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i' <br />i~ <br />Previous chronologies, and some contemporary efforts, include a <br />Late Ceramic period between the Middle Ceramic and Protohistoric <br />1 periods. While a three-part division of the Ceramic period is <br />justified by morphological changes in artifact assemblages in some <br />' regions, eastern Colorado ceramic artifacts exhibit little <br />variability between the onset of the Middle Ceramic period and <br />historic contact. <br />3.1.9 Protohistoric/Contact Stage <br />' This stage encompasses the period between the earliest <br />contacts of American Indians with items of European origin and the <br />' beginning of direct and frequent contact between American Indians <br />and people of European descent. Eighmy (1983:199) notes that <br />' virtually all protohistoric stage sites in northeastern Colorado <br />are attributed to the Dismal River Phase of the Plains Apache. <br />' Nonetheless, numerous tribes are known to have utilized the area <br />during the period of accelerated mobility and conflict that <br />' followed the acquisition of firearms and horses. These include, <br />but are not limited to, Palome and Cuartelejo Apache, Comanche, <br />' Shoshone, and Wichita. It is difficult to estimate the potential <br />frequency of sites representing this stage. Early protohistoric <br />sites are probably often indistinguishable from prehistoric <br />occupations while very late protohistoric sites may be mistaken for <br />' early European camps. <br />Table 1 presents a very general outline of major prehistoric <br />cultural episodes and concurrent paleoclimatic events for Eastern <br />' Colorado. Data used in this table are derived from Cassels <br />(1983), Eighmy (1989), Morris (1982), Benedict (1975, 1979) and <br />' Benedict and Olson (1978). <br /> <br />' 26 <br /> <br />