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Colorado's archaeological investigations in Dinosaur National Monument focused primarily on the Formative occupants who were possibly related to the Fremont. Graduate studies on the Uncompahgre Plateau (Buckles 1971) and the Blue Mountain/Douglas Creek Area (Wenger 1956) helped to shed light on previous occupants of the northwestern Colorado Plateau. But it was not until the mid- to late-1970s that government sponsored or federally required cultural recourses clearances (Lischka 1975; Arthur and Jennings 1977; Jennings and Sullivan 1977) in the Axial Basin/Danforth Hills area began to elucidate past occupational history in this portion of northwestern Colorado. Since that time numerous Class II (sample inventory) and Class III (intensive inventory) cultural resource investigations have been completed within and adjacent to the project area (Piontkowski 1981; Treat and Newkirk 1981; Kranzush 1982; Gordcn et al. 1982; Kainer 1983). Figure 2.1 illustrates the lccations of these investigations relative to the present project area. Five large scale cultural resource projects have been completed within the proposed project area. The earliest was an intensive survey conducted on the northern portion of the current project area for the Colowyo t4ine and railroad corridors (Lischka 1975). Archaeological sites recorded within a half mile of the current proposed mine area are three prehistoric lithic scatters, one log house and historic piles of sandstone slabs. Approximately 320 acres (Section 11, Township 3 North, Range 93 West) within,Consol's proposed mine area and a small portion of the proposed Rail Spur '1 were surveyed for cultural re- sources by Lischka (1975); none was found. These areas were not resur- • veyed by tiA for the project reported here. The second major cultural resource inventory conducted within the currently proposed mine area is the reconnaissance completed by the Laboratory of Public Archaeology (LOPA) in 1975 (Arthur and Jennings 1977). Their Tract 5 in the Axial Basin was the westernmost tract surveyed and includes approximately 160 acres of river bottomland in 4lilson Creek on the extreme northwestern corner of the proposed mine area of this project. No cultural resources were recorded within this area. The third major cultural resource inventory within the proposed mine area is the Craig to Rifle 345 kV transmission line which crosses the mine area diagonally from southwest to northeast along the ridgetop between Taylor and Wilson Creeks. This survey was conducted by LOPA in 1976 (Jennings and Sullivan 1977) and recorded no cultural resources within the proposed affected areas of the present project. The fourth major archaeological project conducted within the pro- posed mine area is the Class II inventory of the Lower White River and Danforth Hills Known Recoverable Coal Resource Area (KRCRA) completed in 1981 (Gordon et al. 1982). Survey of the six 40-acre sample units which fall within the project area yielded no cultural resources. However, two isolated finds, both single chert flakes, were discovered outside sample units but within the proposed mine area. • The final major cultural resource inventory conducted within the