The Milling Stone Horizon Revisited: New Perspectives from Northern and Central California

For nearly half a century, the Milling Stone Horizon has been recognized as an integral element of California culture history, but representative components have long been thought to be restricted to the southern portion of the state. Claims to the contrary by D. L. True and a few of his students for thepresence of Milling Stone Horizon manifestations further north have not been fully embraced due to iruidequate dating and poor component resolution. In this article, we reassess the previously scanty evidence for a Milling Stone Horizon presence in northern California, and review data from nine recently investigated sites that have yielded strong evidence for the Milling Stone Culture in Early-Middle Holocene contexts north of southern California.