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frost free seasonal range of 70 -to -100 days. Agriculture is limited by the low rainfall, short <br />period of frost -free days, and low winter temperatures (USDA SCS 1982). The optimum <br />growing season for native plants is May -June, during which time temperatures average <br />around 55 -60 degrees Fahrenheit. Frosts occur frequently between mid - September and early <br />June, resulting in a growing season of roughly 45 -100 days. <br />Cultural History <br />Overviews of the prehistory and history of the region and more locally within the <br />Little Snake Field Office can be found in the following contexts: "Colorado Prehistory: A <br />Context for the Northern Colorado River Basin" (Reed and Metcalf 1999), "An Overview of <br />the Prehistoric Cultural Resources" (LaPoint 1987), "Regional Class I Overview of Cultural <br />Resources " (McDonald and Metcalf 2006), "An Isolated Empire: A History of Northwest <br />Colorado" (Athearn 1977), "Plateau Country Historic Context" (Husband 1984) and <br />"Colorado History: A Context for Historical Archaeology" (Church et al. 2007). <br />Prehistoric Background <br />The following provides a brief discussion of each of the major prehistoric cultural/ <br />temporal eras occurring during the past 12,000 years. <br />Paleoindian Era <br />Paleoindian finds include Clovis tradition (11,500- 10,500 BC), Goshen tradition <br />(11,000- 10,700 BC), Folsom tradition (10,800 -9,500 BC), and Piano/Foothill Mountain <br />tradition (9,500 -6,400 BC). Of the four, Plano/Foothill Mountain is the most common and <br />include Cody complex, Agate Basin, Hell Gap, Scottsbluff, and Eden type points. Examples <br />have been found near Cross Mountain, Skull Creek Basin, Browns Park, Dinosaur National <br />Monument, along the Yampa River, Sand Wash Basin, Trout Creek, and near Hayden <br />(Collins 2007, La Point 1987, Reed and Metcalf 1999, Chase and Jennings 1981, Hand 2006, <br />and Stucky 1977). <br />Archaic Era <br />Reed and Metcalf (1999:6) have divided the Archaic Era into four periods as follows: <br />Pioneer period: 6400- 4500BC <br />Settlement period 4500- 2500BC <br />Transitional period 2500- 1000BC <br />Terminal period 1000BC -AD 1 <br />4 <br />