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areas to the east. Subsurface geology is composed of sandstone, shale and m for coal beds of the <br />Willi arns Fork Formation which are sedimentary and igneous rocks from the Early Tertiary and <br />Late Cretaceous Age (Tweto 1979). <br />Overall ground surface visibility was considered fair, varying from 10 to 40 %. In the <br />southwest portion vegetation cover was a thick scrub oak, sparse aspen and a thick debris cover. <br />Most of the remaining area was covered. with thick CRP grasses (crop reserve pro The <br />exceptions to this, were the extreme southern edge, and small areas along the various drainages, <br />which supported a sagebrush ecosystem. Throughout the project area there were numerous areas <br />affording views of subsurface soil contents (i.e., road cuts, two tracks, animal trains, eroded. areas <br />and rodent activity areas). Ridgelines within the CRP areas had more ground surface visibility <br />(ca. 40 %) due to slight erosion. <br />Present day use of the area is agricultural with probably some limited haunting activities. <br />Past historic usage of the area would have been very similar, plus limited mining activity to the <br />south. Prehistoric native populations would have utilized the area in a limited fashion for its <br />]natural resources. <br />Previous Work and Cultural History- <br />The files of the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Presemation (OAHP) <br />COMPASS site were reviewed on April 12, 2012. A file search was conducted via telephone <br />with the DLM Archeologist on April 12, 2012. One site has been recorded within Section 34, <br />but is over a half mile from the current project boundary. <br />Three previous inventories have been conducted within the project section_ Table 1 lists <br />the projects identified from the rile searches_ <br />Culture histories are summarized in the RP -3 contexts for the Northern Colorado River <br />Basin (Reed and Metcalf 1999) and "Colorado History: A Context for Historical Archaeology" <br />(Church et al. 2007). The reader is referred to these documents for more in -depth discussions of <br />the culture history and research issues of the general area. <br />Briefly, archaeological prehistory for the mountains includes four .major cultural eras. <br />The Paleo - Indian era (ca. 13400 to 8400 BP) was based on large game hurting and is primarily <br />defined by projectile point. typology. Following this era is the Archaic: era (ca. 8400 to 2400 BP) <br />which is marked by an increase in projectile point styles, hunting of a larger variety of animals, <br />an emphasis in the gathering of plant foods, and the use of more formal shelters. The Fornuative <br />era (2400 BP to AD 1300) is described as a highly mobile time when people would visit the <br />plateau area seasonally to harvest local plants alien anirm ls. Reed and Metcalf (1999) classify <br />this as the Aspen Tradition and consider it basically a continuation of the Archaic hunting and <br />.gathering subsistence life style. The period from AD 1300 to AD 1881 is considered the <br />ProtoEstoric era. This covers the time when the Utes and Shoshones cultures are clearly <br />distinguishable in the archaeological record_ The Protohistoric also includes first documentation <br />of these indigenous peoples as a result of early encounters with E.uro- American explorers and fur <br />trappers in the latter years of this temporal frame. Because of the difficulty of traveling in the <br />3 <br />