Archaeological Landscapes on the High Plains

313 Pages·2008·3.51 MB·English

by  Laura L. Scheiber

arcHaeological landscaPes
on the
H i g H P l a i n s

a r c H a e o l o g i c a l l a n d s c a P e s
on the
H i g H P l a i n s
edited by
laura l. scHeiber and bonnie J. clark
u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s o f c o l o r a d o

This book is dedicated to
Willa Cather
(1873–1947)
Pioneer and Observer of the Plains
“Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world;
but here the earth was the floor of the sky”
(Death Comes for the Archbishop, 1927)
© 2008 by the University Press of Colorado
Published by the University Press of Colorado
5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C
Boulder, Colorado 80303
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of
the Association of American University Presses.
The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part,
by Adams State College, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College,
Metropolitan State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of Northern
Colorado, and Western State College of Colorado.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials. ANSI Z39.48-1992
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Archaeological landscapes on the High Plains / edited by Laura L. Scheiber and Bonnie J.
Clark.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87081-931-5 (alk. paper)
1. High Plains (U.S.)—History, Local. 2. High Plains (U.S.)—Antiquities. 3. Excavations
(Archaeology)—High Plains (U.S.) 4. Historic sites—High Plains (U.S.) 5. Landscape archae-
ology—High Plains (U.S.) 6. Archaeology and history—High Plains (U.S.) 7. Social archaeol-
ogy—High Plains (U.S.) 8. Indians of North America—High Plains (U.S.)—Antiquities. 9.
Human ecology—High Plains (U.S.)—History. I. Scheiber, Laura L. II. Clark, Bonnie J.
F590.7.A73 2008
978'.01072—dc22
2008029530
Design by Daniel Pratt
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables xiii
cHaPter 1. A Sloping Land: An Introduction to Archaeological Landscapes
on the High Plains—Bonnie J. Clark and Laura L. Scheiber 1
cHaPter 2. Intersecting Landscapes in Northeastern Colorado: A Case
Study from the Donovan Site—Laura L. Scheiber 17
cHaPter 3. Making Places: Burned Rock Middens, Feasting, and
Changing Land Use in the Upper Arkansas River Basin—Mark
D. Mitchell 41
vii
contents
cHaPter 4. Ritual Landscapes, Population, and Changing Sense of Place
during the Late Prehistoric Transition in Eastern Colorado—
Kevin P. Gilmore 71
cHaPter 5. Landscapes and Peoples of the Llano Estacado—Eileen Johnson 115
cHaPter 6. The Details of Home: Landscape Continuity in the High
Plains—Bonnie J. Clark 157
cHaPter 7. Purgatorio, Purgatoire, or Picketwire: Negotiating Local,
National, and Transnational Identities along the Purgatoire River
in Nineteenth-Century Colorado—Minette C. Church 173
cHaPter 8. The Behavior of Surface Artifacts: Building a Landscape
Taphonomy on the High Plains—Oskar Burger, Lawrence C.
Todd, and Paul Burnett 203
cHaPter 9. Prehistoric Settlement Patterns on the High Plains of Western
Nebraska and the Use of Geographic Information Systems for
Landscape Analyses—Michael R. Peterson 237
cHaPter 10. Places in the Heartland: Landscape Archaeology on the
Plains—Philip Duke 277
About the Contributors 287
Index 291
viii
Illustrations
1.1. Archaeological Landscapes on the High Plains study area 4
1.2. Map of the High Plains, highlighting case studies discussed in volume 10
2.1. Map of the High Plains, highlighting Donovan site study area 18
2.2. Map of the Central and High Plains 21
2.3. Donovan first occupation plan view and density contour of bone
weight 24
2.4. Historic map of Logan County, Colorado, and vicinity 28
2.5. Historic business card and check blotter advertising Len
Sherwin’s ranching operations 29
2.6. Laura Scheiber’s mental map of the Donovan site and
Lewis Canyon 32
2.7. Donovan site excavation units, July 1997 33
ix