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J: .~:: ~` parameters of human settlement in the region. The succeeding chapter outlines the methods by which these data are compiled. The penultimate chapter on results is the cynosure of this report: the number of prehistoric and historic resources in the project area is predicted, the possible site types are identified, and a density map is constructed, illustrating the proposed site distribution pattern. Recommendations are • proferred in the final chapter for the proper identification, recordation and evaluation of the predicted cultural resources in the project area. This report borrows heavily from a similar study conducted in 1983 for WFC by Nickens and Associates (Tucker 1983). This project combined an intensive inventory of a proposed surface/underground coal mine and an overview of a 40-square-mile area surrounding the proposed mine, about three miles east of the project area. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Regional environmental conditions effectively shape the range of cultural expression in local human populations. Certain groups may be able to exploit the environment with greater efficiency, . ~ but even they are incapable of transcending certain physical limits. Moreover, a successful adaptive strategy may be disrupted adversely by short or long term environmental changes. ;~ In the face of such stressful conditions, local populations modify their lifestyles appropriately or they move elsewhere. ~;, Consideration is therefore of environmental conditions, modern essential to any earnest attempt and ancient, to understand human settlement and subsistence in a region. This chapter has two parts. The first half discusses the modern ;z ~ environment: climate, geomorphology, flora, and fauna. Since, however, aboriginal groups have inhabited the area for millennia, description of modern environmental conditions cannot be used entirely to understand the parameters of prehistoric '. adaptations. Consequently, interpretations of the regional ,~. paleoenvironment must also be considered. ,~~ =, MODERN ENVIRONMENT f,~ l~ Climate An accurate determination of climatic conditions for the project ~:~; area is difficult since no meteorological stations are located - nearby. The nearest station is in Trinidad, approximately 10-15 miles east. Table 1 summarizes monthly and annual total I precipitation and mean temperature values for the Trinidad L.~. Airport, elevation 5746 feet (1751 m). The climate here can be classified a semiarid (Noy-Meir 1973). The growing season, the number of frost-free days, is approximately 160 days (USDA 1941),