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~``~ 21 <br />The Initial Sopris Phase is distinguished by semi-subterranean <br />pit houses, jacal structures, and campsites which may have been <br />associated with structural remains. The artifact assemblage is <br />f characterized by a locally made culinary ware known as Sopris <br />Plain, corner-notched projectile points, and basin metates. The <br />Early Sopris Phase is characterized by the construction of adobe <br />and adobe-jacal houses. Sopris Plain wares still predominate, <br />but other types make their appearance, particularly incised wares <br />which are introduced at this time through contact with the <br />Northern Rio Grande pueblos. The lithic assemblage remains <br />essentially unchanged, but trough metates replace the basin <br />forms. Small disc beads of shell and stone appear at this time. <br />Incipient horticulture is suggested by the presence of small <br />~ amounts of maize, even though hunting and gathering is the <br />dominant mode of subsistence. During the Late Sopris Phase, <br />adobe is replaced by unfaced, horizontally laid, unmortared <br />' sandstone slab masonry as the preferred architectural style. <br />Sopris Plain ceramics are still common but trade ware from the <br />Northern Rio Grand pueblos have increased in abundance. Slab <br />metates replaced trough metates and shell disc beads decrease in <br />i abundance. The appearance of grooved mauls further supports <br />cultural contact or trade with the Northern Rio Grande area. <br />~~ Archaeological materials are scarce on the Park Plateau and <br />' Chaquaqua Plateau between A.D. 1225 and A. D. 1,550, this hiatus <br />attributable possibly to drought conditions which made corn <br />horticulture very difficult i! not impossible. Some <br />archaeologists (Lutz and Hunt 1979:24) have suggested that this <br />hiatus in the cultural record ie probably due to a lack of <br />interest by archaeologists in this time period rather than a <br />I` general abandonment. <br />Questions concerning the reality oP this cultural hiatus <br />notwithstanding, the Protohfstoric stage (A.D. 1550-1860) is <br />~~ characterized by cultural traditions which differ from those that <br />preceded the supposed gap. Bair (1977) divides the <br />Protohistoric, which he refers to as the Nomads Complex, into two <br />(_ time periods with different cultural characteristics: the <br />Carlana phase and the Montanes phase. <br />The Carlana phase (A.D. 1550-1750) is the local expression of <br />the Dismal River Aspect, the archaeological manifestation of the <br />Athapaskan-speaking Plains Apache. Carlana phase sites are <br />distinguished primarily by the presence of thin, dark, and <br />micaceous-tempered ceramics (Ocate Micaceous and Cimarron <br />Micaceous). Other cultural characteristics include tips rings, <br />triangular corner-notched points, subrectanqular and amorphous <br />knives, end and side scrapers, groundstone (manos and metates), <br />and worked graphite (Lutz and Hunt 1979:24-25). <br />The Montanes phase (A.D. 1750-1860) is defined by historical <br />records. It coincides with the expulsion of the Apache from <br />southeastern Colorado by horse-mounted nomads such as the <br />Comanche (Eddy, et a. 1982:45). Archaeological sites of this <br />