The Prehistory of Colorado and Adjacent Areas is a short, accessible account of the state's human past. Based on the archaeological record, this book reconstructs past lifeways using current theory and explanations. Using a regional, rather than site-specific approach, it presents current explanations of what prehistoric Coloradans did at various points in time and why they changed.

A vivid account of the prehistory and history of Denver as revealed in its archaeological record, Denver: An Archaeological History invites us to imagine Denver as it once was. Around 12,000 B.C., groups of leather-clad Paleoindians passed through the juncture of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, following the herds of mammoth or buffalo they hunted. In the Archaic period, people rested under the shade of trees along the riverbanks, with baskets full of plums as they waited for rabbits to be caught in their nearby snares. In the early Ceramic period, a group of mourners adorned with yellow pigment on their faces and beads of eagle bone followed Cherry Creek to the South Platte to attend a funeral at a neighboring village. And in 1858, the area was populated by the crude cottonwood log shacks with dirt floors and glassless windows, the homes of Denver's first inhabitants. For at least 10,000 years, Greater Denver has been a collection of diverse lifeways and survival strategies, a crossroads of interaction, and a locus of cultural coexistence. Setting the scene with detailed descriptions of the natural environment, summaries of prehistoric sites, and archaeologists' knowledge of Denver's early inhabitants, Nelson and her colleagues bring the region's history to life. From prehistory to the present, this is a compelling narrative of Denver's cultural heritage that will fascinate lay readers, amateur archaeologists, professional archaeologists, and academic historians alike.

This document concerns the prehistory of the Northern Colorado Basin. Its purpose is to provide a brief culture history framework, present and evaluate models of prehistoric behaviors, and provide direction for future archaeological investigations.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface -- Prologue -- 1 The Ancient World of the Basin-Plateau -- Native Culture before the Horse -- Technology -- Mobility and Settlement -- Subsistence -- Sidebar: Forager Cuisine -- Social and Political Organization -- Ideology -- From Historic Baseline to the Deep Past: A Spiral of Contexts -- 2 Ancient Climate and Habitats -- The Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau -- The Wasatch Front -- Just before History -- Stepping into a Deeper Past

This document and four parallel volumes, which collectively cover the entire state of Colorado, have been prepared by various organizations under contract to the Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists. The respective regions addressed by the five documents are defined according to hydrologic criteria and coincide with the four major drainage basins within the state: Colorado River, Rio Grande, South Platte River, and Arkansas River. The headwaters of these four great rivers occur within the state of the Continental Divide. Becuase of the sheer size of the area, and also due to various cultural considerations, the Colorado River watershed has been divided into upper (northern) and lower (southern) regions, and thus fiver rather than four documents have been generated.

A major objective of the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, is to preserve and/or scientifically study cultural resources, including prehistoric, historic sites and values. This study concerns historic sites and values on National Resource Lands in Colorado. Originally derived from a study that was an integral part of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Cultural Resource Program, this report provides a baseline narrative for the history of BLM's Craig District.