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RESE:IRC1{ PROBLE'•1S <br />• Based on a review of the literature, several problems can be considered when conducting <br />archae~~lo;ical investigations in the area. The first problem is the presence of material <br />from both Plains and Great Basin stylistic affiliations, and the difficulty in determining <br />whether stylistic similarity indicates cultural affinity. Several authors have begun to <br />address this problem, though no framework in which to conduct field investigations <br />relevant to this problem has been proposed. <br />Ward-1illiams and Foster (1976) hypothesize that the Yampa River Basin was of major <br />importance in cultural contact between the Plains and the Great Basin. Implicit in this <br />hypothesis is the idea that distinct aboriginal cultures developed in both the Plains and <br />the Great Dasin, and made contact as discrete cultural entities in the Yampa Basin. <br />Benedict and Olson (1978) suggest a high altitude origin of the i•1eKean Technocomplex <br />from an Early Archuic adaptation. In their view, a widespread Archaic complex <br />originated from high altitude refuges during the Altithermal. This adaptation then <br />spread into the Plains and the Great Basin from a common ancestral area. There are <br />major differences bet~.veen the concepts of Benedict, who proposes a single origin and <br />• :yard-Williams, who implies multiple origins for Archaic complexes. Recovery of datable <br />material from the Steamboat area, as well as from the surrounding region, would <br />contribute to the goal of understanding the rel:itionsttips between the Plains and the <br />Great Basin. <br />lnothcr problem, which has been discussed by several authors but not elaborated upon, is <br />settlement pattern. Sites have been found to be located in pisses, saddles, and sage fists <br />above water, with the unifying attribute of proximity to water. An avoidance of <br />northern exposures and of grades greater than 50% has also been noted (Arthur 1977; <br />17cNamara 1978; LVard-1illiams and Foster 1976). These characteristics have been <br />discovered in different topographic situations, such as the Routt National Forest and the <br />Yampa Dasin. <br />One profitable regional research orientation might focus on changes in site types and <br />environmentul and topographic relationships through time. Such an orientation would <br />allow for development of a regional perspective on changing patterns of aboriginal <br />• settlement and subsistence. <br />13 <br />