Archaeological Findings

Prehistoric Period

The beginning of the Prehistoric Period coincides with a region-wide interval of reduced precipitation known as the Medieval Climatic Anomaly.

Archaic Period

Early Archaic deposits are quite rare in the Sierra Nevada foothills, identified locally at two sites, both discovered in buried stratigraphic contexts.

Archaeological Discoveries

Until quite recently, archaeological researchers developed culture-histories for the Sierran foothill region based on the more studied areas of the western Great Basin and California Central Valley.

Did you know?

  • In 1850, at the height of the Gold Rush, there were 62 males for every female in Calaveras County. By 1860, the ratio was just over 6:1.

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