Denver: An Archaeological History

6: Conclusion

c h a p t e r 6 conclusion Greater Denver has been used by various groups probably for as long as humans have lived in the Americas.The area’s archaeological record—running the gamut from small prehistoric scatters of lithic material to rockshelters to historic homes and mines (and even including the burial site of the infamous local cannibal Alferd Packer)—has been used to tell a variety of stories about the lives of its occupants. Although this region was used by different groups of people with different cultures, who brought different abilities and expectations to the region,each found some constants:a region a mile high next to the Rocky Mountains, a place of beauty with breathtaking vistas, a land with occasional blizzards tempered by chinook winds that can melt several inches of snow in a day, and hot dry summers with clear blue skies and at least some sunshine for more than 300 days in an average year. No basic resources were lacking.This is a region with permanent water and easy trails in the plains, and accessible tracks, following river and creek valleys, into the mountains. It offers both mountain and plains vegetation and animals within a day’s walk of any location. In this final chapter we revisit some broad themes that have characterized the history of this area for at least 10,000 years.They include, first, Greater Denver as a collection of diverse lifeways and survival strategies, second, Greater Denver as a crossroads of interaction, and third, Greater Denver as a locus of cultural coexistence.We also reflect a bit on how these themes continue to be manifested in Greater Denver and the value of taking a “deep time” perspective on them. Diverse lifeways Subsistence, or acquiring the ingredients for meals and making them edible and palatable , is basic for all human groups.The archaeology of Greater Denver reveals major differences across our broad time periods in the core components of human diets. However we can also glimpse, in every period, diversity in the strategies that humans used to make a living. Ever since late Archaic times humans in the area have made use of both wild and domesticated resources, although the relative contributions of each to the diet, as well as the value assigned to each, have varied.Wild game, which was a mundane staple in Paleoindian times, became an exotic treat in historic times (as evidenced at the Tremont House) and is even more exotic today as evidenced by 222 | c h a p t e r s i x the menu at upscale restaurants in the area, such as the Fort. The regional archaeology demonstrates continuities in the use of other strategic resources.The stone used by prehistoric peoples for their tools was also sought after by the first Euro-American settlers for different purposes (especially buildings), and the clay sources that had been used for pottery were also useful to Euro-Americans for bricks. The Paleoindian peoples that ranged through the basin are almost unknown from direct evidence. From the fact that their projectile points are found throughout the region, we may deduce that they came to this area following herds that fed on High Plains grasses—primarily mammoth in Clovis times and bison during the Folsom and Plano eras.The other edible animals of the region, both large and small, probably were not neglected. Mule deer, bighorn sheep, antelope, rabbit, and even possibly prairie dog found their way into these earliest diets.The emphasis archaeologists place on big game hunting in Paleoindian times is based on scarce remains, and these have been interpreted almost exclusively in terms of a “man the hunter” model of subsistence.We can only speculate about the rest of their lives, but it is almost certain that they collected plants, divided labor and tasks among men and women, looked at the stars, told stories about the way the world began, and mourned when a member of the group died. But most of the details about these irreducibly social and cultural aspects of their lifeways so far elude us. Archaic peoples continued to use the atlatl as a way to enhance spear throwing accuracy and distance. Perhaps related to their skill with atlatls (but also likely as a function of climate change that influenced their subsistence strategies) is the fact that they left a greater variety of animal bones in their sites. Occasional dry caves in the other parts of the North American West...