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29 <br /> Prehistoric habitation and use of northeastern Colorado and <br /> adjacent regions spans approximately 12, 000 years from the late <br /> Pleistocene epoch through historic contact. Although the <br /> preponderance of reliably dated archaeological sites in the <br /> region represent the past 5, 000 years, evidence of occupation is <br /> nearly continuous throughout this 12, 000 year span. The first <br /> formal regional chronology was devised by Mulloy (1958) . <br /> Mulloy's scheme was designed specifically for the northwestern <br /> plains, but it was generally adopted by archaeologists working <br /> within eastern Colorado. Wood (1967) formulated a chronology <br /> specifically for the eastern plains region, which relied on <br /> Colorado site data and which built on Mulloy's work. Frison <br /> (1978) further revised and refined Mulloy's northwestern plains <br /> chronology. Since cultural and physiographic boundaries are <br /> generally indistinct in the archaeological record, Frison' s <br /> chronology was considered largely applicable to northeastern <br /> Colorado. Detailed chronological outlines for northeastern <br /> Colorado were prepared more recently by Morris (1982 :22) and <br /> Eighmy (1984 : 12) ; these two chronologies differ only slightly. <br /> Eighmy's chronology is used in this section and throughout this <br /> report. Eighmy recognizes seven distinct temporal episodes from <br /> Paleo-Indian through Contact, within which additional temporal <br /> and/or cultural subdivisions may occur. <br /> 2.2.1 Paleo-Indian Stage <br /> Eighmy divides the Paleo-Indian Stage into four periods: Pre- <br /> Clovis, Clovis, Folsom, and Plano. Although this chronology <br /> includes a Pre-Clovis period, the earliest undisputed date of <br /> human occupation in eastern Colorado is a radiocarbon age <br /> estimate of 11, 200 +/- 500 years Before Present (B.P. ) from the <br /> Dent Clovis site (Cassells 1983:48) . Kalasz et al . (1992:24) <br /> note that a large proportion of known Clovis sites in continental <br /> North America are concentrated along the eastern flanks of the <br /> Rocky Mountains and within the adjacent plains region. Clovis <br /> occupations in northeastern Colorado are represented by isolated <br /> surface finds and intact deposits. Intact Colorado Clovis sites, <br /> such as Dent, Claypool, and Dutton contain the butchered remains <br />