsky (1943)
Driver (1937)

Voegelin (1938)
Driver (1937)

Driver (1937)

Zigmond (1938)

[ Kroeber (1925) ]
Driver (1937)

with county sym-

Miwok:     Barrett and Gifford

(1933)

W. Mono    Gifford (1932)

Driver (1937)

Gayton (J.948b)
Aginsky (1943)

Kawaiisu:

Kitanemuk:
Koso:

2. Counties included in areas indicated in Tables 1 and 2,

bols shown on maps (from north to south), are:

Area I

Area III

Plumas
Sierra
Butte
Yuba

Nevada
Placer
Area II

(FPu-)
(Sie-)
(But-)
(Yub-)
(Nev-)
(Pla-)

Madera
Fresno
Tu lare
Kern

(Mad-)
(Fre-)
(Tul-)
(Ker-)

Area IV

Eldorado
Amador

Calaveras
Tuolumne
Mariposa

(Eld-)
(Ama-)
(Cal-)
(Tuo-)
(Mrp-)

Lassen     (Las-)
Alpine     (Alp-)
Mono       (Mno-)
Inyo       (Iny-)

Counties in state of Nevada

(boundaries not shown on map)

Washoe
Ormsby

Douglas

- 77 -

3. Size of site correlated with number of mortar holes (after Bennyhoff,

1956, ppo 12-13):

Mortar holes

1-7:       single family occupation
8-19:      small village
20 plus:.,  large village

(One site in Big Meadow [Mrp-3] has 473 mortar holes)

4.  Summary of, probable dates and place of occurrence of small, triangular

-projectile points outside of California (after Eberhart, n.d.).

(1)  Stmnle triangular with concave baseltpe

Great Plains, ca. 1300 AoD.
Texas, 800-900 AoD,

Southern New Mexico, 900-1100 A.D.

Northern New Mexico, 1100-1300 A.D.
Southern Arizona, 700-1000 A.D.
Northern Arizona, 700-900 A.D.
Utah, 500(?)-900 A.D.

Southeastern Oregon, ca. 1000 A.De /
(2)  Side-notched  straight based

Northwestern Plains   1150-1350 A.D.
Central Plains, 1000- 1150 A.D.
Texas, ca, 1.100 A, Do

Mogollon, 700-1000 A,D.
Hohokam, 800-900 AIDO

Sinagua, 1070-1120 A,D.
Anasazi, 900-950 A.D'.a
Utah, 900-1000 A.D,

Northwest, ca. 1000 A.D, or later
(3) Side-notsed concave based type

Northwestern Plains, 1150-1350 A.D.
Central Plains, 1250-1450 A.D.
Texas, ca. 1100 A.D.

Chihuahua, 1200-1450 A.D.
Mogollon, 950-1150 A.D.
Hohokam, 800-900 A.D,

Sinagua, 1070-1120 A.D,
Anasazi, 900-1100 A.D.
Utah, 950w1150 .A.D.

Oregon, ca, 1000 AoD.

Wash-ington,, ca, 1000 A.D, or later

- 78 -

(4) Side notched, end notched type

Central Plains, 1000-1150 A.D.
Texas, ca, 1100 A.D.

Mogollon, 900-1100 A.D.
-Hohokam, 900-1100 AM D.

Sinagua., 1070-1120 A.Dn
Anasazi , 1100-4300 A.D,,
Utah, 900-1300 AlD,

Southeast,. Oregon, ca,, 1000 A.D.

5.  The projectile point classification is adapted from that in Heizer and

Elsasser (op. cit., p. 11) except for a few additions and slight modi-
fication., as follows:

Type i

Subtype a.

be
C,
d.

3i-pointed, spindle shaped (P1. lAa-c),
With rounded base (P1, lAd-f).
With rounded base and point,
Crescenti.c.

Tye 2 Triangular (Plo lAg-i),

W 3  Shouldered, with contracting or nearly parallel-sided stem.

Subtype a,

c,
d.

Wlth pointed item (PI. lAi-m),

Stem with rounded end (Pl lAn-p).
Stem. with squaare end (P1. lAq-s).
Stem with. coxncave end (PI. N2Co)

Type 4 Side-.notched; depending on size and shape of notch, approaches

shouldered form with expanding stem,

Subtype a,,

b.

C.

do

With no discrete stem, square or convex end (Plo lAt-v),
With conca-v,'e base (PI, o lAw-y)

With rou-nded base (P1  1 lBa-c)?
With squared base (PI. I.Bd-f),

Tye 5   Barbed or tanged (C.t ornar or basal notched),

Subtype

a,  With contracting, pointed stem (P1, lBg-i),o

bo  With expanding or parallel-sided stem, rounded bz

(P1, IBJpl)o

c,  With expanding or parallel-sided stem, squared bi

d, With expandirng Or parallel- sided stem, indented

(Pl. 2Az 9a2),

e, With long tangs extending as far as base of stem

(basal, notched).

f. With one tang only, variable stems (Pl, 2D1-m),

ase
ase

base

79 -

Type 6 Quadrangular (Pl lBq-r).

Type i   With long, parallel-sided stem, with rounded end, basal

edges ground (PI. 2Bf).

Type 8 With long, narrow blade with concave sides, barbed or

shouldered (PI. lBs-v).

Iygn2    Side or corner-notched with chipped blunted tips (reworked

projectile points for use as hafted scrapers?) (P1. 2Ba).
Tye 10 Side-notched points with shouldered tips (reworked projec-

tile points for use as hafted perforators or drills?)
(P1. 2Bb-c),

Type 11 With slight (sloping) shoulder.

Subtype a, With pointed base (Pl lBw-y).

b.  With square or concave base (P1, lCa-e)

- 80 -

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbreviations Used

AA
AA
AIP

ICA
GS

SC
Si
SW
u'c
Ut

k       American Anthropologist
knt     American Antiquity

4NH     American Museum of Natural History

-AP      -Anthropological Papers
-B       -Bulletin

kS      California Academy of Sciences

-P        -Proceedings

''A      Geological Society of America

-B        -Bulletin

[AL      International Journal of American Linguistics
ks       Kroeber Anthropological Society

-P        -Papers

1CM      Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee

-B       -Bulletin

Sierra Club
-B         -Bulletin

Smithsonian Institution

-BAE       -Bureau of American Ethnology

-B     -Bulletin

FM       Southwest Museum

-M        -Masterkey
-P        -Papers

Un:Lversity of Cali?4fornia

-AR        -Anthropological RIcords

-AS-R      -Archaeological Survey- Report

-PAAE      -Publications in American Archaeology and I
-PG        -Publications in Geography
-Pz        -Publications in Zoology

JDA     University of Utah Department of Anthropology

.AP      -Anthropological Papers

Ethnology

Aginsky, B. W,

1943    Culture Element Distributions, XXIV Central Sierra,  UC-AR Vol.

8, pp. 393-468.

Arnold, B0 AO0

n,d,    Archaeological Investigations on Federal, Lands in Martis Valley,

California.  Report on excavatiorns during July and August, 1957.
18 pp.

- 81 -

Baldwin, G. C.

1950    The Pottery of the Southern Paiute, AAMnt  Vol,0 16, pp, 5056,

Bancroft, H, H,

1883    The Native Races of the Pacific States,  San Francisco.

Barrett, S. A,

1917    The Washo Indians.  PCMCNB, Vol,, 2 pp. 1r52,

Barrett, S, A. and E, W. Gifford

1933    Miwok Material Culture0  PMCM?B,, V'ol. 2,9 pp  li%9377.

Baumhoff, M. A,

1957    An Introduction to Yana Archaeology,  UCAS-R No0 40, pp. 1-610

Baumhoff., M. A, and J. S. Byrne

1959    Desert Side-Notched Points as a Time Marker in California0

UCAS-R No0 48, pp0 32%65.,

Baumhoff, M. A. and RK F. Heizer

1958    Outland Coiled Basketry from the Caves of West Central Nevada0

urCAS-R No0 42, pp. 49.59.

Baumhoff, M. A,, R. F, Heizer and A, B. Elsasser

1958    The Lagomarsino Petrogliyph Group (Site 26-St-4) Near Virginia

City, Nevada, UCAS-R No, 43, Pt, ,, pp. PlI pp.

Beals, R. L.

1933    Ethnology of the Nisenanr., UCPAPME Vol. 319, pD. 335-4140

Beards ley, RK K.

1948    Culture Sequences in Central Californta ArAAnaecog,0 AAnto,

Vol, 14,, pp. 1N28.

1954    Temporal and Areal Relationsh2ips in Central California Archae-

clogy. UCAS-R No, 25, pp. 63Z12;7,

Becker, G. F.

1890    Antiquities from Under Tuolumne Table Mounctain in California.

GSA-B, Vol. 2, pp. 189%200.

Bennyhoff, J. A,

1953    High Altitude Occupation in the Yosemite Park Region,  App, B.

UCAS-R No, 21, pp. 3132.

- 82 -

Beannyho f f ,

i. 958

CZok, S. F.

Dav .is, i:r

.9

1). " d .

Derb   .- C,. I

1 9 - 33

J. A,

An ADDraisal of the Archaeological Resources of Yosemite
National Park.  UCAS-R No, 34, pp. 1-71.

j, A, and R, F. Heizer

Cross.;Dating Great Basin Sites by Californian Shell Beads,
UCAS-R No, 42, pp. 60-92.

0

7

c .

The
21,

Conflict Between the Cal.ifornia Indian and White Civilization0
The Indian Versus the Spanish Mission, Ibero-Americana,, Vo.l.
pp. 1-194.

c

The Archaeology of Three Central Sierran Sites,  Report of exc.a
vation carried out under contract with National Park Service.,
29 pp.  (1958),

The Topographical Reports of Lieutenant George H. Derby0, With
ZT ntroduction and Notes by Francis P. Farquhar, Reprint froam

California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. X%, Nos, 2, 3, 4,
with additional material,

D4xcrkt :%tith A,

1;-953  A "Sandiat" Point from Long Valley, Mono County, California.0

SWMWM, Voll. 27, pp. 97-104.
Dixon, R. B.

.94c0!  khe Northern Maidu. AIfHB 17, pp. 119-346.

Drive   P  E,

937     Cul.ture Element Distributions:  VI Southern Sierra Nevada,

UC-AR, Vol. 1, pp. 53-154.

EberLa.nt, H, H,

n,,d,   Time Markers in Southern California Archaeclogy. PhoD,, Thesis

submitted to University of California, Los Angeles, August, 1957
(298 pp.),

El.sasser., A, B,

95.7    Aboriginal Use of Restrictive Sierran Environments,  UCAS-R No,

41, pp. 27-31.

- 83 -

Enger, W. D.

1950    Archaeology of Black Rock Cave, 'Utah,  UUDAAP No, 7, pp. 84104,

Faye, P.

1923    Notes on the Southern Maidu, UC-P'AAE, Vol. 20, pp. 35-53e
Fenenga, F.

1952    The Archaeology of Slick Rock Village, Tulare County, California.

AAnt, Vol. 17, pp. 339-347,
Fenenga, F. and F. A, Riddell

1949    Excavation of Tommy Tucker Cave, Lassen County, California.

AAnt , Vol. 14, pp. 203- 214.
Gayton, A. H.

1929    Yokuts and Western Mono Pottery-Making. UC-PAAE, Vol. 24, pp.

239-255.

1948a   Yokuts and Western Mono Ethnography.

Valley and Central Foothill Yokuts,

Io  Tulare Lake., Southern
UC-AR, Vol. 10, pp. 1-142.

1948b   Yokuts and Western Mon5o Ethnography,- II: Northern Foothill

Yokuts and Western Mono. UC-AR, Vol. 10, pp. 143-302.
Gifford, E, W.

1932    The Northfork Mono, UC-PAAE, Vol. 31, pp. 15-65.

Gifford, E.

1926

W. and W. E, Schenck

Archaeology of the Southern San Joaquin Valley, California.
UC-PAAE, Vol. 23, pp. 1-122.

Gonsalves, W, C,

1955    WLnslow Cave, A Miortuary Site in Calaveras County, California,

UCAS-R No, 29, pp. 3145.

Grinnel 1,

1935

Joseph

A Revised Life-Zone Map of California. UC-PZ, Vol. 40, pp.
327-330.

Hall, H. M. and J. Grinnell

1919    Life-Zone Indicators in California. CAS-P, 4th ser,, Vol. 9,

pp. 37-67,
Harrington, MN R.

1950    A Storage Cave Near Walker Pass,   SWM-M., Vol. 24, pp. 89-90,

- 84 -

Harring'ccn,

I951.
1952
.. 9 "?

Heizer, R, I

17-h. Rs,

A Colossal Quarry, SW-M., Vol. 259 pp. 1418.

T.hse Fossil Falls Site, SWI-M, Vol. 26, pp. 19ll95.

A. FPintc Site at Little Lake., California. SWM-P No. 17, pp. 1-91.

F.

Heiz
Hei.2
Heiz.
Ee.i Z
Heiz

19<2   The Direct* H_istorical Approach in Cal.ifornia Archaeology.

AiAnrt., V ol, 7, pp. 984-22,

19 49   T;.he Archaeology of Central California,  I:  The Early Horizon,

i7C:-AR, Vol. 12, pp. 1-84o

1951    A Cave Burial fxom Kern County (Ker"185), UCAS-R No. LO, pp. 29-36.
1955    Primitive Man as an Ecologic Factor.  KAS-? Nco 13, pp0 1-31.

1958a   Pr,-.ohAsLric Central California- A Problem in Historical Develop-

mental Classification,  UCAS-R No, 44, pp. 19-26.

1.58bh  Radiocarbon Dates from Califcrnia o-f Archacologizal Interest,
- CCAS-R No, 44, pp. i.-16,0

e: R., F,0 (ed,)

91. 8   A 3Bi. bliography of Ancient Man in Californ-a,  UCAS-R No, 2, ppo 1-22.

e, R. F., and M, A, Baumhof f

1 95 9  CrEas       Petroglyphe andl Preh?:storic Came Thail's,  Science

'V`ol,  1.29,  -p.P,  904e.-0.5,,

e4,-9 R.. F, and A, B, Elsasser

1.953   Some Archaeological Sites and CU1tures of the Central Sierra

14e.vaSda, UCAS-R No, 21 , pp. 1-42,
, R,, F, and A. D. Kriezger

L956    ThRe, Archaeology of himboldt Cave, Churchill County, Nevad-a,

UC=.PAAE  VolI, 47, pp. 1- 190,

er., R, F. and A, E,o Treganza

1944    Mines and Quarries of the Indians of California,  Calif. Journ,

of Mines and Geology, Vol. 40, pp0 291-359.

Hewes, C. WO,

1941    Reconnaissance of the Central San Joaquin Valley, AAnt, Vol. 7 ,

-, 123L . 133.

- 85

Hindes, M, G.

-   1959    A Report on Indian Sites and Trails, Huntington Lake Region,

California. UCAS-R No, 48, pp. 1-15.

Hinds, N. E. A,

1952    Evolution of the California Landscape.

of Mines, Bull. 158, pp. 1-240.

State of Calif. Div.

Holmes, W. H.

1899    Preliminary Revision of the Evidence Relating to-Auriferous

Gravel Man in California. AA, Vol. 1 (First Paper), pp. 107-121;
(Second Paper) pp. 614-645.

1902    Anthropological Studies in California.  U. S. Nat. Mus. Report

(1900), pp. 155-187,
Hrdlicka, A.

1907    Skeletal Remains Suggesting or Attributed to Early Man in North

America.  SI-BAE-B, Washington,

James, G. W.

1915    The Lake of the Sky.  Pasadena, Calif.
Jenkins, 0. P.

1938    Geomorphic Map of California.  State of Calif., Div. of Mines,

accompanying Geologic Map of California.

1948    Geologic History of the Sierran Gold Belt. State of Calif.,

Div. of Mines Bull, 141, pp. 23-30.

Jepson, W. Lo

1951    A Manual of the Flowering Plants of California.  Univ. of Calif.

Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.
Keough, T.

1918    Over Kearsarge Pass in 1864.  SC-B, Vol . 10, pp. 340-342.
Kroeber, A. L,

1925    Handbook of the Indians of California.  SI-BAE-B 78,

1955a   C. Hart Merriam as Anthropologist.  In Studies of California

Indians, by C. Hart Merriam, pp. vii-xiv.

1955b   Linguistic Time Depth Results So Far and Their Meaning.

IJAL, Vol. 21, pp. 91-104.

- 86 -

Lamb., S. M.

1958    Linguistic Prehistory in the Great Basin,  IJAL, Vol0 24,

pp. 95100

Lathrap, D, W, and D. Shutler, Jr.

1955    An Archaeological Site in the High Sierra of California,

AAnt, Vol. 20f, pp0 226-240,

LeConte, J. N,

1903    Table of Elevations of Peaks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Over 12,000 Feet Above Sea-Level.   SC-B, Vol, 4, pp. 285-291,

Lillard., J. B,, R. F. Heizer and F. Fenenga

1939    An Introduction to the Archaeology of Central California.

Sacramento Junior College, Dept. of Anthrop., Bull, 2, pp. 1-93.

Lister, R. H.

1953    The Stemed, Indented Base Point, A Possible Horizon Marker,

AAnt, Vol. 18, pp. 264-265,
Littlejohn, H, W.

1929    A Northeastern Californian Dug-Out Canoe,   AA, Vol. 31, pp. 777-779.
Livermore, N. B., Jr.

1942    Collecting Sierra Passes,  SC-B., Vol. 27, pp. 59-64.

Longhurst,

1952

W. Mo, A, S Leopold and R. F. Dasmann

A Survey of California Deer Herds, State of Calif. Dept. of Fish
and Game, Game Bull, No. 6, pp. 3-136.

Loud, L, L. and M. R. Harrington

1929    Lovelock Cave.  UC-PAAE, Vol. 25, pp. 1-183,

Lowie, R. H,

1909    The Northern Shoshone.  AMtH-AP No, 2, pp. 165-306.

1939    Ethnographic Notes on the Washo.  UC-PAAE, Vol. 36, pp. 301-352.

Matthes., F. E.

1947    A Geologist's View,  In The Sierra Nevada:  The Range of Light,

Roderick Peattie, ed., pp. 166-214,  Vanguard Press, Inc.., New York,

Meighan, C. W.

1953    The Coville Rock Shelter, Inyo County, California. UC-AR,

Vol. 12,, pp. 171-224.

- 87 -

Meighan,

1955

Merriam,

1914

Irs

C. WO

Notes on the Archaeology of Mono County, California. UCAS-R
No. 28 pp. 6-26.
C. H.

Distribution of Indian Tribes in the Southern Sierra and Adjacent
Parts of the San Joaquin Valley, California.   Science, n.s., Vol0
19, pp. 912-917.

1935    Studies of California Indians, Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley

and Los Angeles.

Muir, J.

1911

My First Summer in the Sierra. Houghton Mifflin Co.

1913    The Mountains of California,  The Century Co., New York.
Powers, S.

1877    Tribes of California,  Contrib. North Amer. Ethnol,, Vol, 3.

Washington.
Prince, E. R.

n,d,    Great Basin Pottery. Ms. on file, Univ. of Calif. Archaeol.

Survey, Berkeley.   (Paper read at 24th Ann. Meet,, Soc, for
Amer. Archaeol., Salt Lake City, Utah, April-May, 1959.)

Riddell, F. A,

1951    The Archaeology of Site Ker-74.   UCAS-R No, 10, pp. 1-28.
1956a   Final Report on the Archaeology of Tommy Tucker Cave,

UCAS-R No, 35, pp. 1-25,

1956b   Summary Report of the Excavation of the Karlo Site,

UUDA-AP No. 26, pp. 63-73.

1956c   Archaeological Research in Lassen County, California.   UCAS-R

No, 33, pp. 44-49.

n,d,    Report on the Test Excavation of the Rose Spring Site, Inyo

County, California (1956). Ms. on file, Univ. of Calif.
Archaeol, Survey, Berkeley.

Riddell, H, S.

1951    The Archaeology of a Paiute

UCAS-R No, 129 pp. 14-28.

Village Site in Owens Valley.

- 88 -

Riddell, H. S. and F. A. Riddell

1956    The Current Status of Archaeological Investigations in Owens

Valley, California. UCAS-R No, 33, pp. 28-33.

Rogers, M. J.

1939    Early Lithic Industries of the Lower Basin of the Colorado

River and Adjacent Desert Areas, San Diego Mus. Papers,
No, 3, pp. 1-75.

Rudy., J. R.

1953    An Archaeological Survey of Western Utah.. UUDA-AP, No, 12,,

pp. 1-182.

Russell, R. J.

1926    Climates of California.  UC-PG, Vol. 2, pp. 73-84.   (Repr. 1938).

1947    Sierra Climate.  In The Sierra Nevada: The Range of Light.

Roderick Peattie, ed., pp. 323-340. Vanguard Press., Inc. New
York,

Sample, L. L.

1950    Trade and Trails in Aboriginal California,  UCAS-R No, 8, pp. 1-30.

Shantz, H. L, and R. Zon

1924    Atlas of American Agriculture:  The Physical Bases of Agriculture-

Natural Vegetation. U.S.-,Dept. Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

Sinclair, W. J.

1908    Recent Investigations Bearing on the Question of the Occurrence

of Neocene Man in the Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada,
UC-PAAE, Vol. 7, pp. 107-131.

Skertchly, S B. J.

1888    On the Occurrence of Stone Mortars in the Ancient (Pliocene?)

River Gravels of Butte County, California, Journ. Anthrop.
Inist. of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 17, pp. 332-337,

Steward, J. H.

1929    Petroglyphs of California and Adjoining States. UC-PAAE, Vol.

24, pp. 47-238.

1933    Ethnography of the Owens Valley Paiute. UC-PAAE, Vol. 33,

pp. 233-350,

1938    Great Basin Aboriginal Sociopolitical Groups. SI-BAE-B 120,

Washington,

- 89 -

Steward, J. H.

1941    Culture Element Distributionst XIII Nevada Shoshoni,

UC-AR., Vol. 4, pp. 209=359.

Stewart, 0, C,

1941    Culture Element Distributions:

UC-AR, Vol. 4, pp. 361-446,

XIV Northern Paiute.

Sudworth, G. B.

1908    Forest Trees of the Pacific Slope.  U. S. Dept. of Agriculture-

Forest Service. Washington,

Sumner, L. and J. S. Dixon

1953    Birds and Mammals of the Sierra Nevada,  Univ0 of Calif. Press,

Berkeley and Los Angeles-,
Taylor, A. S"

1862    The Indianology of California,  The California Farmer (May 16)o

Treganza, A. E,

1952    Archaeological Investigations in the Farmington Reservoir Area,

Stanislaus County, California. UCAS-R No, 14, pp. 1-25.

Versteeg, C,

1923    The Peaks and Passes of the Upper Basin, South Fork of the

Kings River,  SC-B, Vol. 11, pp. 421-4260
Voegelin, E. W.

1938     T'Ubatulabal Ethnography.  UCAR, Vol. 2, pp. 1-84.

1942    Culture Element Distributions:  XX Northeast California,

UC-AR, Vol. 7., pp. 47-251.
Wallace, W. J.

1951    The Archaeological Deposit in Moaning Cave, Calaveras County,

California, UCAS-R No, 12, pp. 29-41Q
Wallace, W. J. and D. W. Lathrap

1952    An Early Implement Assemblage from a Limestone Cavern in

California. AAnt, Vol. 18, pp. 133-1380
Watson, E, Bo and J, B. Hammon

1921    Soil Survey of the Grass Valley Area, California,  U. S.

Dept. of Agriculture Report of Field Operations of the Bureau
of Soils, 1918, Washington,

- 90 -

Wedel, W,. R.

1941    Archaeological Investigations at Buena Vista Lake, Kern County,

California,  SI-BAE-B 1.30, Washington0
Whitney, J. Do

1880    The Auriferous Gravels of the SIerra Nevada of California.

Mem, Harvard Mus, Comr Zool,, Vcl. VI, pp. 1-569.

Zigmond, MN L.

1938    Kawaiisu Territory,

in the Great Basin.

in W. Z. Park et al,, Tribal Distribution
AAM Vol. 40, pp. 622-638.

EXPLANATION OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Plate 1   ProjectIle points and other artifacts from Nev-15. All material is

basalt unless otherwise specified.  Specimen numbers shown are

University of California Archaeological Survey field numbers in A
B and C, In D, numbers are of University of California Lowie
Museum of Anthropology  specimens,

A: Projectile points from Nesv-15 (Martis types)

a-, eo
&. f ,
g- i.

n-p.
?' .
t-vO
w-y

Type
Type
Type
Type
Type
Type
Type
Type

la (259, 601, 1014),
lb (794, 443, 944),
2 (16,P 400, 995) ,

3a (201, 982,9 1077, 822).
3b (886., 1013,0 263),
3c (9, 650; 115)o

4a (6302 188, 29,3)0
4b (742, 469 173)o

B: Projectile points from Nev-15 (Martis types)

a= C.
d-f .

J. 1,

q,p r,"

I0

Tpe
Type
Type
Type
Type
Type
Type

4c (1.080, 2, 805).

4d (299, 309, 1.081).
5a (438, 17, 11 ).

5b (885, 737, 207),

5c (185, 428, 174,p 371),
6 (5689 362),

8 (21, 386, 1058,9 1011)o

w-y.  Type lla (394, 840, 463),

- 91 -

C: Projectile points and drills from Nev-15 (Martis type)

a-e. Type llb (255, 292, 5109 633, 823).

f-ho  Desert side-notched points, chert (341.,
ic1l  Obsidian points (831, 399 502, 51),

m-p.  Chlorite schist- points (1096, 896, 118,
q-$o  Drill., type B (140, 186, 73),

411, 897)o

p 64)o

D: Miscellaneous artifacts from Nev-15

a,  Grooved hammerstone, granitic material (1/172848)o
ba Steatite pipe fragment (1/172748).

c. Slate "Pencil" fragment (1/172749).
do  Blade (1/172420),
e,  Blade (1/172426),
f. Blade (1/172423).

g.  Scraper (1/172411).

Projectile points and cther artifacts from sites 26-Do-12, Sie-20,
and Sie-'21, Specimen numbers shown in A and B are Lowie Museum of
Anthropology numbers; in C and D, University of California Archae-
ological Survey field numbers,

A- Martis type projectile points from 26-Do-12,   Material as

indicated.

Plate 2

a,

a, f.

g-, j

p- r,

19, U0

v ,
W=Y,

Type
Type
Type
Type

Type
Type
Type
Type
Type
Type

Ia
lb
3a
3b

(2/ 320390
(2/31973:o
(2/31989.,
(2/32091,

basalt),,

4a (2/31707:o
4b (2/31977:
4c (2/316830
4d (2/32060,
5a (2/316920
5b (2/31.962:
obsidian),

basalt),

chert; 2/31998., 2/31993:, obsidian)0
2/32088:  obsidian),

2/320090  obsidian; 2/31609, 2/320650

obsidian; 2/31628:   basalt)0

obsidian; 2/31602, 2/31611:   basalt),
obsidian; 2/31597, 2/32063:0 basalt),,
2/31978, 2/31.5840  basalt) 0
obsidian),

obsidt an; 2/3171-2:- chert; 2/31675:

Type 5d (2/31613:   basalt; 2/320890   obsidian)0

B:  Projectile points and other specimens from 26-Do-12,    Material

as indicated,

a,  Martis type projectile point, type 9 (2/32076:, basalt),O

b, c, Martis type projectile points, type 10 (2/32085, 2/31995:

basalt),

d, eo Martis type drills, type B (2/316220    basalt; 2/32092o

chert)o

f,  Martis type projectile point, type 7 (2/31714:   chert),

g 92 -

g-k.  Projectile points:  Humboldt Concave Base A (2/31676,

2/31637:  obsidian; 2/32014:  basalt; 2/31742:
jasper; 2/31979:  basalt).

1,m.  Projectile points:  Humboldt basal-notched (2/31645,

2/31657:  obsidian),

n,  Projectile point: Yosemite type B-Il (2/31579:

basalt),

o,  "Crescent" (2/31807:   obsidian),

p.  Projectile point:   unique specimen (2/31701:  obsidian),
q,  Stone ornamexnt fragment (2/31.822:  argillite[?])
r,  Bone awl (2/31824),

s. Bone dagger (2/31823),

C: Martis type projectile points from Sardine Valley, All speci-

mens are from Sie-20 except b, c, and es which are from Sie-21.
All are of basalt except v and w, which are of obsidian, c

which is of greenish chert, and d' which is of chlorite schist.

a, b.  Type l.b (184, 216),

c.  Type 2 (219),

d-i.  Type 3a (164, 2215 71, 69, 75, 66),
j-n. Type 3b (165, 123, 178, 67, 171).

o. Type 3d (18    o

p,q.  Type 4a (25, 1.9),

r-w.  Type 4b (122, 194,, 79, 77, 199, 200),

x-ev  Type 4c (116, 85   36, 51, 73, 35, 34, 179),

D:  Various artifacts:   a-m  Martis type projectile points; n-s, as

indicatedg from Sardirne Valley. All specimens are from Sie-20,
except fg., and a which are from Sie-21, Specimens are of
basalt  except e and f which are of obsidian; 1 which is of

chlorite schist; s which is of shell; and r which is of an uni-
dentifiable schist.,

a-f,  Type 4d (180, 75,, 1.76, 1175 147, 232),

g;. Type 5a (177).

h-j.  Type Sc (166, 78, 30).

It. Type 5a (70),

l,m,  Type Sf (115, 183),

n. Drill, type C (37),
o.  Drill, type A (44).

p0  Scraper or knife (210)o
q,  Scraper (212),

r,  Stone pendant fragment (173),

s,  Shell ornament fragment (174).

Figure 1 Mano types from Martis Complex sites, (Heavy dark lines represent

grinding surfaces; dotted lines represent imaginary plane, cutting
stone through its greatest thickness.)

- 93 -

, 3 :: M

..SCALE   .

a b

d        e

3 cm :
SCALE

a    b   c             a  - f

4 h i                4      I

f: ::

. - -

f | w ; v s T

g   h   i  W  )   kS  i

::
7

- i [: .: E 7
- E tESt00 E E

-    .           0  : 0 X j

s. - E :

- - : : :

.

s . ,

.

- - -

1 i + f * *

n o p q f i: r

m

a

S:

n '    P

4

I

A.

u Y

-          -

I       %    I    t :

W           I

y

y

A

B

n

3E' i cm.    '

SCA. Ei;dL .. ..i.EijE ,,,-g,..

I

.4LT

,,k

3 cm.
SCALE

I I
I   I

f              h                         i          j   i;F

b

fi: A :002 E

t7 sJw

- ::

m: 7 n : 0 o 0 E p:

7
4 i ,lSs

: : : : i::
i : ; j

::

- . i f 4

- - t ;f: |040

.- : 0 -; t: E sa V

- E :: S -00 : t ::

:: E -  :
E; : f r -

::    :  y :: E -  : j  -

- X ) i L 0 -: ?: '

i;  -  S f:E XP? iD.E,$D t  -  E E  .. .  f  : y:

-)   t i S j E  , r -  ;  D  -  i S

: 0 - . fi:: f; E D : ! :: ;:

0 q 0 E: 0y :f;S:;00X0 t r 00000Si : f f s ff;:i t

E  7  i  E  .:  f  7  i  E

d

a

f

9

C

D

Plate I

a    b  ei ; t '  0   {

I -

I0            %

ii,

X ..t jA

,     :f    :f  b  cG  4d J

LA

gi  h:  1;0  jf  kf      1   in

p

Tri

B

fa   b     C               41dJ e t
g           I s          f. v

A,

o

Vs

q

C

D

Plate 2

TYPE I

TYPE r

TYPE m

FIGURE

I