Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology of the Colorado High Country

4. Prehistoric Use of Fauna in the Upper Gunnison Basin

The faunal remains recovered from dated prehistoric contexts in the Upper Gunnison Basin are reported in Appendix D. We have reported the larger animals by element; we have condensed the medium-sized animals into species only; we have collapsed the small animals into gross categories of rodent, bird, fish, and frog. We have not included those animals believed to be burrow deaths or intrusive. We have separated the faunal assemblages by dated component within each site. We have also included the undated faunal assemblages at Site 5GN204/5GN205, which may be part of a trash dump associated with a residential occupation. The variety of species recovered from prehistoric contexts in the Upper Gunnison Basin is very broad. Table 4.1 lists these species. Bone fragments recovered from datable contexts number 8,448. Most of these bone pieces, being small and greatly fragmented, are unidentifiable by faunal analysts. The agents responsible for some fragmentation may be natural processes (for example, trampling, acid soils, and freeze thaw). However, we believe that much of the fragmentation is from processing of bone by the prehistoric people. Although bone often was not in perfect condition when recovered from a site, it was sometimes found in considerable quantities. Inspection of Appendix D reveals that some sites yield more bone than do others. In particular, Tenderfoot (Site 5GN1835), Elk Creek (Site 5GN2478), Pioneer Point (Site 5GN41), Site 5GN204/205, and Marion (Site 5GN1664) yielded 4,471, 261, 333, 364, and 2,835 bone fragments, respectively. These four sites contained 8,264 of 8,448 (or 97.8 percent) of the bone fragments recovered 4 Prehistoric Use of Fauna in the Upper Gunnison Basin BY RONALD J. ROOD* AND MARK STIGER * Ronald J. Rood, formerly of Western State College of Colorado, is currently Assistant State Archaeologist of Utah. 48 Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology of the Colorado High Country in the Basin. Pioneer Point and Marion both date to the last 2,000 years and are located on the west edge of the Basin. At both sites bone was directly associated with hearths, and the excavators were aware of the high bone concentration while digging. Some of the bone was recovered from feature fill. Researchers purposely went to Site 5GN204/205 to recover faunal material. At Tenderfoot and Elk Creek, large horizontal blocks were excavated, and 1 /8-in-mesh screens were used. The other sites in the Basin gave a relatively poor return on faunal material probably because only small block areas were excavated, because ¼-in mesh was used for screening, or because not much faunal material was present. Effectiveness of recovery methods may be indicated by the absence/presence of rodent bones. Appendix D shows that rodents were recovered from Tenderfoot, Elk Creek, and Site 5GN204/205. In the Marion report, rodents are noted in the faunal appendix, but they are not tabulated in the data tables in the text. Although rodent bones are certain to be a component of the natural “faunal rain” across archaeological sites, prehistoric people also ate rodents, as evidenced by rodent bones with cut marks in hearths at Tenderfoot. Because of their small size, rodent bones recovered during excavation increase confidence in faunal recovery methods. Larger faunal samples (and rodent frequencies in the assemblage) appear in the following three periods: between 7650 B.P. and 6000 B.P.; between 3500 B.P. and 3100 B.P.; and between 2000 B.P. and 460 B.P. Unfortunately, gaps exist in our faunal record. Acknowledging the spotty nature of the data, we make the following generalizations about patterns of faunal use with the evidence recovered to date. Big Indeterminate bone Indeterminate mammal Indeterminate mammal, large Indeterminate mammal, medium Indeterminate mammal, small Artiodactyla Bison bison Cervus canadensis Deer/sheep/pronghorn Ovis canadensis Odocoileus hemionus Antilocapra americanus Canidae Canis sp. Ursus sp. Small carnivore Taxidea taxus Lepus sp. Sylvilagus sp. Rodent Sciuridae Eutamias sp. Marmota sp. Spermophilus sp. Cynomys sp. Thomomys sp. Castor sp. Peromyscus sp. Neotoma sp. Microtus sp. Bird Indeterminate Anas sp. Ardea herodias Grouse Dendragus obscurus Falco sp. Pica pica Fish Frog (Rana sp.?) Table 4.1—Animals identified in prehistoric archaeological deposits in the Upper Gunnison Basin. Prehistoric Use of Fauna in the Upper Gunnison Basin 49 game animals were used in all time periods throughout the prehistoric occupation of the Upper Gunnison Basin. The period from 6000 B.P. to 3500 B.P. has yielded the fewest faunal remains in...