diff --git a/documents/design/packaging-and-release.md b/documents/design/packaging-and-release.md
index 871a7ad..ab51ac2 100644
--- a/documents/design/packaging-and-release.md
+++ b/documents/design/packaging-and-release.md
@@ -241,9 +241,23 @@ pipeline asset (sizes measured on disk) split the rest by size × volatility:
 | Y/mt haplotrees | 60–127 MB | High (~weekly) | **Runtime fetch + conditional GET** | ETag/`If-None-Match` → 304 (implemented 2026-07-10); optionally Cloudflare-free in front of the AppView. **Not** the paid S3 CDN. |
 | chrY callable/cohort masks | ~1.8 MB | Rare | **Installer bundle** (git `assets/masks/` → seed) | Small, done. |
 | Ancestry/IBD `.bin` | ~160 MB | Rare | **Installer bundle** (GitHub release → stage → seed) | Decision A, done. |
+| **Archaic Tier A** (`archaic_markers_`, `archaic_marker_dist_`) | 33 MB | Rare | **Installer bundle → seed** | Reachable by every user *including from chip data*, so it must work with no network. |
+| **Archaic Tier B** (`archaic_outgroup_af_`, `archaic_classify_`, `archaic_callable_`) | 72 MB | Rare | **On demand** (`ensure_ancestry_asset`) | Segment calling needs WGS *and* a completed hours-long de-novo calling pass, so very few users reach it. Decided 2026-07-30 — see below. |
 | **STR HipSTR reference** | 20 MB (GRCh38) / 0.2 MB (CHM13) | Static | **Installer bundle → seed** (release-hosted, wired 2026-07-11) | Small, static; delivery path added below. |
 | **Y-SNP dictionary** (`dictionary.tsv`) | ~208 MB | Medium (~weekly YBrowse) | **Lazy download from GitHub release, sha256-verified** | Too big to bundle, too volatile; had *no* delivery path. |
 
+**Archaic asset split — decided 2026-07-30, after it shipped wrong.** The archaic design's M1 said to
+check Asset 1's size against `ON_DEMAND_PREFIXES` "before deciding"; no decision was ever recorded, so
+`archaic_*` appeared in **neither** `PATTERNS` nor `ON_DEMAND_PREFIXES`. Those two lists are the same
+decision written once per source mode — local-dir mode bundles what `PATTERNS` names, release mode
+bundles everything the manifest names *except* `ON_DEMAND_PREFIXES` — so an asset missing from both is
+**bundled in CI and absent in dev builds**. All five archaic assets (105.3 MB) therefore shipped in
+`v0.1.0-alpha.14`, whose installers came out ~60 MB larger than `alpha.13`'s (`.dmg` 136→199 MB,
+`.exe` 105→163 MB) with no one having chosen that.
+
+Both lists now name every archaic asset explicitly: Tier A bundled, Tier B on demand. **When adding an
+asset, put it in one list or the other — silence is not a default, it is the CI-only bundle.**
+
 **Cost stance (creative GitHub):** GitHub **Releases** is the free asset host for app-built data
 (ancestry `.bin`, STR ref, Y-SNP dict) — public repo, tokenless HTTPS, no egress bill. Do **not**
 wire the designed-but-unused S3/CloudFront path (`scripts/ancestry-panel/06_publish_cdn.sh`); it's
diff --git a/packaging/stage-assets.sh b/packaging/stage-assets.sh
index 481de9a..7dca1e4 100755
--- a/packaging/stage-assets.sh
+++ b/packaging/stage-assets.sh
@@ -48,10 +48,21 @@ ASSET_BUILD="${NAVIGATOR_ASSET_BUILD:-chm13v2.0}"
 # needs it, so bundling it would grow every download for a feature many users never open.
 # Local-dir mode omits it by simply not listing it in PATTERNS; release mode has to filter, because
 # it fetches whatever the manifest names.
-ON_DEMAND_PREFIXES="ancestry_haps_"
+#
+# The three Tier B ARCHAIC assets follow the same rule, and for a stronger reason than the painter:
+# archaic *segment* calling needs whole-genome data AND an hours-long de-novo calling pass to have
+# already been run, so the number of users who reach it is very small, while the three assets total
+# 72 MB. Tier A (the marker panel + percentile reference, 33 MB) stays in the bundle — it is the
+# report every user can reach, including from chip data, so it must work with no network.
+ON_DEMAND_PREFIXES="ancestry_haps_ archaic_outgroup_af_ archaic_classify_ archaic_callable_"
 
-# The full Option-A bundle: ancestry panels/PCA/freqs + manifest + genetic map + IBD panel.
+# The full Option-A bundle: ancestry panels/PCA/freqs + manifest + genetic map + IBD panel + the
+# Tier A archaic assets.
 # NOTE: keep in step with ON_DEMAND_PREFIXES above — anything omitted here must be downloadable.
+# The two lists are the SAME decision written twice, once per source mode: local-dir mode bundles
+# exactly what PATTERNS names, while release mode bundles everything the manifest names EXCEPT
+# ON_DEMAND_PREFIXES. An asset absent from both lists is bundled in CI and missing in dev builds —
+# which is what happened to the archaic assets in v0.1.0-alpha.14 and cost ~60 MB per installer.
 PATTERNS=(
   "ancestry_panel_"*.bin
   "ancestry_pca_"*.bin
@@ -61,6 +72,8 @@ PATTERNS=(
   "ancestry_manifest_"*.json
   "genetic_map_"*.bin
   "ibd_panel_"*.bin
+  "archaic_markers_"*.bin
+  "archaic_marker_dist_"*.bin
 )
 
 sha256_of() {