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Cultural Resource Historic Properties Treatment Plan for BK -1-072617 Colowyo Coal Company <br />Placing the site into an established regional chronology such as Reed and Metcalfs (1999:6) is <br />critical to the interpretation of all subsequent collected data as it applies to the rest of the research <br />design. On an intersite basis, the radiometric and diagnostic artifact dates (if any) will be used to <br />situate the site within the broader regional chronology and the cultural signature associated with <br />that era(s), tradition(s), phase(s), and period(s). On an intrasite basis, multiple radiometric dates <br />and temporally diagnostic artifacts (if any) will inform on temporal utilization of the locality within <br />and across associated era(s), tradition(s), phase(s), and period(s). <br />Tetra Tech has already preemptively taken radiocarbon samples from each thermal feature which <br />will be processed upon commencement of the HPTP. If additional datable features are <br />encountered, further sampling will occur. The radiocarbon results will also be compared to all <br />stratigraphic data and any recovered temporally diagnostic artifacts. <br />3.2.2 Subsistence Practices <br />Subsistence practice research into prehistoric human populations has focused on the observable <br />changes in practices through time. The research has particularly focused on suspected prehistoric <br />hunter -gatherer populations due to the assumption that such populations are more sensitive to <br />shifts in the subsistence resource base. Research has shown that temporal environmental shifts <br />change the availability, location, and density of food resources across the landscape at varying <br />scales of analysis. Prehistoric hunter -gatherer groups in particular are theorized to have modified <br />their adaptions and cultural practices in response to such changes (Kelly 1995). In western <br />Colorado, much of the archaeological research has centered on the material evidence for <br />subsistence practices (Black 1991, Reed and Metcalf 1999, Stiger 2001). <br />Site specific research into subsistence practices center on analyzing physical evidence to <br />determine the methods of procurement, processing, consumption, and storage of one or more <br />identified food resources. Thermal features, such as hearths, can yield significant subsistence <br />practice data and will be focused on during data recovery. <br />Zooarchaeology has also made significant contributions to the study of prehistoric subsistence <br />practices throughout the Intermountain Region of the United States including northwestern <br />Colorado. By studying the animal bone recovered within and around hearth features contributions <br />can be made to questions of resource exploitation, processing, and consumption. Faunal analysis <br />methods are discussed in Section 3.4.2. <br />3.2.3 Intrasite Spatial Organization <br />How prehistoric groups organized their space can be as informative as the material evidence <br />indicated what they did within their space (Kroll and Price 1991). Such organization can provide <br />evidence to cultural constructs that, in themselves, leave no direct material signature. At an <br />intrasite level, ethnographic and archaeological hunter gatherer studies have provided insight into <br />group makeup, organization, and division of labor. Intrasite data for northwestern Colorado is <br />admittedly low since subsurface cultural components tend to preclude the removal of broad areas <br />of sediment across the living surface. Ethnographic research suggests a typical archaeological <br />investigation only uncovers a third of living space at even temporary hunter gatherer campsites. <br />Tetra Tech plans to utilize the mechanical stripping already occurring at the locality to try and <br />open a broad area within the disturbance area and collect spatial data that may contribute to our <br />understanding prehistoric hunter -gatherer spatial organization in northwestern Colorado. <br />Tetra Tech August 8, 2017 <br />