Laserfiche WebLink
Fremont Culture <br />A shift from the hunter-gatherer economy which persisted for some <br />10,000 years in the Great Basin to an economy based predominantly on <br />corn horticulture occurred about A.D. 500 and is represented in east <br />central Utah and west central Colorado by the Fremont Culture. Con- <br />sidered a contemporary of the Anasazi, the Fremont has been recorded at <br />numerous sites dating from A.D. 500-1300 (Hauck 1977: 70). There is in- <br />creasing evidence that these people were derived from the Desert Archaic <br />and that they adopted traits of Southwestern culture (Mogollon, Hohokam, <br />Anasazi) possibly as early as 500 A.D., as well as traits of the Western <br />Plains peoples via the northern Colorado/southern Wyoming corridor <br />(Jennings 1978: 155-156). As defined by Madsen (1979), this culture was <br />a ceramic-manufacturing, village-oriented one, whose economy was based <br />primarily on corn horticulture. <br />The small villages, containing semi-subterranian, slab-lined dwelling <br />and surface storage structures of stone and jacal, were located near per- <br />manent streams. Artifacts characteristic of the Fremont are coiled pottery <br />(including grey ware which may be appliqued or punched, black on red, <br />black on grey, and black on white), figurines (usually of unfired clay), <br />basketry of single rod or rod and bundle construction, and triangular, <br />small-stemmed, unstemmed, corner- and side-notched projectile points (in- <br />dicating use of the bow and arrow). Other chipped stone tools include <br />finely worked drills, knives, and scrapers. Grinding and milling stones <br />are well made and shaped as are the shaft smoothers, stone balls, and <br />discs associated with the Fremont. Bone artifacts include fine awls, <br />scapula hoes, beads, whistles, and gaming pieces. Pictographs and petro- <br />glyphs are typified by horned, trapezoidal bodied anthropomorphs which <br />may have many elaborations such as necklaces, earrings, shields, swords, <br />loin cloths, and fancy headdresses (Schaafsma 1970). The Fremont also <br />developed a stylized way of making spirals, zigzags, scorpions, mountain <br />sheep, deer, snakes, and hunting scenes (ibid.). <br />• The presence of Fremont peoples in west central Colorado is clearly <br />16 <br />