2009-08-24_REVISION - C1982056 (4)

Home Browse Search

time. Chronological divisions attempt to reflect slices of time where the composite picture of cultural traits is more similar than earlier or later slices of time. Shifts in technology, subsistence, and settlement patterns occur between periods showing adaptation to changing cultural and environmental conditions. The following discussion is summarized from Metcalf and McFaul (2006), as well as from more recent sources. Table 1 Temporal Sequences for the Northern Colorado River Basins Northern Colorado River Basin Sequence Paleoindian Era Pre - 8350 BP Archaic Era Pioneer Period 8350 - 6450 BP Settled Period 6450 - 4450 BP Transitional Period 4450 - 2950 BP Terminal Period 2950 - 1950 BP Formative Era Aspen Tradition 1950 - 650 BP Protohistoric Era Antero Phase 650 - 300 BP Canalla Phase 300 - 130 BP Paleoindian Era. Sites with Paleoindian projectile points and other evidence of a Paleoindian lifestyle are rare but not unknown in the area. Once thought to be an area of limited occupation during Paleoindian times, northern Colorado, and particularly the high elevation parks, have recently been shown to have been occupied quite extensively (e.g. Kornfeld and Frison 2000; Surovell and Waguespack 2007). A recent review of Paleoindian research in Colorado is presented by Pitblado and Brunswig (2007). This review indicates well established occupations during Paleoindian times. In the more immediate area, a Compass file search reveals a large number of Paleoindian sites in the database (Grand County n=53, Jackson County n=17, Larimer County n=33, and Routt County n=6). Collins and Morris (2008) have been compiling a database of surface finds for Moffat County. Several of these Routt County surface finds are from near the Sage Creek project area (5RT139). In the broader scheme of things, divergence in Paleoindian lifeways is noted as early as about 10,000 BP when complexes assigned to the Foothill-Mountain tradition are recognized throughout the Rocky Mountain region (Frison 1992:67; Pitblado 1993, 1998). In settlement and subsistence, the Foothill-Mountain lifestyle more closely resembles the mixed-base subsistence of the Archaic Era than the big-game hunting complexes that are typical of the Paleoindian Era. It seems reasonable to assume that the dramatic changes in habitat and carrying capacity wrought by the cold Younger Dryas episode (11,200 and 10,100 years ago) dramatically effected the residents of the area, such that by about 9300 BP, an archaic lifestyle was already evolving in the region (Metcalf and McFau12006; see also Thompson and Pastor 1995). 4