2016-10-20_PERMIT FILE - C1981035A (18)

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Indian components have not been identified in LPDU, MVDU, or ADU (Lipe 1999: 406). In southwestern Colorado, primarily Late Paleo-Indian materials have been documented, including Angostura and Great Basin Stemmed complexes. Most of the points found are made from local materials and many occur in the lower montane zone, today typified by ponderosa pine and Gambel oak woodlands and forests (Lipe and Pitblado 1999: 102). York (1991) argues that even if many of the Paleo-Indian points are curated by later groups, as has often been suggested for the region, the fact that they are made of local materials indicate there was a Late Paleo-Indian presence in southwestern Colorado regardless. The flaked lithic materials used for points occur in a wide variety of elevation ranges and biotic zones, indicating Late Paleo-Indian groups were probably involved in complex seasonal movements and exploitation of a wide variety of habitats and resources. No Paleo-Indian components were identified within the project area. 4.1.2 Archaic The Archaic period (ca. 8,000 to 2,000 B.P.) is characterized by a period in which subsistence systems became more generalized, probably in response to demographic trends and extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. Subsistence strategies included a wide variety of resources, such as small game, birds, fish, and plants. A technological shift accompanied the focus on a wider variety of resources, reflecting the processing and storage techniques required for the subsistence change. Irwin -Williams (1979) defined the Oshara Tradition of the Northern Southwest through a series of phases, including the Jay, Bajada, San Jose, Armijo, and En Medio. These sites are generally distinguished by dart point and other artifact style changes, reflecting gradual technological and demographic shifts with decreasing mobility through time. While particulars of the Oshara phase sequence are not always applicable to the area, the frequency with which the Oshara point types are reported in southwestern Colorado is strong evidence of southern influence from the Oshara Tradition. A major increase in summer precipitation, approximately 6,000 years ago during the Middle Archaic, seems to correlate with a marked increase of Archaic populations moving into the region. The lack of local excavation data with well -dated occupations, which is particularly lacking in the Southern Colorado River Basin, makes it difficult to identify common trends in the area. The appearance of maize in the Southern Colorado River Basin of Colorado by ca. 400 BC ushered in a transition to the more sedentary lifestyle of the Ancestral Pueblo Tradition, though the rate of this change appears to have varied considerably throughout the Four Corners region (Lipe and Pitblado 1999: 129-130). As noted earlier, 12.8 percent of identified components are attributed to the Archaic in the LPDU, compared to 7.3 percent in the ADU and 0.1 percent in the MVMDU (Lipe 1999: 406). Archaic occupations were not identified during the current cultural resource inventory. 4.1.3 Ancestral Pueblo Tradition The project area occurs within the Mesa Verde Branch of the Ancestral Pueblo based on pottery types and architectural trends. 4.1.3.1 Basketmaker 11 Period The Basketmaker II period (ca. 400 BC -AD 500) is generally understood to consist of pre -ceramic populations in the northern Southwest who began to experiment with maize and squash horticulture. Several BMII period sites have been excavated within the nearby Animas Drainage Unit, including the well-known Talus Village and Falls Creek sites. The remarkable preservation at these sites enabled Morris and Burgh (1954:75-78) to characterize the assemblage of BMII sites as having expanding -stem and corner -notched dart points, horseshoe -shaped deep basin metates, one and two -hand manos, numerous cores, hammerstones, and choppers. They also documented the first appearance of cultivated An Intensive CRI for GCC Energy's Proposed Groundwater Monitoring Wells on State and Private Lands in La Plata County, CO SEAS 16-098 October 2016 8