Early Archaic deposits are quite rare in the Sierra Nevada foothills, identified locally at two sites, both discovered in buried stratigraphic contexts. They include abundant Wide-Stem and Large Stemmed Dart points, hundreds of handstones and millingstones, as well as a variety of cobble-core tools, large percussion-flaked “greenstone” bifaces, and comparatively high frequencies of obsidian from the Bodie Hills source. Plant macrofossil assemblages are dominated by grey pine and acorn nutshell, but include few if any small seeds or other spring- and summer-ripening plant foods (e.g., manzanita). This indicates a pattern of repeated occupation, suggesting that land use in the western Sierra was seasonally structured. This is supported by an almost exclusive use of local toolstone for the manufacture of bifaces and projectile points.
Middle Archaic sites, also often buried, are primarily distinguished by Corner-notched Dart points, an occasional mortar and pestle, and the earliest house structures in association with large subterranean storage pits. Fall and winter occupation is evident where large quantities of nuts were stored in underground granaries. In contrast, summer-ripening berries and other fruits are dominant in sites from higher elevations in the lower forests. These differences reveal a pattern of seasonal movement, with fall and winter villages placed below the snowline in the blue oak-grey pine woodland, and summer camps situated in the conifer forest zone where annual roots, bulbs, seeds, and fruits are common during warmer months. Faunal assemblages from Middle Archaic sites are dominated by large mammal remains (e.g., deer), a pattern that continues throughout the region’s occupation. Soapstone “frying pans” and other vessels first appear in the local record during the Middle Archaic, along with various stone pendants, incised slate, and stone beads. The presence of atlatl weights and spurs in these deposits confirms that the dart and atlatl were the primary hunting implements.
Late Archaic sites are among the most common on the western slope, again with many occurring in buried stratigraphic contexts. Late Archaic lifeways, technologies, and subsistence patterns were quite similar to those of the previous time period, with the primary difference being an increase in the use of obsidian between about 3000 and 1100 BP. Chert, only available in the foothills of the western Sierra below about 3,000 feet, is common at Archaic sites in the lower Montane Forest up to about 6,000 feet. However, flaked stone assemblages on the western slope found above 6,000 feet are composed almost entirely of obsidian (>80%), suggesting that groups who utilized upper elevations of the western Sierra arrived from the east side where obsidian was the primary toolstone.