Assessing the Intensity of Late Holocene Montane Settlement and Subsistence Strategies in the Northern Sierra Nevada, California

This thesis investigates the precontact settlement patterns of the Nisenan in the northern Sierra Nevada and compares these patterns to studies of Mono and Miwok settlement patterns in the central and southern Sierra Nevada. I assess the degree to which Nisenan settlement and subsistence strategies in the montane environment of the Sierra Nevada differs from other groups occupying similar environments in the Sierra. I predicted the Nisenan would share a similar settlement and subsistence strategy to the Miwok based on both groups sharing similar population densities and culture histories in broadly similar environments. The Nisenan, however, use a settlement pattern that more closely resembles the Mono in intensity but differs in important ways. The Nisenan primarily occupied lower elevation ecozones and relied on lower intensity logistical mobility in the montane ecozones above snowline. Comparatively the Mono were more residentially mobile above snowline and the Miwok use a much more intensive residentially mobile strategy above and below snowline. This study indicates that population density and occupational time depth alone are not sufficient predictors of montane settlement and subsistence strategies. Factors like climate, environment, sociopolitical structures, territoriality, culture history, and seasonal resource availability likely also influence hunter-gatherer decision making when it comes to settlement and subsistence. The Nisenan appear to be a group that was more oriented toward the valley margin and foothills of the Sierra Nevada than montane environments. Additionally, montane environments within the study area may have been used by the Nisenan and the Washoe of the Tahoe region as backup resource patches during times of scarcity in lower elevation environments. This project contributes to our understanding of human adaptations in montane environments and the factors that contribute to group decision-making when it comes to determining settlement and subsistence strategies