Frontiers in Colorado Paleoindian Archaeology: From the Dent Site to the Rocky Mountains

2. That Was Then, This Is Now: Seventy-Five Years of Paleoindian Research in Colorado

39 Bonnie L. Pitblado and Robert H. Brunswig C h a p t e r t w o That Was Then, This Is Now Seventy-Five Years of Paleoindian Research in Colorado The origins of Colorado’s Paleoindian studies are virtually synonymous with the foundations of Paleoindian archaeology in the United States. In fact, two of the state’s earliest, albeit poorly and incompletely reported, discoveries, the Dent Clovis and Lindenmeier Folsom sites (1924–1931), pre-date discoveries and early investigations of their respective cultures’ type-sites: New Mexico’s (Blackwater Draw) Clovis and Folsom sites. As we explain later, “Clovis” culture should have, on the basis of historical precedent, been known as the “Dent” culture. Certainly, when myriad archaeologists and artifact hunters took to the field in Colorado in the early twentieth century, little was known of the chronology, material nature, and paleoenvironmental contexts of the state’s colonizing residents . Understanding of early human occupations evolved slowly in the earliest decades of the 1900s but accelerated with important discoveries in the 1960s–1980s, Bonnie L. Pitblado and Robert H. Brunswig 40 keeping pace with and contributing to the overall evolution of North American Paleoindian studies. Now, in the early twenty-first century, archaeologists are developing increasingly sophisticated and productive approaches to interpreting Paleoindian adaptations to ancient Colorado’s diverse and dynamic ecosystems. This chapter reviews Colorado’s Paleoindian research history as divided into three general developmental phases: (1) early exploratory surveys and excavations through roughly 1960, (2) site-focused research conducted from the 1960s through the 1980s, and (3) increasingly sophisticated, multidisciplinary research programs based almost exclusively in the state’s mountainous regions from the end of the 1980s to the present day. We do not overview every Paleoindian-related undertaking in Colorado history; rather, we highlight the state’s best-reported Paleoindian investigations to give a flavor for how they have evolved. This chapter’s reference section provides a foundation for anyone wishing to delve deeper into any aspect of Colorado Paleoindian archaeology. Additional sources of background information can be found in E. Steve Cassells’s The Archaeology of Colorado (1997), the five (1999) Colorado Prehistory Contexts (Gilmore et al.; Lipe, Varien, and Wilshusen; Martorano et al.; Reed and Metcalf; Zier and Kalasz), and the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office site database (a 2006 search of which yielded 715 recorded “Paleoindian” sites and isolated finds in the state). George Frison’s Afterword to this volume is also most interesting for the personal perspective he brings to both early and contemporary Colorado Paleoindian archaeology. EARLY EXPLORATORY SURVEYS AND EXCAVATIONS (ca. 1930–1960) Colorado’s earliest ventures into what eventually became known as Paleoindian archaeology occurred during the 1930s and 1940s with a long-term survey program by the University of Denver (DU) and several important site excavations from 1932 through the late 1950s by the Colorado Museum of Natural History (known as of 1948 as the Denver Museum of Natural History and since 2000 as the Denver Museum of Nature and Science), the Smithsonian Institution, and the University of Colorado. During that time, Colorado archaeologists and sites were at the forefront of North American archaeology’s attempts to define an interpretive framework for the continent’s earliest prehistoric occupants. E. B. Renaud and the High Plains Archaeology Survey Program Some of Colorado’s most significant early work in Paleoindian studies came from a series of field surveys conducted by E. B. Renaud of DU from 1930 to 1946. Renaud was a French-trained romance language professor who developed an interest in archaeology. After obtaining a doctorate from DU in 1920, Renaud was appointed full professor of anthropology in 1924. He acquired archaeological field skills in France during the 1920s while also participating in field projects in southwestern Colorado. That Was Then, This Is Now 41 In 1930 Renaud initiated a long-term archaeology survey program known variously as the “Eastern Survey of Colorado,” the “Archaeological Survey of Colorado,” and the “High Plains Archaeological Survey.” He documented sites in eastern Colorado’s foothills and plains, visiting nearly every county therein at least once. Within two years his Colorado research branched out to include higher portions of the Colorado Rockies, including Rocky Mountain National Park, South Park, the San Luis Valley, and the upper Rio Grande drainage. His methodology entailed making contact with local landowners and artifact collectors, examining their collections, and then tracking down the originating sites. Renaud...