The Dolores Archaeological Program

Summary

From 1978 until 1985 the University of Colorado contracted with the Bureau of Reclamation (Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562) to mitigate the adverse impact of a large water impoundment project on the cultural resources in the project area. This complex and evolving long-term mitigation plan known as the Dolores Archaeological Program (DAP) has been called a “truly unique chapter in American archaeology” (Breternitz 1993:118) and was applauded by Lipe (1998:2) for its ability to “increase the power and efficiency of archaeological methods”.

Data and materials from the DAP and other Dolores Project contracts are curated by the Anasazi Heritage Center (AHC) through an agreement between the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Land Management, and the President’s Advisory Council. This facility has been an important means of disseminating DAP findings to general public and greater Southwestern archaeological community (Lipe 1998; Sebastian and Lipe 2009).

Since the program’s completion in 1985, the DAP has continued to provide archaeologists with a platform for understanding prehistoric culture change at local and regional levels as well as a model for structuring large-scale archaeological investigations. Recent examples of the DAP’s legacy include Schachner’s (2010) treatment of corporate groups and social differentiation in the context of pithouse-to-pueblo transition ca. A.D. 700 to 900 and Kohler and Reed’s (2011) examination of Pueblo I period village development. The consistency and quality of the DAP database that have enabled it to remain an invaluable research tool even today were made possible by a great deal of forethought and planning in the way archaeological observations were documented (Wilshusen et al. 1999).

The DAP research design was structured to systematically address broad domains of inquiry that encompass economy and adaptation, paleodemography, social organization, extraregional relationships, and cultural processes. Mid-level research designs and supporting studies were employed by task specialists in additive and reductive technologies, environmental archaeology, and survey to address more specific problem domains.

Since field and laboratory research focused on the explanation of cultural process for the prehistoric Ancestral Puebloan population of the Dolores River valley, new conventions and terminology was required to describe spatial and temporal variability that was unique to the Dolores data. These sets of archaeological units, or DAP systematics, provide a common frame of reference for the project analytical and field staffs. Due to the specific nature of this system, researchers are encouraged to consult the Final Synthetic Report of the DAP (Breternitz et al. 1986) before attempting to use DAP databases.

Cite this Record

The Dolores Archaeological Program. ( tDAR id: 5398) ; doi:10.6067/XCV80G3MNH

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Ancestral Puebloan • Archaic • Numic and Late Pueblo • PaleoIndian

Material
Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Dating Sample • Fauna • Ground Stone • Macrobotanical • Mineral • Pollen • Shell • Wood

Site Type
Artifact Scatter • Hamlet / Village • Hearth • Isolated Artifact • Isolated Feature • Kiln • Kiva / Great Kiva • Midden • Military Structure • Pit • Pit House / Earth Lodge • Plaza • Post Hole / Post Mold • Rock Alignment • Room Block / Compound / Pueblo • Water Control Feature • Wattle & Daub (Jacal) Structure

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Collections Research • Data Recovery / Excavation • Geophysical Survey • Reconnaissance / Survey • Remote Sensing • Research Design / Data Recovery Plan • Site Evaluation / Testing • Systematic Survey

Geographic Keywords
Dolores River Valley • Mesa Verde Region • Southwestern Colorado

Temporal Keywords
Ancestral Puebloan • Archaic • Basketmaker I • Basketmaker II • Basketmaker III • Protohistoric • Pueblo I • Pueblo II • Pueblo III

Spatial Coverage

min long: -108.59; min lat: 37.47 ; max long: -108.5; max lat: 37.57 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contributor(s): Alexis A. Hamilton; Donald Howes; Katherine S. Miller; Jane A. Ward; Barbara J. Cullington; David H. Greenwald; Lora VanRenselaar; Ricky R. Lightfoot; Joseph W. Studer; Judith A. Southward; Laurie A. Whiting; Douglas, A. Goulding; Sarah H. Schlanger; Dorin E. Steele; Vickie L. Clay; Stacy A. Story; Lynn L. Udick; Craig F. Woodman; Robert P. Ryan; Phyllis A. Wolf; Douglas, D. Dykeman; Cathy J. Watts; Kristin Kuckelman; Raymond G Harriman; Gregory C. Nelson; Phillip D. Neusius; Adrian S. White; Melissa Gould; Louise M. Schmidlap; Patrick F. Hogan; Arthur L. Rohr; Rita Arnett; Karen Dohm; Alice M. Emerson; Rysta E. Frederick; Gail G. Snyder; Patrick Harden; Mary C. Etzkron; J. Holly Hathaway; Susan E. King; Thirza D. Kennedy; Nancy J. Hewitt; Linda P. Hart; Steven R. Dominquez; Richard H. Wilshusen; John P. McCarthy; Meredith H. Matthews; Jane L. Epstein; Gary A. Brown; T. Homer Hurby; Anne M. Wolley; Maxine M Morris; Michael J. Hilton; Charlotte L. Benson; John R. Stein; John L. Montgomery; James H. Kleidon; Judith L. Burk; Carla M. Hoehn; Hal D. Carr; Carolyn R. Orth; Scott E. Travis; Maureen C. Cavanaugh; Ivy G. Doak; Joel M. Brisbin; Bertand A. de Peyer; Robert M.R. Waterworth; Ross C. Fields; Cory Dale Breternitz; Thomas C. May; Mark Varien; Richard V. N. Ahlstrom; M. Edward Bussard; G. Timothy Gross; C. Dean Wilson; James Morris; Margaret G. Meador; Richard W. Yarnell; Lynn E. Sebastian; Ruthann Knudson; Sarah Neusius

Field Director(s): Gay Ives; Mark A. Stiger; Roger N. Walkenhorst

Lab Director(s): Janet D. Orcutt; Carl J. Phagen; John P. Bloom; William A. Luscius; Deborah A. Duranceau; Kenneth L. Petersen; Roger A. Moore; Paul J. Farley; John P. Nylander; Eric Blinman; Bruce Benz

Principal Investigator(s): Robert A. Bye; David A. Breternitz; Allen E. Kane; Timothy A. Kohler; William D. Lipe

Project Director(s): Christine K. Robinson; Steven E. James

Sponsor(s): Bureau of Reclamation

Repository(s): Anasazi Heritage Center, Dolores, Co

Submitted To(s): Bureau of Reclamation

Record Identifiers

Bureau of Reclamation(s): 8-07-40-S0562

Source Collections

Anasazi Heritage Center

Resources Inside this Project (Viewing 1-8 of 8)

There are 8 Documents within this Project [remove this filter]

Documents

  1. Additive Technologies Group Midlevel Research Design (1983)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Eric Blinman.

    This document is an extension of work begun by William A. Lucius, and its substance owes much to his foresight in the design of the Dolores Archaeological Program ceramic analysis system. Scott Travis authored a draft research design for ceramics which was helpful during the writing of portions of the present version. Dean Wilson and Rob Waterworth provided intense discussions of the interpretation of ceramic data, and their arguments and ideas have shaped and continue to shape...

  2. Dolores Archaeological Program: Final Synthetic Report (1986)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text David A. Breternitz. Christine K. Robinson. G. Timothy Gross.

    This is the final synthetic report of the Dolores Archaeological Project. It includes an overview of the project itself, as well as final reports from the additive and reductive technologies, and environmental archaeology groups. The final report also includes summation of the prehistorical context for the Dolores River Valley and modeling, resource, and population studies. Information on the various technologies---lithics, ceramics, and facilities---are also examined. This report also...

  3. Dolores Archaeological Program: Studies in Environmental Archaeology (1985)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Kenneth L. Petersen. Vickie L. Clay. Meredith H. Matthews. Sarah W. Neusius.

    This report presents some of the results of the Environmental Studies Group (1979-1981) and the Environmental Archaeology Group (1981-1983) of the Dolores Archaeological Program. The Dolores Archaeological Program was funded by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Dolores Project Cultural Resources Mitigation Program, responsible for the mitigation of impacts on cultural resources to be affected by construction of a multipurpose water storage and distribution system on the Dolores River in...

  4. Dolores Archaeological Program: Supporting Studies: Additive and Reductive Technologies (1988)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Eric Blinman. Carl J. Phagan. Richard H. Wilshusen.

    Dolores Archaeological Program activities have included a variety of synthetic supporting studies in addition to descriptive analyses of excavation and survey materials. This volume includes those supporting studies that deal with material culture, dating, and architecture. Material culture papers that focus on lithic materials include typological analyses of projectile points, a study of changes in grinding tools and dietary implications, microwear analyses of flaked stone artifacts, and a...

  5. Dolores Archaeological Program: Synthetic Report (1986)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only D. A. Breternitz. Christine K. Robinson. Timothy Gross.

    The Dolores Project was a large water-impoundment project constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation in southwestern Colorado. From 1978 until 1985 the University of Colorado contracted with the Bureau of Reclamation (Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562) to mitigate the adverse effects of the Dolores Project on the cultural resources in the project area; Washington State University was the major subcontractor. The mitigation program was called the Dolores Archaeological Program (DAP). This volume presents...

  6. Dolores Archaeological Program: Synthetic Report 1978-1981 (1984)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text David A. Breternitz.

    The "Dolores Archaeological Program: Synthetic Report 1978-1981" is the second publication in a series of reports by the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior, on the findings of the Dolores Archaeological Program including excavation activities, and the preservation and analysis of newly discovered artifacts.

  7. Dolores Archaeological Program: Synthetic Report 1978-1981 (1984)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text D. A. Breternitz.

    The Dolores Project was a large water project constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation in extreme southwestern Colorado. The Dolores Archaeological Program was responsible for the Dolores Project Cultural Resources Mitigation Program under Bureau of Reclamation Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562. At the request of the Bureau of Reclamation, the Dolores Archaeological Program produced this report entitled Dolores Archaeological Program Synthetic Report 1978-1981. This report provides the Bureau of...

  8. The Dolores Legacy: A User's Guide to the Dolores Archaeological Program Data (1999)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: Jesse Clark

    A user's guide to the Dolores Archaeological Program data, compiled with assistance from a State Historical Fund grant from the Colorado Historical Society. This is highly recommended as a point of entry into the large and complex DAP datasets. It contains a general introduction to the DAP and its datasets, by Richard Wilshusen; an introduction to the provenience data and DAP temporal-spatial taxonomy and interpretations, by Christine Ward; brief descriptions of each of the major databases; an...