Laserfiche WebLink
The Archaic (Plains, Rockies, and Wyoming) <br />The beginning of the Archaic period is marked by The altithermal maximum (7,500 - 6,500 <br />BP), a period of warmer and drier conditions (Benedict 1975). The nearest recorded sites <br />for this portion of the Early Archaic (7,500 - 5,000 BP) are in northern Wyoming (Prison <br />1978). Early Archaic sites which postdate the altithermal maximum exist in the <br />Colorado foothills and mountains, but none have been found in the plains (Benedict and <br />Olson 1978). A general repopulation of the Central Plains apparently took place during <br />the Middle Archaic (5,000 - 3,000 BP); this repopulation is marked by the appearance of <br />the McKean technocomplex. Late Archaic (post 3,000 BP) materials are also known from <br />mountains, foothills, and plains settings. <br />Compared with the previous Paleo-Indian period, the Archaic exhibits an apparently <br />heavier dependence on vegetable resources, archaeologically evident by a larger number <br />of tools involved in the preparation of vegetable foods. The Archaic period persisted in <br />the Central Plains and in the Colorado foothills until about as late os 400 _ 500 AD <br />(Windmiller and Eddy 1975). <br />Plains Woodland <br />After the Archaic stage, the Plains Woodland tradition appears in the Central Plains, <br />penetrating into the mountain passes and parks. This Woodland tradition is marked by <br />the appearance of maize cultivation, pottery, and a more sedentary lifeway. Although <br />Eastern Woodland peoples were sedentary, the Plains Woodland peoples remained heavily <br />dependent on hunting and gathering and practiced only limited horticulture. Although <br />Woodland sites are small in the west, they are heavily distributed along rivers and <br />streams (Windmiller and Eddy 1975). <br />Fremont <br />The Fremont Tradition exhibits a subsistence apparently based on corn agriculture sup- <br />plemented by hunting and gathering activities (Marwitt 1970). Uinta Fremont (the <br />Fremont variant most likely to be present in the study area) is centered in northeast <br />Utah (Berry and Berry 1975), but sites are typically small settlements of one to five <br />shallow pit structures, though numerous small open camps and rock shelter sites are <br />common. Sites are generally located on knolls, buttes, and on hill slopes above flood <br />• plains. <br />5-6 <br />