Posted on 09/20/2004 11:16:15 AM PDT by ckilmer
Canyon Holds Ancient Civilization Secrets
Mon Sep 20, 7:41 AM ET Add Science - AP to My Yahoo!
By PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writer
RANGE CREEK CANYON, Utah - The newly discovered ruins of an ancient civilization in this remote eastern Utah canyon could reveal secrets about the descendants of the continent's original Paleo-Indians who showed up before the time of Christ to settle much of present-day Utah.
AP Photo
Archaeologists estimate as many as 250 households occupied this canyon over a span of centuries ending about 750 years ago. They left half-buried stone-and-mortar houses and granary caches, and painted colorful trapezoidal figures on canyon walls.
"It's like finding a van Gogh in your grandmother's attic," Utah state archaeologist Kevin Jones said.
The so-called Fremont people, named after a Spanish explorer who never met them, remain a poorly understood collection of widely scattered archaic groups. Yet they represent a tenuous link to the earliest inhabitants of North America, who are believed to have arrived by way of the Bering Strait more than 10,000 years ago.
As a culture, the Fremont were distinguished by their style of basket weaving, animal-claw moccasins and farming and hunting skills.
Their everyday tools and pottery were different from the farming-dependent Anasazi south of the Colorado River — even as they shared a similar fate. Both cultures packed up and left about the same time for reasons not fully explained. What became of the Fremont and Anasazi also is a mystery.
Earliest traces of Fremont life show up three centuries before the birth of Christ, but they disappeared around A.D. 1250. This unlooted canyon — turned over by a rancher who kept it secret for more than half a century — could have been one of their final strongholds.
It also could reveal why the Fremont were driven out of Utah and possibly left in isolated pockets to die off. More recently, makeshift sites found in northwest Colorado suggest they were forced into exile by the Numic-speaking Ute, Pauite and Shoshone tribes.
Utah's Indian leaders, however, take exception to that, believing the Fremont are their ancestors. "The sacred belief is that we are all related," said Mel Brewster, an archaeologist and historic preservation officer for Utah's Goshute tribe.
Range Creek differs from other, better-known ancient sites in Utah, Arizona or Colorado because it has been left virtually untouched by looters, with the ground still littered in places with arrowheads, beads and pottery shards.
"You could stand right on it and not know it," said Corinne Springer, an archaeologist and Range Creek's new caretaker.
Until recently, Range Creek was all but unknown. An expedition from Harvard's Peabody Museum made a stop in 1929, but visited only a few sites. In recent summers, archaeologists and graduate students have quietly conducted a labor-intensive survey — keeping the area's full significance under wraps until news reports surfaced about the land transfer in June.
Archaeologists have documented about 300 sites — pit houses, granaries and petroglyphs — but they've surveyed only about 5 percent of the canyon drainage.
Among recent finds: a paddle-like wood shovel; a rare bundle of arrow shafts, found wedged in a canyon wall; a perfectly preserved beehive-shaped granary with a cap stone, still a third full with piles of parched wild grass seed and corn; and a pair of human remains from surrounding federal land.
To safeguard the canyon, the Utah Natural Resources Department is rushing to adopt a management plan that will restrict hunting, prohibit camping and require visitors to get permits and guides. The state Legislature also appropriated $152,000 for ground patrols and aircraft surveillance.
So far, the canyon's subtle charms tell two tales: traces of larger villages just off the canyon bottom and defensive retreats as high as 900 feet atop pinnacle and mesa tops, Jones said.
Archaeologists believe more carbon-dating will show the Fremont retreated to the higher positions toward the end of their tenure here, suggesting they were feeling pressure from other tribes moving through their territory.
The Fremont would have used ladders, ropes or cords to reach some of their granaries, set at impossible heights "where you risk life and limb getting to them," Utah journalist and archaeologist Jerry Spangler said.
___
On the Net:
More of the Fremont: http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/fremont
Similar or same article, very interesting.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1221114/posts
Is this the find that is on private property and the elderly gentleman that owns the property decided that he wasn't able to protect it any longer?
Fascinating find.
CIVILIZATION requires that the people can read and write their own language. There is no evidence that these people were literate, so it is more proper to refer to them as being a society, or a culture.
The term for people without civilation always has been savages; but this term now has a bad connotation, and writers are reluctant to use it even for peaceful, inoffensive groups.
Cool!
"-The so-called Fremont people, named after a Spanish explorer who never met them,..."
???
Yep, that caught my eye too. As far as I'm aware, the only Fremont that explored that region was John C Fremont, the American Lieutenant who explored much of the west and brought California into the Union. Considering that he passed through or near the canyon in the article four times during his expeditions, it's pretty likely that he's the source of the name.
BTW, I didn't even have to Google this...I went to John C Fremont Elementary School, and this guys history was required reading :-)
Yep, that caught my eye too. As far as I'm aware, the only Fremont that explored that region was John C Fremont, the American Lieutenant who explored much of the west and brought California into the Union. Considering that he passed through or near the canyon in the article four times during his expeditions, it's pretty likely that he's the source of the name.
BTW, I didn't even have to Google this...I went to John C Fremont Elementary School, and this guys history was required reading :-)
Ping
Ping.
Well, this just can't be. Everyone who is politically correct knows it was the evil white man, starting with Columbus,(well maybe now with this information about 200+ years earlier than Columbus) that exterminated all the Indian "societies". It would appear some evil Vikings stole ashore and went all the way to Utah to wipe out the Fremont and Anasazi societies around 1250 AD, or maybe it was some vile Englishman/Anglo Saxon, and they never left any trace of their journeys because their genocide was all to be kept a secret. All Indians were peaceful and would never fight amongst themselves.
You silly gringo - everyone not blinded by your eurocentric propaganda knows the truth about Juan Carlos Frémont!
Yes. That is a good observation..........
However, in "today's world" of "junk science"......
as well as..........
PoliticalCorrectness
It may matter very little
(I hate to say it...but.....I think "honest science" is "dying" and just maybe....already "dead")
Ancient Indian settlement found in remote Utah
TheWorldLink.com ^ | June 26, 2004 | Paul Fox, AP
Posted on 06/26/2004 12:25:31 PM PDT by forsnax5
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1160780/posts
Archaeologist Beleives Find Is Proof Of Lost Indian Culture (Freemont People)
Star Tribune ^ | 7-17-2004
Posted on 07/17/2004 10:36:08 AM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1173294/posts
Archaeologists Reveal Utah Canyon Filled With Ancient Settlements
AP ^ | June 30, 2004
Posted on 06/30/2004 8:44:46 PM PDT by nuconvert
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1163480/posts
Rancher unveils Indian site kept secret for years
Associated Press ^ | June 24, 2004 | PAUL FOY
Posted on 06/24/2004 7:04:48 PM PDT by Dog Gone
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1159715/posts
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Glad to see you survived the hurricane.
Some time BC? That's current events.
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