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The Dolores River of southwestern Colorado traverses a variety of ecological zones, presenting prehistoric inhabitants with a variety of subsistence possibilities and resources. In addition to crossing ecological zones, different archaeological zones are encountered. In traditional terms three archaeological cultures may be seen: the Anasazi, the Fremont, and the Uncompahgre Complex or Archaic. Data from archaeological survey conducted in 1975 of a portion of the Dolores Canyon is presented and used as a basis for discussion of archaeology on the river. Three main kinds of data are presented: site information which indicates that a substantial portion of the sites may be other than living sites; artifact data, the artifacts being almost all lithic and indicative mainly of hunting and gathering; and rock art, which shows similarity to the greater Southwest with some elements present purported to be more culturally specific. Chronological control is minimal, but a long range, fairly stable use of the section of river under discussion is apparent. A general similarity of tool kits and site location strategy is noted, as is the appropriateness of canyoñ for hunting and gathering. On the basis of this finding it is proposed that the cultural adaptations present be considered more continuous than discrete. In this regard the concept of a technocomplex with some regional variation conditioned by environmental possibilities is thought useful. The surveys and other work show the Dolores to have considerable archaeological potential and, fittingly, more questions are raised than answered.
Whitewater guidebook for river trips on the Dolores River in Colorado and Utah.
Florence Lister, one of archaeology's eminent authorities, presents the long and colorful history of exploration in the Mesa Verde area of the American Southwest.
Archaeologists are increasingly recognizing the early Pueblo period as a major social and demographic transition in Southwest history. In Crucible of Pueblos: The Early Pueblo Period in the Northern Southwest, Richard Wilshusen, Gregson Schachner and James Allison present the first comprehensive summary of population growth and migration, the materialization of early villages, cultural diversity, relations of social power, and the emergence of early great houses during the early Pueblo period. Six chapters address these developments in the major regions of the northern Southwest and four synthetic chapters then examine early Pueblo material culture to explore social identity, power, and gender from a variety of perspectives. Taken as a whole, this thoughtfully edited volume compares the rise of villages during the early Pueblo period to similar processes in other parts of the Southwest and examines how the study of the early Pueblo period contributes to an anthropological understanding of Southwest history and early farming societies throughout the world.
Pictures, painted and carved in caves and on open rock surfaces, are amongst our loveliest relics from prehistory. This pioneering set of sparkling essays goes beyond guesses as to what the pictures mean, instead exploring how we can reliably learn from rock-art as a material record of distant times: in short, rock-art as archaeology. Sometimes contact-period records offer some direct insight about indigenous meaning, so we can learn in that informed way. More often, we have no direct record, and instead have to use formal methods to learn from the evidence of the pictures themselves. The book's eighteen papers range wide in space and time, from the Palaeolithic of Europe to nineteenth-century Australia. Using varied approaches within the consistent framework of informed and proven methods, they make key advances in using the striking and reticent evidence of rock-art to archaeological benefit.