Welcome to the Cheyenne Chapter of the Wyoming Archaeological Society.
UPCOMING EVENTS, INCLUDING GUEST SPEAKERS AND LOCATIONS:
-Free April 18, 2013, the Cheyenne Chapter presents Christopher M. Johnston, MA candidate, Colorado State University Department of Anthropology. The title of his talk is “Late Prehistoric Bison Hunting in Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming.”
ABSTRACT:
During the Late Prehistoric period evidence for bison hunting increases dramatically across the northwestern Plains. Bison kill sites dating to this period have been documented in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, but in many instances have not been comprehensively explored. Therefore, this talk will discuss in more detail three such sites, only one of which has been previously reported, the Roberts Buffalo Jump (5LR100) near Livermore, CO. The other two sites are both on private land along the Boxelder Creek drainage; one is along the CO-WY border and the other south nearer to Fort Collins. Deemed the Upper and Lower Boxelder bison kills, these two sites consist of rather extensive projectile point assemblages collected by the late Roy Coffin and loaned to CSU for analysis by the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. The results of these analyses, along with some preliminary results of my Master’s thesis research on the Roberts jump will be discussed in terms of their spatial and temporal associations, and how these sites fit in the larger picture of Late Prehistoric bison hunting in the region.
BIO:
Christopher M. Johnston (Chris) is a second year graduate student at Colorado State University and research assistant for the Center for Mountain and Plains Archaeology. He has conducted research across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions, including the San Juan Mountains and San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, village sites in Nebraska and North Dakota, and Paleoindian deposits at the Gault site in Texas. Trained as a lithic specialist, Johnston is broadening his perspective by reanalyzing the collection from the Roberts Buffalo Jump for his MA thesis, mainly focusing on the main bison bonebed and looking at the site structure of how the bonebed is organized. In addition to his interest in communal hunting, Johnston also has research interests in regional landscape use, hunter-gatherer ecology, and more generally, the prehistory of the Great Plains.
We will meet at LCCC, Health Science Building, Room 113 at 7:00pm.
Free- February 21, 2013. The Cheyenne Chapter of the Wyoming Archeological Society presents Mr. Spencer Pelton, The title of his talk is “Destination Game Drives of the Colorado Front Range Alpine Zone: Why we still don’t know what was hunted and what we can do about it.” The several dozen Native hunting features located in the alpine zone of the Colorado Front Range are some of the largest and most complex thus far recorded from the intermountain west, but discerning exactly what was being pursued at these sites has proved challenging, as very few faunal remains are preserved in the harsh environment in which they are located. Consequently, interpretation has largely relied on guesswork, and has been based upon modern wildlife distribution and hunting feature configuration. This talk presents an overview of the archaeological work thus far conducted on Front Range game drive systems and seeks to fill a glaring gap in our understanding of prehistoric hunting in the region by drawing upon theories of resource structure, the modern distribution of large mammals, archaeological and paleontological discoveries, and historic accounts. We will meet at LCCC, Health Science Building, Room 113 at 7:00pm.
Biography
Spencer R. Pelton is a Master’s candidate at Colorado State University and research assistant for the Center for Mountain and Plains Archaeology. Pelton has conducted archaeology in the southern Appalachians of Tennessee and North Carolina, the western Great Basin of California and Nevada, and the Great Plains and Rockies of northern Colorado, and specializes in geospatial and lithic analyses. His academic research interests are varied, but broadly focused on the prehistoric utilization of mountainous regions, a subject on which he has presented at four academic conferences and produced two publications.
We will be taking Spencer out to dinner at The Albany at 5:00pm in the bar section (south side of Albany) for dinner. Please join us for dinner if you wish. Thanks, Dan
Free-January 17, 2013 The Cheyenne Chapter of the Wyoming Archaeologists presents Dr. Todd Surovell. At 7pm at LCCC Health Science Building Room 113. The title of his talk is “Mapping People in Their Living Space: The Dukha Ethnoarchaeological Project.” Abstract: Archaeological spatial patterns occur across a vast range of scales from centimeters to kilometers. In order to understand variation in spatial distributions of material remains, it is necessary to understand how people position themselves when performing various tasks and how such decisions impact the archaeological record. The Dukha Ethnoarchaeological Project was designed to precisely map people in their living spaces to develop method and theory for interpreting the archaeological record. The Dukha are nomadic reindeer herders who live in Khövsgöl Province near the border with Siberia. During our first field season in July and August of 2012, we used time lapse photography coupled with photogrammetry to map the spatial distribution of genders, ages, activities, and equipment in exterior spaces, and used observational mapping to do the same in interior spaces.
December meeting cancelled. See everyone in January. Merry Christmas to all. Dan
Hi everyone,
November 15, 2012, at 7:00pm, LCCC, Health Science building, Room 113, the Cheyenne Chapter of the Wyoming Archaeological Society presents Rebecca (Becca) Simon, CSU, 2nd year Anthropology graduate student, presents Brothels, Bars, and 4th Graders: Project Archaeology and Educational Opportunities Possible with the Vanoli Project. The Vanoli Project‖ is a collaborative effort headed by Dr. Mary Van Buren, CSU, and funded by the State Historical Fund. The main goal of the project is to produce the final report on the excavations of the Vanoli Block (5OR30), a which was part of the red light district that operated in Ouray, Colorado from ca. 1881-1916. The report will detail excavations which were conducted by Steven Baker from 1970-1980 that yielded approximately 100,000 artifacts and a large data set for understanding the lives of 19th century Ouray residents. Becca’s thesis project uses data from the Vanoli site to introduce archaeology to fourth graders while teaching Colorado history and fulfilling new state education standards using previous curricula developed by Project Archaeology as a model. Becca will discuss her work with Project Archaeology, the Vanoli Project, and using these experiences to help bring archaeology to the greater public. Becca has BA degrees in Anthropology and English from Pennsylvania State University and also a lab/field technician for Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc.
The Cheyenne Chapter of the Wyoming Archaeological Society will be meeting Thursday October 18, 2012 at 7pm in room 113, Health Science Building, LCCC.
This month's guest speaker is Dr. Charles Reher. It is an honor to have Chuck come over and give a talk on “High Plains Panorama ... Stone Circle Landscapes, Old Stone Barns, Large Lithic Quarries, Human Effigies, Buffalo Jumps, Interpretive Centers”. As always, we will meet at 7pm in room 113 of the Health Science Building at LCCC.
We will do dinner at 5:00pm but a location has not been selected. I will let you know as we get closer.
Title of Talk: High Plains Panorama ... Stone Circle Landscapes, Old Stone Barns, Large Lithic Quarries, Human Effigies, Buffalo Jumps, Interpretive Centers”.
The talk will highlight several interesting archaeological areas in eastern Wyoming, including for example the 2,500 stone circles (“tipi rings”) that have been recorded along a few miles of the Pine Bluffs escarpment, and the Hartville Uplift “Spanish Diggings Quarries,” one of the largest prehistoric chipped stone quarry complexes in North America. Also discussed will be ongoing work at the Vore Buffalo Jump in the northern Black Hills where the butchered remains of more than 10,000 bison are sealed in levels extending down almost 20 feet in the bottom of a large round sinkhole feature.
Although these site areas will be familiar most Wyoming Archaeology Society members, perhaps a broad overview plus some comments on recent developments and new findings will be of use. Early visitors more than a hundred years ago first mentioned a large human effigy rock alignment at Spanish Diggings and, after years of informal searching, this figure was relocated and mapping and documentation is underway. Recent work at an early historic horse ranch near Pine Bluffs will be shown, along with the expanded excavation units at the Vore Site. New buildings and new museum displays right next to I-90 and I-80 in northeast and southeast Wyoming are part of the ongoing long-term cooperative research and public education programs with the Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation and the Town of Pine Bluffs.
Charles A. Reher is a Faculty archaeologist at the University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology, and also Director of the UW Anthropology Museum. He tends to specialize in the archaeology of more recent Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Wyoming, but “likes it all,” from early historic glass bottles back to Late Pleistocene PaleoIndian projectile points ... along with prehistoric ceramics, butchered bison bones, tree-dating at high altitude bighorn sheep traps, and more. Current research projects involve collections as diverse as early historic photographs from Eskimo villages, spear and arrow points from Argentina, and cartridges from early historic western Plains battlefields.