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29 <br />Prehistoric habitation and use of northeastern Colorado and <br />adjacent regions spans approximately 12,000 years from the late <br />Pleistocene epoch through historic contact. Although the <br />preponderance of reliably dated archaeological sites in the <br />region represent the past 5,000 years, evidence of occupation is <br />nearly continuous throughout this 12,000 year span. The first <br />formal regional chronology was devised by Mulloy (1958). <br />Mulloy's scheme was designed specifically for the northwestern <br />plains, but it was generally adopted by archaeologists working <br />within eastern Colorado. Wood (1967) formulated a chronology <br />specifically for the eastern plains region, which relied on <br />Colorado site data and which built on Mulloy's work. Frison <br />(1978) further revised and refined Mulloy's northwestern plains <br />chronology. Since cultural and physiographic boundaries are <br />generally indistinct in the archaeological record, Frison's <br />chronology was considered largely applicable to northeastern <br />Colorado. Detailed chronological outlines for northeastern <br />Colorado were prepared more recently by Morris (1982:22) and <br />Eighmy (1989:12); these two chronologies differ only slightly. <br />Eighmy's chronology is used in this section and throughout this <br />report. Eighmy recognizes seven distinct temporal episodes from <br />Paleo-Indian through Contact, within which additional temporal <br />and/or cultural subdivisions may occur. <br />2.2.1 Paleo-Indian Stage <br />Eighmy divides the Paleo-Indian Stage into four periods: Pre- <br />Clovis, Clovis, Folsom, and Plano. Although this chronology <br />includes a Pre-Clovis period, the earliest undisputed date of <br />human occupation in eastern Colorado is a radiocarbon age <br />estimate of 11,200 +/- 500 years Before Present (B.P.) from the <br />Dent Clovis site (Cassells 1983:98). Kalasz et al. (1992:29) <br />note that a large proportion of known Clovis sites in continental <br />North America are concentrated along the eastern flanks of the <br />Rocky Mountains and within the adjacent plains region. Clovis <br />occupations in northeastern Colorado are represented by isolated <br />surface finds and intact deposits. Intact Colorado Clovis sites, <br />such as Dent, Claypool, and Dutton contain the butchered remains <br />