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represented in the region; still, data from excavated sites are lacking. The appearance of the Archaic tradition reflects a shift in the availability of food resources caused by climatic changes at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. A transition from a hunting/mobile subsistence pattern to a huntinq- gathering/semi-sedentary (or sedentary) one is the focus of this shift. Several studies conducted on the Uncompahgre Plateau have documented the presence of hunters and gathers occupying that area from as early as 7000 B.C. until A.D. 1880 (Buckles 1971, Wormington and Lister 1956). These studies define the cultural tradition, referred to as the Uncompahgre Complex, as a regional variant of the Desert Culture that occupied the Great Basin and western Colorado Plateau, as described by Jennings (1957). Since those early studies, new findings suggest the Archaic lifeway was more complex than previously described. The Archaic Tradition in the western mountain region 'of Colorado apparently exploited three climatic zones: the cool desert, the temperate, and the boreal. Because of these cooler climatic conditions, aboriginal peoples living there • would be required to be collectors--organizing food procurement groups to obtain food and storing that food for at least part of the year (Binford 1980:9). The occurrence of storage and habitation structures is well documented. Recorded finds of surface and pithouse structures indicate that such were present in the central Rocky Mountains from as early as 5000 B.C. Clearly, at various times, ecological niches in these areas provided conditions stable enough for a sedentary or semi-sedentary lifestyle to be pursued. At altitudes of 8000 feet or more in Colorado, what are apparently pole and mud structures have been found in the Curecanti National Forest near Gunnison and the Windy Gap site near Granby. Radiocarbon dates of ca 5270- 4980 B.C. and ca 3590-1810 B.C. from the Curecanti sites compare with Windy Gap's dates of ca 6500 B.C., ca 2740 B.C., and ca 2280 B.C. (Cassells 1983:73-80). Thus far, the oldest pithouse, dating to 5180 B.C., was found at the Yarmony Site (Metcalf and Black 1988:15). Three Late Archaic sites that contained structural remains have been found in west-central Colorado. The Colorado Department of Highways found linear, low-walled (10- 40 cm) surface structures and a burial site, 5EA128, near Dotsero. Nothing was recorded within the structures; but, a • burial found in an adjacent crevice yielded a C-14 date of ca. 6