This publication presents an overview of the archaeology of the Central High Plains. The volume provides baseline information about the archaeology of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Canon City Colorado] District, the V.S.D.A. Forest Service's Regions II and III and the BLM's Albuquerque New Mexico] District. This work describes the archaeology of portions of five states and represents a large geographic area ranging from the Continental Divide to the plains of Kansas and Nebraska. A major feature of this work is the fact that it is one of the first such projects that was jointly...

Between 1978 and 1999, excavations in arctic and western Alaska have revealed the presence of Paleoindians during terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene times, ca. 12,000 to 9500 years BP (Before Present). The Type Site for this cultural manifestation, the Mesa Site, is located on the northern flank of the central Brooks Range at N68 24.72 W155 48.02, amid rolling foothills that extend northward 40 miles to the Colville River. The site lies atop a mesa-like ridge that rises 180 feet above the floor of the Iteriak Creek valley, offering an unobstructed 360 view of the surrounding treeless...

This publication represents the latest Class I (History) to be written for the western slope of Colorado. Our three districts in this region of Colorado now have histories specifically for them. Such works provide a valuable and needed synthesis of history and literature for these areas and also gives our managers data that are used on a daily basis for land-use decision making. Multiple land use is a Bureau mission that is being met. Oil and gas, coal, oil shale and other energy minerals, not to mention rights-of-ways, grazing programs, recreation projects and land-use planning, are all...

This volume represents the fourth in a series of five Class I Overview histories prepared by the Colorado State Office, Bureau of Land Management. The purpose of these works is to develop a synthetic history of a given area in order to provide our managers and staff specialists with a baseline overview of the history in a district. We have prepared these documents district by district, and they are regularly used by BLM personnel for orientation, training, and literature searches by professional consultants. In addition, these Class I's are basic to the operation of BLM's Cultural Resource...

One of the more interesting developments in the field of archaeology in the recent past is the emergence of predictive modeling as an integral component of the discipline. Within any developing and expanding field, one may expect some initial controversy that will, presumably, diminish as the techniques are tested, refined, and finally accepted. We are still very much in the initial stages of learning how to go about using predictive modeling in archaeology, and this book represents an effort by some of the leading experts in the field to present a comprehensive and detailed examination of...

One of the most important tools in archaeology for interpreting the past is a scientifically controlled method of excavation that is used to reveal important sites. The Yarmony Pit House excavation demonstrates how an archaeological site that seemingly might not be spectacular on the surface can yield extremely significant data. This project, undertaken by the Bureau of Land Management and Eagle County, Colorado, represents a major study of a unique archaeological site. Pit house complexes are not particularly common in north central Colorado, so when one is discovered and analyzed, the data...

Culture resource overviews such as this bring together much of the available information on prehistoric and historic peoples and present day Native American groups along with their associated environments. The purpose behind these studies is to provide background information for the management of and research into these prehistoric, historic, and contemporary resources. This overview is one of seven covering the southern California deserts undertaken as part of a comprehensive planning effort by the Bureau of Land Management for these deserts. Overviews aid in the day-to-day management of...

This volume represents a bridge between Colorado's prehistoric past and the time of Anglo-American settlement in our state. Few people realize that hundreds of years before the discovery of gold in Colorado during 1859, a highly developed European civilization had explored and settled the area now known as New Mexico and Colorado. Spanish conquistadors roamed the plains in the mid-1500s. They came here permanently in 1598 and founded the second oldest city in North America. This long cultural heritage was overshadowed when Colorado and New Mexico] became part of the United States during the...