_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 (236)

Home Browse Search

: . ONS Powers Elevation ENVIRON ENTALARCHAEEOLOGCAOIL WELL L SERVCF 4100 East Dry Creek Road PO Box 2612 Denver.Colorado 80201-2612 Phase 303'321.2217 Toll Free 1.800-824.2550 PROJECT IDENTIFICATION: A cultural resources survey for Mid-Continent Resources, Inc. Access Road and Tunnel Portal Exploration Area; United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Paonia and Sopris Ranger Districts; Gunnison and Pitkin Counties, Colorado. ANTIQUITIES PERMIT NO: 409-85. FILES LITERATURE SEARCH: A files search conducted August 15 , 1985 , at the Colorado Historical Society revealed no documented cultural resources within the area of the proposed projects. The study area falls within the Colorado Mountains Prehistoric Context as defined by the Resource Protection Planning Process (RP3 ) prehistoric context series produced by the Colorado Historical Society. The stage-period structure employed in that document defines three definite prehistoric cultural stages: Paleo-Indian ( 10 , 000-5500 B. C. ) , Archaic ( 5500 B . C. -A. D. 500 ) , and Protohistoric/Historic (A.D. 500- 1800) . Research problems for the prehistoric portion of the area ' s culture are numerous and include such topics as building local chro- nologies ; understanding the nature and extent of land use and resource exploitation during specific cultural stages or periods; discerning whether the mountain areas were used by indigenous cultures or seasonal visitors from adjoining culture areas , or both; whether a fourth stage, the Formative, has any place in the mountain cultural scheme; and the possible identification of ethnographically known cultural groups in an archaeological context (Guthrie et al. 1984 ) . The RP3 Colorado Historical Archaeology Context publication (Buckles and Buckles 1984 ) , also produced by the Colorado Historical Society has summarized and evaluated the historical archaeology data base state-wide. There are several studies noted for the general project area, some of which pertain to mining and the railroad. The authors cite particularly, " . . . the great need for the development of models that correlate material culture with important historical activ- ities, " for future research. LOCATION: Section 20, T.10S. , R.89W. , Pitkin and Gunnison Counties; Section 24 , T. 10S. , R. 90W. , Gunnison County. MAP REFERENCE: Elk Knob, 7 . 5 ' , 1963 ; Placita, 7 . 5 ' , 1963 . DATE OF INVESTIGATION: September 16 , 1985. PERSONNEL: Marcia J. Tate, Field and Principal Investigator.