Early Occupation of the Colorado Front Range
| Autor: | Wilfred M. Husted |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1965 |
| Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
Archeology History geography geography.geographical_feature_category 060102 archaeology National park Range (biology) Museology Projectile point 06 humanities and the arts Continental divide 01 natural sciences Archaeology Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) Bluff Ice age 0601 history and archaeology Foothills 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Front (military) |
| Zdroj: | American Antiquity. 30:494-498 |
| ISSN: | 2325-5064 0002-7316 |
| DOI: | 10.2307/277953 |
| Popis: | Finds of Cody knives, Agate Basin, Allen, Clovis, Eden, and Meserve points indicate that the Colorado Front Range was occupied at least 7000 to 8000 years ago. Apparently Folsom hunters avoided the higher altitudes, but Clovis hunters may have crossed the Continental Divide. DESPITE many finds of campsites and artifacts by hikers, fishermen, and others, the Front Range of north-central Colorado has received little systematic archaeological study, and the culture history of the area remains relatively unknown. The few reports with which I am familiar indicate that the higher elevations were occu* Submitted with the permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. pied (Ives 1942; Moomaw 1954, 1957) but, until the time of Moomaw's investigations, it was concluded that the Front Range was uninhabited during early postglacial time. Until recently the available evidence supported this conclusion. Ives (1942: 448) believed that occupation of the Colorado headwaters (Front Range) region began not much more than 4000 years ago. Earlier he stated that "No evidence even faintly suggesting a preNeva (pre-Little Ice Age) culture has been found in the Front Range area, despite rather extensive searches by many workers, and it may be concluded that there was no extensive pre-Neva occupation of the foothills or mountains by any human group using any imperishable implements" (Ives 1941: 45). Ten to 15 years after Ives's investigations, Moomaw (1957: 36) reported the finding of "Scots Bluff, Yuma complex, swallow-tails and other ground base points" at high mountain sites in Rocky Mountain National Park. Several sites in the park and another to the south beyond the park boundary have produced projectile points and other artifacts of Paleo-Indian types. All of these sites are situated at or above timberline at altitudes of 11,000 to 11,500 feet and, although not numerous, the artifacts indicate that man was traversing the Continental Divide and camping in the mountains some 7000 to 10,000 years |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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