2009-08-24_REVISION - C1982056 (4)

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Overall, the Yampa valley data set has done little to resolve this poorly described cultural period, but data are accumulating from recent work. Aspen Tradition. The Aspen Tradition/Uinta Phase is characterized by a substantial increase in the number and visibility of archaeological components across the region. The period begins about 1950 BP and ends at 650 BP. Full-scale adoption of the bow-and-arrow, use of small corner-notched points, the introduction of some locally made gray and brown ware ceramics, frequent use of pit features, and evidence of resource use intensification in the form of seed and root processing technologies are all characteristics of the cultural period (Metcalf 1987; Smith 1988; Thompson and Pastor 1995; Reed and Metcalf 1999). This pattern shows up in Sage Creek area, specifically at Red Army (Pool 1997) and in a number of surface sites. Small basin houses are recognized in some sites in the region, and the period is regarded as the final fluorescence of the Western Wyoming Adaptation Type (McNees 1999). While the number of excavated components is relatively higher than for the Archaic Era region-wide, Aspen Tradition components are less numerous than in the Archaic Era in the Yampa valley. Drying about 1000 BP may have strained the Aspen Tradition but perhaps not severely enough to change the cultural adaptation. Certainly the drop in the number of dated occupations after about 700 BP strongly reflects a change in adaptation. Antero Phase. The Antero Phase (650 BP - 300 BP), is marked by the replacement of small corner-notched points by side and tri-notched forms (Desert Side-Notched), by the introduction of Ute Uncompahgre brown or Shoshone Intermountain pottery, by increased mobility, and less reliance on storage (Reed and Metcalf 1999:153). Considerably fewer pit features are apparent in the record and there is a shift in land-use patterns from open basin dunal environments in favor of wooded uplands and wet drainages. Within the cultural period, the transition to the Protohistoric Era is signaled by the introduction of a small amount of European trade goods. Evidence for intensive use of the interior basins and sand dune environments decreases in this period. In the Unita Basin Lateral data there is a distinct trend for Desert Side-Notched points to be found in upland locations where juniper or pinon juniper dominates, or at sites immediately along wet drainages. This shift in preferred site locations supports the notion that a major shift in settlement/subsistence took place between the Aspen Tradition and the Antero Phase. In the American Southwest, widespread abandonment of settled villages and emigration of Puebloan peoples occurred at this time period (e.g., Lipe et al. 1999). A similar shift in adaptive patterns is seen in the Northern Colorado River Basin and Wyoming Basin, manifested by the replacement of a basin-oriented processing-intensive pattern, by a more mobile, upland-oriented pattern. Canalla Phase. The'Canalla Phase/Protohistoric Period is essentially a continuation of the latest prehistoric period with the addition of trade goods. Sites of this age have not been investigated in or near the Sage Creek area. Current Research Directions. Current research in the Yampa valley area is focused on exploring models integrating data on climate change with an expanding data base about the cultural sequences (e.g. Reed et al. 2005; Metcalf 2005). For example, how did major and minor climatic shifts effect prehistoric adaptations and use patterns? Did abrupt climatic shifts raise periodic millennial-scale havoc with local subsistence systems forcing measurable adaptive shifts? Within the region, there appears to have been five broad cultural adaptations characterized as Nomadic Big 7