A Look at the Formative in Northwestern Colorado: Similarities and Differences in the Cultural Assemblages within the Fremont in the Colorado River Drainage Basin

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent excavations in Northwest Colorado indicate that between 1100 BP and 800 BP, some Fremont structures in the area contained elements similar to sites found throughout the upper Colorado Plateau. Adobe rimmed hearths, grass and cedar in roof construction, and rock slab coverings on roofs are evident in Northwest Colorado and elsewhere. The question is, why? To what degree do the Northwestern Colorado Formative Period assemblages differ from elsewhere? For instance, there seems to be a lack of beans and squash in the macro-floral record south of the White River in Northwestern Colorado. Yet, granaries and other structures are similar to those found throughout the upper Colorado Plateau. In this presentation, we will compare and contrast what we have found in excavation and surveys to the cultural assemblages exhibited elsewhere. We will then provide a brief explanation for what appears to be a divergence from established Fremont cultural attributes in Northwest Colorado.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32254