2018-03-19_PERMIT FILE - C1981019 (2)

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Data Recovery Report for Three Sites at the Collom Project Colowyo Coal Company situate each site within the above referenced chronologies. All site data interpretations are based on the reported cultural signature associated with a given corresponding cultural chronology era(s), tradition(s), phase(s), and period(s). Multiple radiometric dates obtained from each site also provided information on temporal locality utilization within and across the associated cultural chronology era(s), tradition(s), phase(s), and period(s). 2.6.2 Subsistence Practices Prehistoric human subsistence practice research has focused on observable changed in material evidence of specific practices through time and environment. Regional research has focused on prehistoric hunter -gatherer populations under the assumption that such populations are more sensitive to environmental and/or cultural shifts in their subsistence resource base. Research at varying analysis scales have shown that temporal environmental shifts change the availability, location, and density of food resources across the landscape. Prehistoric hunter -gatherer groups are theorized to have modified their adaptions and cultural practices in response to such environmental changes (Kelly 1995). Culturally driven shifts in subsistence practice among hunter -gatherers are less well studied. Yet significant regional prehistoric culturally driven subsistence practice shifts have occurred including the introduction of cultigens; the adoption of the bow and arrow; and the arrival of the horse. Differentiating an environmentally -driven shift verses a culturally driven shift is difficult. The sites studied during the current project in an area where both environmental and cultural factors could have led to subsistence practice changes from at least approximately 400 B.C. onward. Site specific research into subsistence practices centered on analyzing recovered physical evidence to determine the methods of procurement, processing, consumption, and storage of one or more identified or inferred food resource. In western Colorado, previous site specific subsistence research has centered on the material evidence from both hunter -gatherers and agriculturalists through time (Black 1991, Reed and Metcalf 1999, Stiger 2001). Hunter -gatherer subsistence practice information has largely come from zooarchaeological and/or floral analysis of the content of subsurface features. Thermal features are the most common archaeological features throughout the Archaic and into the Formative Era (Reed and Metcalf 1999). The thermal features vary widely in general morphology and content that can provide subsistence practice information. Stiger (2001) has conducted experimental research attempting to understand the diversity and possible function of the features in the Gunnison Basin and how those changes reflect subsistence practice. Each of the investigated sites had multiple features with a potential to yield important subsistence related data. 2.6.3 Spatia/ Organization How prehistoric groups organized their space can be as informative as the direct material evidence for what activities occurred in a specific area (Kroll and Price 1991). Such organization can provide evidence to cultural constructs that, in themselves, leave no direct material signature. Ethnographic and archaeological hunter -gatherer studies have provided insight into group makeup, organization, and division of labor. In northwestern Colorado, such spatial data has not been typically collected since it requires large exposure of subsurface cultural components than typically allowed due to limits in funding and time. Ethnographic research suggests a typical archaeological investigation only uncovers approximately a third of the utilized living space at even short-term hunter -gatherer campsites (O'Connell et al. 1991). The topsoil stripping activities during the current project opened large subsurface areas around the feature. Spatial data will be recovered from each of the sites to try an answer questions regarding spatial organization through time and space. Tetra Tech February 2018 12