Frontiers in Colorado Paleoindian Archaeology: From the Dent Site to the Rocky Mountains

385 Pages·2007·6.68 MB·English

by  Robert H. Brunswig

Frontiers in Colorado Paleoindian Archaeology
Frontiers in Colorado
Paleoindian Archaeology
from the dent site to the r ocky Mountains
Edited by Robert H. Brunswig and Bonnie L. Pitblado
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
© 2007 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
Frontiers in Colorado Paleoindian archaeology : from the Dent Site to the Rocky Mountains / edited
by Robert H. Brunswig and Bonnie L. Pitblado.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87081-890-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Paleo-Indians—Colorado. 2.
Paleoanthropology—Colorado. 3. Land settlement patterns, Prehistoric—Colorado. 4. Colorado—
Antiquities. I. Brunswig, Robert H. II. Pitblado, Bonnie L., 1968–
E78.C6F76 2007
970.01—dc22
2007030395
Design by Daniel Pratt
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Bob Brunswig
I dedicate this book to my wife, Becky, and my children,
Michael and Andrew, who, over the years, have had to sacrifice
so much of my time and attention to my pursuit of a career
in archaeology and to my other family of valued students and
colleagues.
Bonnie Pitblado
I dedicate this volume to my mom, Nancy Pitblado, who has
supported me in so many ways through the years. She has set a
great example for how a person can enjoy both a loving family
and a challenging career, an example I now strive to set for the
students I am privileged to mentor.
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C o n t E n t s
List of Illustrations ix
List of Contributors xiii
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction—Robert H. Brunswig and Bonnie L. Pitblado 1
Part 1: Environmental and Archaeological Context
1 Late Quaternary Prehistoric Environments of the Colorado Front
Range—James P. Doerner 11
2 That Was Then, This Is Now: Seventy-Five Years of Paleoindian
Research in Colorado—Bonnie L. Pitblado and Robert H. Brunswig 39
Part 2: new Research at the Dent Clovis site, northeastern Colorado
Plains
3 New Interpretations of the Dent Mammoth Site: A Synthesis of
Recent Multidisciplinary Evidence—Robert H. Brunswig 87
vii
Contents
4 Season of Death of the Dent Mammoths: Distinguishing Single from
Multiple Mortality Events—Daniel C. Fisher and David L. Fox 123
5 Processing Marks on Remains of Mammuthus columbi from the Dent
Site, Colorado, in Light of Those from Clovis, New Mexico: Fresh-
Carcass Butchery Versus Scavenging?—Jeffrey J. Saunders 155
6 Phytolith and Starch Analysis of Dent Site Mammoth Teeth
Calculus: New Evidence for Late Pleistocene Mammoth Diets and
Environments—Linda Scott Cummings and Rosa María Albert 185
Part 3: new Research in the Colorado Rocky Mountains
7 Building a Picture of the Landscape Using Close-Interval Pollen
Sampling and Archaeoclimatic Modeling: An Example from the
KibRidge-Yampa Paleoindian Site, Northwestern Colorado—Linda
Scott Cummings, R. A. Varney, and Reid A. Bryson 195
8 Folsom Hearth-Centered Use of Space at Barger Gulch, Locality
B—Todd A. Surovell and Nicole M. Waguespack 219
9 Paleoindian Cultural Landscapes and Archaeology of North-Central
Colorado’s Southern Rockies—Robert H. Brunswig 261
10 Angostura, Jimmy Allen, Foothills-Mountain: Clarifying
Terminology for Late Paleoindian Southern Rocky Mountain Spear
Points—Bonnie L. Pitblado 311
Afterword: A Wyoming Archaeologist’s Past and Present View of
Wyoming and Colorado Paleoindian Archaeology—George C. Frison 339
Index 357
viii
I L L u s t R A t I o n s
1.1. Map showing major physical features of Colorado 12
1.2. Map showing major air mass trajectories into the Colorado Front
Range 13
1.3. Schematic diagram comparing till of Pinedale, Bull Lake, and pre–
Bull Lake glaciations 17
1.4. Shaded relief map of Colorado Front Range region showing the loca-
tions of glacial and paleoecological sites 18
1.5. Echo Lake pollen diagram 23
1.6. Correlation of cultural/chronological periods with paleoenviron-
mental reconstructions from the Colorado Front Range 30
2.1. Map of key Paleoindian sites mentioned in Chapter 2 43
2.2. Contemporary Colorado Paleoindian research program areas
discussed in Chapter 2 and the remaining chapters of this volume 54
3.1. Geographic location of the Dent site 88
ix