Through All Seasons: Changing Subsistence during the Middle Archaic Period across the Palmer Divide, Colorado

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Palmer Divide is a geologic region east of the Front Range of Colorado that separates the South Platte River Basin to the north and Arkansas River Basin to the south. The region is an ecological island with a rich history dating from the Late Paleoindian to the Middle Ceramic. Numerous sites have been documented and excavated in the region, providing invaluable data to the area amidst rapid development and the loss of these archaeological resources. Excavated sites dating to the Middle Archaic (5000-3000 years before present) are the most prevalent and are comprised of densely clustered hearths, potential shallow pit houses, and evidence of broad-based subsistence strategies. Previous research within the region has suggested this period may be the first time permanent, full-time occupation occurred in the Denver Basin. However, the data from these excavations have yet to be synthesized and remains primarily in gray literature. This presentation aims to contextualize the Middle Archaic period in the Palmer Divide to expand our current understanding of lifeways within the region and examine whether Indigenous groups began to establish year-round subsistence.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53621