Posted on 01/27/2005 2:54:35 PM PST by blam
Article Published: Thursday, January 27, 2005
Archaeologists eagerly home in on Parker digs
By Katy Human
Denver Post Staff Writer
Among the relics found at the Rueter-Hess Reservoir construction site in Parker are, from top to bottom, a Mallory point and McKean Complex points dating back about 4,500 years; a gorget preform, left, with the indication of being drilled; two 2,000-year- old arrowheads; and a bison bone that probably was cut or broken by humans.
Parker - Five thousand years ago, a band of ancient people built homes on the edge of a stream in what is now Parker.
It was not a temporary camp, like so many of the archaeological discoveries made from that period of time. People here made large houses, some of them 24 feet across, with wood posts and walls of brush or hide. They probably spent months in the area and may have returned, again and again, over centuries.
In November, a team of archaeologists working at a construction site in Parker uncovered what might be the most complete evidence in Colorado of lives lived about 5,000 years ago.
The experts have about a month or two to make sense of butchered bison bones, spear points, grinding stones and pit houses. After that, the site will probably be demolished to make way for Parker's new reservoir complex.
"This was a real special place. There's a lot here," said Doug Voss, reservoir project superintendent for Weaver General Construction Co.
His company hired Centennial Archaeology to scour the construction zone for important historic material and has increased security because of recent vandalism at the dig site.
The artifacts found in Parker - the toe bone of an ancient bison, hundreds of spear points and especially the rare home sites - will help archaeologists understand a period of time about which they know relatively little, said Erik Gantt, lead archaeologist for Centennial.
The people who lived on Colorado's plains 5,000 years ago were nomadic hunters and gatherers, he said. They apparently lived in small family groups, hunting everything from rabbits to bison and collecting seeds and berries.
They might have settled into larger groups for the winter but moved often, probably following game.
"Yesterday, seven bull elk came through here," Gantt said Wednesday.
"This was a good place to be," he said, looking around at the nearby stream, grasslands and cottonwoods in Newlin Gulch. "There was the creek, elk and other game, a great source of stone for tools."
On a nearby mesa, his team has discovered tens of thousands of spear points and other tools from about the same time, and a stone circle, which seems ceremonial, he said.
At the main valley site Wednesday, a crew of six moved dirt with shovels, brushes and picks, sifted it and pointed out the subtle changes in dirt color and texture that trace the outlines of ancient homes and hearths.
"It's starting to look like a small village, and we just don't find many of these residential sites," Gantt said. "They're important, in that you get a view of the full range of human activities."
He picked up a flat stone, with smooth, shaped edges, and pointed to a tiny dot on one edge.
"Someone was drilling a hole here," he said. "They didn't finish."
The homes were dug about a foot or more into the ground, then circled with posts and probably draped with animal hides or brush, Gantt said. He and his crew have discovered fire pits in the centers of the structures, and storage pits, probably for dried meat or pemmican, a mixture of meat, berries and other foods.
Archaeologists have found similar hamlets, also about 5,000 years old, in Wyoming's Wind River Range and Colorado's San Luis Valley, he said. People back then apparently had trade networks stretching for hundreds of miles.
Kevin Gilmore, a University of Denver archaeologist, said it's not clear who, among modern tribes, may have descended from the people who lived in Parker 5,000 years ago.
"People moved around an awful lot, so it's hard to make a direct case for cultural connections," he said.
But Gilbert Brady, a historic preservation expert with the Cheyenne tribe in Montana, said he suspects he may be related.
"These might be my people," Brady said, standing on the dusty edge of the precise, square excavation pits. "This is how they lived."
In his grandparents' stories, Brady said, his ancestors hunted bison and elk, and they moved often.
Weaver General Construction hired Brady to make sure the excavations respect Cheyenne and other tribal traditions.
Weaver's Voss said he has worried at times about his construction schedule, especially when Gantt and Brady excitedly recount the day's latest discoveries. But the archaeological work has not held up the Rueter-Hess Reservoir project, he said.
If city officials and the construction company can find a way to work around them, some of the ancient sites may be preserved, he said.
Many archaeologists are frustrated at the irony that development projects often unearth ancient sites, just before they are destroyed.
But the quick work done at such sites can turn up important relics.
"They help us develop an understanding of the place in which we live, respect for the country and the people that occupied it," said state archaeologist Susan Collins.
Staff writer Katy Human can be reached at 303-820-1910 or khuman@denverpost.com.
This is similar to the 'houses' built on the Indo-European steppes.
GGG Ping.
Sounds like the older homes on top of Mesa Verde.
Is this "Parker" in Colorado or Arizona?
From the article.
"In November, a team of archaeologists working at a construction site in Parker uncovered what might be the most complete evidence in Colorado of lives lived about 5,000 years ago."
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