Slope Armoring at Leone Bluff: A Collaborative, Landform-Scale Effort at In Situ Preservation

Summary

This is an abstract from the "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: A National Perspective on CRM, Research, and Consultation" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The US Army Corps of Engineers recently undertook a project to mitigate cumulative adverse effects to the Leone Bluff archaeological site at the Corps’ Trinidad Dam and Lake Project in Las Animas County, Colorado. The Leone Bluff site is one of two type sites for the Sopris Phase (AD 1000-1250), a cultural manifestation almost exclusive to the Park Plateau. The site has been subjected to multiple sources of disturbance, including excavations from the 1950s to the 1970s that resulted in a substantial collection of significant artifacts. Continued erosion in recent years, in part from high lake levels, exposed additional buried archaeological deposits. In response, the Corps collaborated closely with the Colorado State Historic Preservation Officer and with Tribes to stabilize and protect the remaining buried deposits and repatriate culturally significant items. The Leone Bluff site stabilization project is important because it is a large-scale, non-project-related effort by the Corps aimed directly at the preservation of a valuable archaeological resource. The project is also important because it represents a comprehensive collaboration with Tribes regarding both creative mitigation strategy and the disposition of culturally unidentifiable items.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: A National Perspective on CRM, Research, and Consultation   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24749