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-10- <br />such as the American Southwest, but are of little value diagnostically in <br />• the study area given the general lack of information for the area. Even <br />projectile points have limited diagnostic value due to the fact that the <br />resistant nature of the material they are made from limits the amount of <br />variability, as opposed to artifacts made from more plastic materials such. <br />as pottery. <br />3.5 ADVERSE FIELD CONDITIONS <br />The principal adverse conditions encountered in the field consisted of <br />heavy vegetation and agricultural activities. Heavy leaf falls in the thickest <br />mixed shrub communities on the Colowyo Mine site occasionally obscured our <br />view of the ground and surveying was essentially limited to the frequent game <br />trails running through the thickets. These conditions, however, included <br />only a small percentage of the mine site area. Heavy sagebrush communities <br />on the lower terraces of the major river drainages also impeded our progress <br />somewhat but did not obscure the ground to the same degree. Recent deep <br />plowing along one section of Route B north of Bell Rock Gulch disturbed the <br />surface so completely that even a large lithic site could have gone un- <br />• detected. Site density was so low along adjacent sections of Route B, <br />however, that it is unlikely that sites of any significance exist there. <br />Dense meadow grass on a low terrace north of Morapos Creek about 1 mile <br />southwest of Hamilton completely obscured a small portion of the right of <br />way along Route C. The rancher who owns that particular area is an enthusiast- <br />ic arrowhead hunter and he stated that he had never found anything in the <br />meadow. He also informed us that he and others have surface collected <br />sites in the area for years, often returning to the same site year after <br />year. These activities have undoubtedly biased the samples we collected, <br />but it is unlikely that evidence of a site would be completely eradicated <br />by their collecting activities, since they are usually looking only for <br />projectile points and leave flakes and the more undistinguished artifacts <br />on the ground. <br />One environmental condition that fortunately had little effect on our <br />investigations but which other people working in the area should be made <br />aware of was a particularly high population of rattlesnakes in the north <br />half of Milk Creek Canyon. <br />. Inability to obtain permission to conduct archeo3ogical surveys on <br />