PERMFILE68702

• Permit No: C1981038
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 12/11/2001
• Section_Exhibit Name: Volume 9B ARCHAEOLOGY APPENDIX Part 2 of 4
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

~ Siri'771 -The Ridge Site
• A high and very steep north-south trending ridge (Figures 4 and 5)
separates the valleys of Fast Roatcap Creek and Stevens Gulch. The top
of this ridge is wily abort 10 to 20 meters wide and serves to bridge Fry
Mesa on the south and the higher bluff to the north, The sides of the
ridge present slopes with 20 percent or more grade. Additionally, a
conspicuous saddle in the center of this ridge provides the only access
fran Stevens (filch into the valley of Fast Roatcap Creek. The top of the
I ridge is covered >n glacial till which ranges in size from small sands
and gravels to very large boulders of basalt. These boulders often
appeaz as a series of piles extending along the ridge. The ridge tap is
covered with a thin and spotty growth of pinyon and juniper with
occasional open azeas of sage flat. The very constructed portion of the
ridge extends for about .8 km. A clearly defined game and/or cattle
trail threads north-south along this bridge linking Fry Mesa and the
upland bluffs. It is known that this area was considered to be part of
"the most critical" big game wintering habitats in the area (Welt 1986).
This high ridge .line was very closely scrutinized for azchaeological
materials because it was thought that it offered good potential as a game
kill area. Additionally, the large piles of boulders were very often
suggestive of natural game blinds. Near the north end of the ridge, just
before it expanded in width and broke sharply uphill, a small localized
lithic scatter was found. This was denigrated as SD'1'771 (Figure 8).
• The lithic scatter designated as SDT771 yielded only a dozen flakes
of tool stone and might in many cases have been designated as only an
isolated find. The flakes were found about the game trail in a linear
area about 10 meters long. Additionally, the flakes were adjacxnt to
sore small boulders and weakly delineated rock alignments. The key
element in according this resource site status was in the small size of
the flakes and the variety of tool stone evident. Qie small microflake
of obsidian with edge wear was the only tool form evident. There were,
knwever, other interior flakes of a fine white silicate, a purple
quartzite, petrified wood and basalt. A concerted ground search failed
to reveal further materials of information about the site.
It was not possible to accurately assess the site's eligibility for
ttie National Register without test excavations. A test excavation
program was conducted at the site in July, 1986 and the resource was
deemed to be insignificant. While a few additional flake tools were
found, the site was shown to have no depth and [~o meaningful
concentrations of artifacts or features could be fourd. The final
interpretation regarding this site is tkiat it consists of flakes utilized
for butchering big game ui more than one aboriginal episode of killing
and butchering. Tests of the rock alignments were entirely negative and
it c:d~ only be suspected that these were game blinds or drive line
markers utilizt~cl in the manipulation and/or taking of big game along the
ridge. Because of the difficult}' of differentiating possible alterations
to these rock piles as utilization by man, the area is still considered
• w fx: pc,tentrally sensitive acid the roll extent of 5[YI'771 is not believed
to be certain. The final report on the test ~:cavation (Baker 1986) has
nut yet been prepared but is scheduled for release on October 1, 1986.
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