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-za- <br />4.4.2 Cultural affiliations <br />,~ All of the prehistoric sites recorded during the present investigation <br />can be assigned, based on the information available at present, to the <br />generalized Western Archaic cultural tradition described in Section 4.1.3. <br />Although no evidence of any Big Game Hunter traditions was encountered <br />during the investigation, it can be assumed that representative groups of <br />the traditions occupied the area and evidence of early occupations should <br />be anticipated in future excavations. Rockshelter SMF435 with 2 meters of <br />undisturbed deposits appears to have the greatest potential with respect to <br />Big Game Hunter occupations. <br />No evidence was found of Fremont occupation in the study area. Seven <br />potsherds found at SMF408 were initially thought to be Fremont, but Breternitz <br />(personal communication) identifies them as Mesa Verde White Ware manufactured <br />by the Anasazi somewhere in the Four Corners region after A.D. 1050 and <br />before A.D. 1300. This isolated occurrence of pottery does not mean that <br />Anasazi groups occupied the area but that pottery came into the area as <br />tradeware and was used either by indigenous Western Archaic groups or Fre- <br />mont visitors. <br />%. The historic sites encountered could not be identified with any specific <br />groups of people or known residents except SMF426, which has been identified <br />as the ranch of Tom Iles, an early rancher in the Axial Basin. <br />4.4.3 Chronology <br />Chronological placement of the prehistoric sites depends mainly on an <br />analysis of changes in projectile point st;~les. Several factors complicate <br />this approach, one of the more important being the fact that projectile <br />point morphology is a function of both function and style. Also, wide <br />variation in point morphology can sometimes be observed in the same occupation <br />level within a site. A third factor that must be taken into account when <br />analyzing surface samples is that those samples may be a mixture of several <br />occupations of a multi-component site. One of the more comprehensive dis- <br />cussions of the problem is provided by Frison, et.al. (1974:108-127) in <br />their summary of the prehistory of Wyoming. Despite the complicating factors <br />cited above, they detect certain general morphological changes through time. <br />Their analysis of chronological changes in point morphology along a transect <br />is relatively close to the Craig area and probably reflects the situation <br />. in the study area better than any of the other studies available. The authors <br />