People of the Poudre - Cache la Poudre National Heritage Area

in the Archaic Stage and the early part of the Ceramic Stage and excavated by the University of NorthernColorado archaeological field school in the 1970s. 64 Archaic occupation materials included tools and flakes ofchert, quartzite, and chalcedony; a single mano [SB] was recovered. Faunal materials included mostly bison, someartiodactyls [SB], and jackrabbit. Flora included goosefoot seeds. A later Ceramic stage burial of an immatureindividual with no artifacts was also found at this site. 65The Kaplan-Hoover bison bonebed, located west of Windsor, Colorado, and 0.8 km (0.5 mi.) south of thepresent Cache la Poudre River, is an Archaic Stage bison trap. 66 Although no associated camp site has been found,there is significant evidence of human processing of the estimated 200 bison killed in the arroyo trap. Dating toabout 860 BC, it is unclear whether the trap was used by driving animals over an arroyo edge or up the arroyofrom the Poudre River floodplain. The trap indicates a knowledge of animal behavior patterns as the arroyo wasroutinely used by bison to move from grazing areas on the uplands down to the river for water. Study of dentaldefects has indicated that the bison were exposed to relatively little nutritional stress suggesting that grasslandhealth during this period was good. 67After its initial discovery by an earth moving crew in the River West subdivision, the Kaplan-Hooversite was excavated by Colorado State University’s archaeological practicum program for several years in the late1990s and early 2000s. 68 During this time community tours and public education were an important part ofthe site program. Although the location is visible from the Poudre River Trail, at the conclusion of excavations,the site was covered over. In 2003, the site was placed on the National Register and in 2004 on the ColoradoHistoric Registers. 69 The River West Homeowners Association with the assistance of the Colorado Open Landsconservation program and the Colorado Historic Preservation Office purchased the site and set it aside for openspace and future research. 70The Happy Hollow Rockshelter near Carr, was occupied from late Archaic times through the MiddleCeramic. 71 Faunal material in order of frequency included elk, bison, pronghorn, deer, prairie dog, rabbit, and packrat. Late occupations at this site are Upper Republican dating to around AD 1200. 72The Webster Feedlot burial located on Lone Tree Creek east of Greeley contained a single individualthought to be female between the ages of 20 and 30 years at death. 73 The bones were dated to roughly AD 0,placing the individual at the end of the Archaic Stage or the beginning of the Ceramic Stage.Late Prehistoric SitesSeveral sites near the Happy Hollow rockshelter at Agate Bluff--the Agate Bluff, Porcupine Cave,Fire Cave, and Woodland Cave--were occupied during the Ceramic Stage. Like the Happy Hollow site, lateroccupations have been given an Upper Republican designation. Bison and elk dominated the faunal remains atthese sites although pocket gopher, pronghorn, cottontail, coyote, mule deer, prairie dog, and bird were also found.A single kernel of corn was found at this site but researchers doubt that any corn was grown in the area due tothe absence of bison scapula [SB] hoes and corn pollen. 74 The presence of Upper Republican camps so far westis an exception to the generalization that Upper Republican sites are not found within 80 km (50 miles) of thefoothills. 75 It may not be a coincidence that these sites are found in a narrow remnant strip of the High Plainswhich follows the Wyoming/Colorado border almost as far east as the Larimer/Weld county line. 76Chapter Title Placeholder