2018-09-04_PERMIT FILE - C1980007 (17)

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Negative Results Report Cultural Resource Survey Mountain Coal's Sunset Trail Lease Modifications Permit Revision #PR -15 Gunnison County, Colorado Soil Series Slope Range Description Cryoboralfs, Cryochrepts, 5-65% Consists of shallow well -drained soils formed by colluvium or residuum and Rubble land derived from andesite, rhyolite, tuff breccia, or basalt. These soils are found on benches and mountain slopes. Haploborolls-Ustochrepts 40-99% Consists of shallow well -drained soils formed by colluvium or residuum Rock outcrop complex derived from mixed volcanic sources. These soils are found on canyons, mountains, and ridges. Coberly-Falcon dry complex 0-15% Consists of shallow well -drained soils derived from residuum of weathered sandstone. These soils are found on benches, mesas, and ridges. Rubble land 15-99% Consists of scree derived from rhyolite, basalt, or andesite. These soils are found on benches, mesas, mountains, and along avalanche tracks. Cultural Overview Given the small size of the project area, an extensive cultural overview is not warranted for this project. The reader should refer to Colorado Prehistory: A Context for the Northern Colorado River Basin (Reed and Metcalf 1999) for a complete overview. The temporal framework for the northern Colorado River Basin is divided into five major prehistoric and historic stages: Paleoindian (13400 to 7500 B.P.), Archaic (ca. 7500 to 2000 B.P.), Late Prehistoric (2400 to 700 B.P.), Protohistoric (700 to 200 B.P.), and Historic (200 to 50 B.P.). The Paleoindian stage is primarily divided into four traditions distinguished by four projectile point styles and, to a lesser degree, changes in mobility and subsistence patterns. The four traditions are Clovis (13400 to 12500 B.P.) and/or Goshen (13000 to 12700 B.P.); Folsom (12800 to 11500 B.P.); Plano, best represented from sites on the Great Plains (11500 to 7500 B.P.) and the Cody Complex; and Foothills/Mountain (ca. 10000 to 7500 B.P.) (Frison 1991). Expected Paleoindian types for western Colorado (Colorado Plateau) include Great Basin Stemmed, Concave Base Stemmed, and Angostura (Pitblado 1999). Overall, the styles include partially fluted lanceolate projectile points (Clovis) to fully fluted lanceolate projectile points (Folsom) and stemmed to lanceolate Plano types. Paleoindian hunter - gatherers were highly mobile, leaving few cultural imprints on the landscape. Subsistence strategies focused initially on big game, which included now -extinct megafauna such as mammoth and Bison antiquus, and by the Plano and Foothills/Mountain Traditions; the subsistence strategy approximated that of the Archaic period and a more broad-spectrum pattern. Nearly all of the dated Paleoindian components in the northern Colorado Basin occur near the headwaters of the Colorado River near Middle Park and the Indian Peaks (Pitblado 1999). The Archaic stage (7500 to 2000 B.P.) is a temporally extensive period marked by broad-spectrum hunting and gathering. Aside from the decreased emphasis on large game and an increased emphasis on the gathering and processing of vegetal food, as evidenced by ground stone in the archaeological record, settlement strategies appear to have remained similar to that of the late Paleoindian stage when "settling in" to the local landscape took place. Changes in lithic technology include a decrease in size and an increased diversity of projectile point styles to large corner- and side -notched types. Sites such as Yarmony (5EA799) demonstrate the use of semisubterranean architecture (Metcalf and Black 1991). Reed and Metcalf (1999) have divided the Archaic stage into four periods: Pioneer (8350 to 6450 B.P.), ERO Project #10145 4