Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology of the Colorado High Country. (2008)

• Record Type: Book
• Further Information: Note: Mark Stiger.
• Authors: Stiger, Mark
• Contents: 1: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF COLORADO'S HIGH COUNTRY 1 History of Research 1 Jennings's 1968 Summary 1 Buckles's Ute Prehistory Project on the Uncompahgre Plateau 3 Vail Pass Camp 4 Sisyphus Shelter 4 Harris Site 5 Sorrel Deer 5 Yarmony Pit House Site 5 Benedict's Colorado Front Range Material 6 Mount Albion Complex (Benedict and Olson 1978) 6 Fourth of July Valley (Benedict 1981) 6 Arapaho Pass (Benedict 1985a) 7 Old Man Mountain (Benedict 1985b) 7 Coney Creek Valley (Benedict 1990) 7 Bode's Draw (Benedict 1993) 7 Game Drives of Rocky Mountain National Park (Benedict 1996) 7 Other Research in the Upper Gunnison Basin 8 Curecanti National Recreation Area 8 Monarch Pass 9 Cochetopa Dome 9 Lake Fork 9 Mount Emmons Project 10 Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) 10 Mill Creek Site Evaluation 10 Elk Creek Village 10 Uranium Mill Tailings Removal Act (UMTRA) Project 11 U.S. West Phone Line Project 11 Summary of Gunnison Basin Archaeological Research 11 2: CURRENT PERSPECTIVES IN COLORADO HIGH-COUNTRYARCHAEOLOGY 13 Formation Processes 13 Guthrie's Study Areas 16 Conventional Views of the Archaic 17 The Mountain Tradition as a Social Construct 18 The Concept of Social Relationships in Regional Archaeology 19 The Definition of Culture as a Mental Phenomenon 20 Social Processes as the Interchange of Ideas 20 Problems with Detecting Social Relationships 22 in the Archaeological Record Theoretical Basis for Ethnic Explanations 23 Culture History of the Upper Gunnison Basin 26 Colorado Mountains Study Region Prehistory 26 (Guthrie et al. 1984) The Oshara (Irwin-Williams 1973) 28 The Northern Colorado Plateau (Schroedl 1979) 29 The Western Archaic-General Statements 29 3: THE UPPER GUNNISON BASIN 33 Natural History of the Upper Gunnison Basin 33 Environmental Dynamics 34 Terminal Pleistocene 35 Post Pleistocene 36 Pollen 36 Macrofossils 36 Multiple Lines of Evidence in the San Juans 37 Summary of Natural History 38 The Tenderfoot Site 38 History of Investigations 40 Fieldwork 40 Excavations 41 Features 41 Lithic Artifact Analysis 43 Flotation Analysis 45 4: PREHISTORIC USE OF FAUNA IN THE UPPER GUNNISON BASIN 47 The Nature of Big Game Exploitation 49 as Evidenced by Pelvis and Scapula Elements Species Trends 50 Fauna at the Tenderfoot Site-A Spatial Analysis 51 Summary of Basin Faunal Exploitation 57 5: FLORAL EXPLOITATION IN THE UPPER GUNNISON BASIN 59 Temporal Patterns of Plant Use 59 Charcoal 59 Seeds 60 Summary 61 6: INTERPRETATION OF ARTIFACTS 63 Assemblage Structure-Theory and Definitions 63 Recognizing Assemblage Organization 64 Expectations for Assemblage Organization 66 Spatial Maintenance and Technological Organization 67 Assemblage Organization-Empirical Evidence 68 Summary of Burial Assemblages as Organizational Indicators 68 Summary of Hafted Tools 69 Archaeological Patterning of Bifaces at Tenderfoot 71 Lithic Technology in the Upper Gunnison Basin 75 Site Structure Analysis 79 Lithic Artifacts and Spatial Structure at Tenderfoot 80 All Artifacts 80 Artifact Size 81 Raw Materials 84 Technological Attributes 86 Tools 89 Bifaces 89 Projectile Points 92 Flake Tools 93 Unifaces 93 Hammerstones and Abraders 93 Ground Stone Tools 94 Cores 95 Summary of Tenderfoot Artifact Distributions 95 7: INTERPRETATION OF FEATURES 101 Firepits-Methods and Reasons 101 Summary of Ethnographic Fuel and Fire Use 101 Summary of Experimental Firepit Construction 102 Regional Patterning of Features 102 Classification of Features in the Upper Gunnison Basin 102 Feature Types 103 Fire-Cracked-Rock (FCR) Features 103 Big-Deep Fire-Cracked-Rock Features 103 Small-Shallow Fire-Cracked-Rock Features 109 FCR-Outside Features 110 Rock-Lined Firepits 110 Unlined Firepits 111 Boiling Pits 111 Structures 112 Amorphous Stains 112 Game Drives 113 Interpretation of Feature Variability 113 Numbers of Features Through Time 113 Sequence of Boiling Pits and Fire-Cracked-Rock Features 114 8: ABOUT SURFACE SITES 117 Surface Collections at the Tenderfoot Site 117 Comparison of Surface to Subsurface Materials 119 The Dynamic Nature of Surface Materials as 123 Shown by Repetitive Collections Finer Spatial Scales of Analysis for the Surface Collection 125 The Research Value of Surface Sites 127 9: SITE COMPARISONS 129 Structures 130 Site 5GN205 130 Elk Creek Village 130 Checkers 131 Site 5GN247 131 VanTuyl Village 131 Zephyr Site 132 Tenderfoot Site 132 Abiquiu Reservoir, New Mexico 132 Site LA25358 132 Summary of Site LA25358 134 Site LA47940 134 Summary of Site LA47940 135 Site 5MT2731-Casa de Nada 135 Summary of Site 5MT2731 137 Kewclaw 137 Yarmony 137 Other Sites and Components 138 Site 5GN207 138 Mt. Bump Camp 138 Tenderfoot 139 Assemblage Interpretations 139 Site 5GN205 139 Tools 139 Elk Creek Village Block C 139 Abiquiu 139 Site LA25358, Area 1 140 Site LA25358, Area 2 140 Site LA25358, Area 3 141 Site LA25358, Area 4 141 Site LA25358, Area 6 141 Tools-Site LA25358 143 Site LA47940 143 Tools 147 Casa de Nada 147 Tools 149 Kewdaw 149 Tools 151 Site 5GN207 151 Mt. Bump 152 VanTuyl Village 152 10: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 155 Who Were Those Guys? 155 The Nature of Surface Sites 156 and Their Value to Archaeological Research Multiple Occupations 157 The Size of the Prehistoric System as Shown by Obsidian Distributions 157 Projectile-Point Styles 159 Stone Tools 161 Personal Gear 161 Site Furniture 162 Expedient Gear 162 Sequence of Technological Organization 162 Raw Material Use 162 Features 163 Game Drives in the High Country 163 Flora and Fauna 167 Explanation of the Cultural Sequence 168 The Early Paleoindian 169 The Late Paleoindian 169 The Archaic 170 Post-300 B.P. 171 Appendices A: Tenderfoot Feature Descriptions by Erik Bjornstad 175 B: Lithic Sources in the Upper Gunnison Basin 215 C: Identified Sources of Archaeological Obsidian 223 Found in Colorado D: Faunal Remains Found in the Upper Gunnison Basin 229 E: Floral Remains Found in the Upper Gunnison Basin 235 by Provenience F: Burial Assemblages from Archaic and Basketmaker II Contexts 241 G: Hafted Stone Tools in the Ethnographic 245 and Archaeological Records H: Tenderfoot Tool Illustrations 251 I: Ethnographic Record of Fuel and Firepit Use 271 J: Experimental Firepit Construction 277 K: Descriptions of Features at Abiquiu and Casa de Nada 281 References Cited 289 Index 311.
• Publisher Details: Louisville : University Press of Colorado
• Publication Date: 2008
• Copyright Date: 2001
• Extent: 1 online resource (352 pages)
• Subjects: Social Science -- General; Social Science -- Archaeology
• Languages: English
• ISBNs: 9780870816994
• Related ISBNs: 9780870816123; 9780870819100
• Access Rights: Legal Deposit; Only available on premises controlled by the deposit library and to one user at any one time; The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK).
• Access Usage: Restricted: Printing from this resource is governed by The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK) and UK copyright law currently in force.