We report new stable isotope and radiocarbon data on
a small set of human remains representing seven individuals
from three archaeological sites in northeastern
California, CA-MOD-205 (Franklin Creek site; n = 2),
CA-LAS-989 (Bare Cave; n=4), and an unrecorded
site near Honey Lake (n =1). Results reveal several
points of interest for dietary reconstructions, mobility
patterns, and the antiquity of Northern Side-Notched
points. First, one of the samples from LAS-989 produced
a calibrated radiocarbon date in excess of 7,800 cal
B.P., one of the oldest human bones dated in northern
California. This sample is associated stratigraphically
with Northern Side-Notched projectile points,
demonstrating the antiquity of this point style. The other
samples consistently dated to the Late Holocene (2,200
to 1,200 cal B.P.). Second, dietary isotopes indicate that
all individuals had a mixed diet, including C3 plants
and large game, as expected, but they also consumed
significant quantities of fish, including varying quantities
of a 13C-enriched food, likely salmon or Tahoe sucker.
Third, serial samples of dentin collagen from one
woman near Honey Lake indicate that she was weaned
between 3.1 and 3.7 years of age, and had periodic and
fluctuating access to this 13C-enriched food resource
during later childhood and teenage years, with a
periodicity around 3ñ4 years. We attribute this to either
a residentially mobile settlement system with exploitation
of a key and periodically-abundant resource, or to a
structured fiesta system involving regular visits to a
location on a major river. Finally, sulfur and oxygen
isotopes suggest that most individuals had been living in
northeastern California (i.e., were local) for a number of
years prior to their deaths.