|
RULE 2 PERMITS
<br />2.04.4 Cultural and Historic Resource Information
<br />The objectives of this section are to meet the requirements of the Colorado Regulations of the Colorado
<br />Mined Land Reclamation Board for Rule 2.04.4 et seq. by furnishing cultural and historic resource
<br />information for the Collom permit expansion area in sufficient detail to determine the presence of cultural
<br />and historic resources listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and
<br />known significant archaeological sites. All literature cited in this section, professional and academic, can
<br />be found in greater detail in Exhibit 5, Item 1.
<br />General Cultural and Historic Resources Information
<br />Existing Data and Literature Review — Cultural resources include historical or archaeological objects,
<br />sites, buildings, structures, districts, or traditional cultural properties. Significant historic properties
<br />include those sites or objects that are listed in or eligible for listing in the Register. The permit expansion
<br />area is within the prehistoric context for the Northern Colorado River Basin (Reed and Metcalf 1999) and
<br />the Colorado Plateau Country Historic Context (Athearn 1976, Goetzmann 1966, Hayden 1879, Athearn
<br />1976).
<br />Existing Data and Literature Review — Cultural resources within the Collom permit expansion area
<br />include historical or archaeological objects, sites, buildings, structures, districts, or traditional cultural
<br />properties. Significant historic properties include those sites or objects that are listed in or eligible for
<br />listing in the Register. The project area is within the prehistoric context for the Northern Colorado River
<br />Basin (Reed and Metcalf 1999) and the Colorado Plateau Country Historic Context (Athearn 1976,
<br />Goetzmann 1966, Hayden 1879, Athearn 1976).
<br />Prehistoric Context — Northern Colorado River Basin context encompasses the portion of western
<br />Colorado that is drained by the northern stretch of the Colorado River and includes several major
<br />tributaries of the Colorado River: the Green, Yampa, White, Gunnison, Uncompahgre, San Miguel, and
<br />Dolores rivers. Like many other regions, the vast majority of cultural resources recorded in this region
<br />are known only from surface evidence and lack temporally diagnostic artifacts or other evidence of age or
<br />cultural affiliation. Human settlement in the area is firmly documented from the earliest known
<br />inhabitants of North America, the Paleoindians, and continues through the Protohistoric period. A brief
<br />chronology summarized below (Reed and Metcalf 1999) describes the hallmarks of the major
<br />chronological divisions.
<br />Paleoindian Stage (11,500 -6,400 years before present [B.P.]) Includes at least four traditions (Clovis,
<br />Goshen, Flosom, and Plano), each characterized by distinctive lanceolate projectile points. Most
<br />Paleoindian sites investigated within the region and in adjacent areas reflect hunting and /or processing of
<br />now - extinct megafauna (mammoth, sloth, and varieties of bison) and now - extant large mammals. Two
<br />recognizable and contemporaneous subsistence patterns have been identified for the region. One cultural
<br />unit occupied the open plains and intermountain basins and focused primarily on bison for subsistence,
<br />often procured on communal hunts. A second consisted of Foothill - Mountain complex that occupied
<br />more rugged terrain at higher elevations and procured deer, bighorn sheep, and antelope and may have
<br />more intensely utilized plant resources. It is hypothesized that the former complex represents more
<br />frequent mobility with sites that represent multiple short-term activities, where as the latter complex was
<br />less mobile with greater utilization of local lithic source material.
<br />Archaic Stage (7,450 -1,650 years B.P.) According to Reed and Metcalf (1999), the Archaic -era cultural
<br />chronology for Northern Colorado River Basin has, until recently, been lumped with other Archaic -era
<br />chronologies utilized for broader surrounding regions such as the Northwestern Plains, the Great Basin,
<br />the Colorado Plateau, and the Wyoming Basin. Recently, due to the lack of data from sites within the
<br />Collom — Rule 2, Page 22 Revision Date: 9/28/11
<br />Revision No.: PR -03
<br />
|