Outline of Colorado prehistory
Encyclopedia
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the prehistoric
people of Colorado
, which covers the period of when humans were first thought to have roamed Colorado until Anglo-European settlement in the 19th century. The types of lifestyles range from nomadic hunter-gatherer
s, semi-permanent village dwellers and people who lived in pueblo
s.
Hunting
Other
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
people of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, which covers the period of when humans were first thought to have roamed Colorado until Anglo-European settlement in the 19th century. The types of lifestyles range from nomadic hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
s, semi-permanent village dwellers and people who lived in pueblo
Pueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
s.
Periods and cultures
- Paleo-Indian period – first peoplesIndigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
who entered, and subsequently inhabited, the American continent during the final glacial episodesQuaternary glaciationQuaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, the current ice age or simply the ice age, refers to the period of the last few million years in which permanent ice sheets were established in Antarctica and perhaps Greenland, and fluctuating ice sheets have occurred elsewhere...
of the late Pleistocene periodLate PleistoceneThe Late Pleistocene is a stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. The beginning of the stage is defined by the base of the Eemian interglacial phase before the final glacial episode of the Pleistocene 126,000 ± 5,000 years ago. The end of the stage is defined exactly at 10,000 Carbon-14 years BP...
. Evidence suggests big-game hunters crossed the Bering StraitBering StraitThe Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
from Asia into North America over a land and ice bridge (Beringia), that existed between 45,000 BCECommon EraCommon Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
– 12,000 BCE, following herds of large herbivores far into AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.- Pre-Clovis – Paleo-Indian hunting, before the use of Clovis points. Lamb SpringLamb SpringLamb Spring is a pre-Clovis prehistoric Paleo-Indian archaeological site located in Littleton, Colorado with the largest collection of Columbian mammoth bones in the state. Lamb Spring also provides evidence of Paleo-Indian hunting in a later period by the Cody culture complex group...
in Littleton, with mammoth bones dated 14,140 to 12,140 years ago and hunting by use of stone tools other than Clovis points, is an example. Other examples include Dutton and Selby in the far eastern edge of Colorado. - Clovis cultureClovis cultureThe Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...
– is the oldest Paleo-Indian division, marked by the use of Clovis pointClovis pointClovis points are the characteristically-fluted projectile points associated with the North American Clovis culture. They date to the Paleoindian period around 13,500 years ago. Clovis fluted points are named after the city of Clovis, New Mexico, where examples were first found in 1929.At the right...
s, the first fluted projectile points used in North America. DentDent SiteDent Site is a Clovis culture site located in Weld County, Colorado, near Milliken, Colorado. It was the first site to provide evidence that man and mammoth co-existed in the Americas....
, Dutton the Drake Clovis Cache site are examples of Clovis sites in Colorado. The Dent Site was the first site to provide evidence that men and mammoth co-existed and that man hunted mammoth. - Folsom traditionFolsom traditionThe Folsom Complex is a name given by archaeologists to a specific Paleo-Indian archaeological culture that occupied much of central North America...
– As megafaunaMegafaunaIn terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
, like the mammoth, became extinct man adapted by hunting smaller animals with the smaller FolsomFolsom pointFolsom points are a distinct form of chipped stone projectile points associated with the Folsom Tradition of North America. The style of toolmaking was named after Folsom, New Mexico where the first sample was found within the bone structure of a bison in 1927....
projectile point. Examples are the Lindenmeier SiteLindenmeier SiteThe Lindenmeier Site is a stratified multi-component archaeological site most famous for its Folsom component. It is located on the former Lindenmeier Ranch, now the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, in northeastern Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The site contains the most extensive...
, dated 10,600 to 10,720 B.P. and the Jones-Miller Bison Kill SiteJones-Miller Bison Kill SiteThe Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site, located in northeast Colorado, was a Paleo-Indian site where Bison antiquus were killed and butchered. Hell Gap complex bones and tools artifacts at the site are carbon dated from about ca. 8000-8050 BC.-Geography:...
s. - Plano culturesPlano culturesThe Plano cultures is a name given by archaeologists to a group of disparate hunter-gatherer communities that occupied the Great Plains area of North America during the Paleo-Indian period in the United States and the Paleo-Indian or Archaic period in Canada....
- Cody complexCody complexThe Cody complex is a Paleo-Indian culture group first identified at a bison antiquus kill site near Cody, Wyoming in 1951.The tradition is generally attributed to the North American, primarily in the High Plains portion of the American Great Plains. The discovery of the Cody complex broadened the...
– is a Plano culture that used unfluted projectile points and other tools like the Folsom and Clovis cultures from about 9,000 to 7,000 B.C. Olsen-Chubbuck Bison Kill SiteOlsen-Chubbuck Bison Kill SiteThe Olsen-Chubbuck Bison kill site is located southeast of Kit Carson, Colorado. The Paleo-Indian site dates back to an estimated 8000-6500 B.C. and provides evidence for bison hunting long before the use of the bow and arrow or horses. The site was named Olsen-Chubbuck after the amateur...
, Jurgens SiteJurgens SiteThe Jurgens Site is an Paleo-Indian site located near Greeley in Weld County, Colorado. While the site was used primarily to hunt and butcher bison antiquus, there is evidence that the Paleo-Indians also gathered plants and seeds for food about 7,000 to 7,500 BC.-Geography:The site is located on a...
and Lamb SpringLamb SpringLamb Spring is a pre-Clovis prehistoric Paleo-Indian archaeological site located in Littleton, Colorado with the largest collection of Columbian mammoth bones in the state. Lamb Spring also provides evidence of Paleo-Indian hunting in a later period by the Cody culture complex group...
are Cody complex or culture sites. - Hell Gap complexHell Gap complexHell Gap complex is a Plano culture from 10,060 to 9,600 before present that is named after the archaeological site in Hell Gap, Wyoming. Hell Gap points are long stemmed, convex blades....
is a Plano culturePlano culturesThe Plano cultures is a name given by archaeologists to a group of disparate hunter-gatherer communities that occupied the Great Plains area of North America during the Paleo-Indian period in the United States and the Paleo-Indian or Archaic period in Canada....
from 10,060 to 9,600 B.C., distinguished by the long stemmed, convex and unfluted Hell Gap points. Jones-Miller Bison Kill SiteJones-Miller Bison Kill SiteThe Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site, located in northeast Colorado, was a Paleo-Indian site where Bison antiquus were killed and butchered. Hell Gap complex bones and tools artifacts at the site are carbon dated from about ca. 8000-8050 BC.-Geography:...
is the only Hell Gap location in Colorado.
- Cody complex
- Pre-Clovis – Paleo-Indian hunting, before the use of Clovis points. Lamb Spring
- Archaic period in the Americas
- Apex complexApex complexApex complex is a Paleo-Indian cultural tradition of the Middle Archaic period. Apex complex artifacts, dated from about 3000 to 500 BC, first appeared in the Magic Mountain Site near Apex Creek. The Irwins, archaeologists at Magic Mountain, believe that the artifacts are from ancestors of...
–
- Apex complex
- Post-Archaic, hunter and gathers
- Apishapa cultureApishapa cultureThe Apishapa culture, or Apishapa Phase, a prehistoric culture from A.D. 1000-1400, was named based upon an archaeological site in the Lower Apishapa canyon in Colorado. The Apishapa River, a tributary of the Arkansas River, formed the Apishapa canyon...
– - Dismal River cultureDismal River cultureThe Dismal River culture refers to a set of cultural attributes first seen in the Dismal River area of Nebraska in the 1930s by archaeologists William Duncan Strong, Waldo Rudolph Wedel and A. T. Hill...
– - Panhandle culturePanhandle culturePanhandle culture is a prehistoric culture of the southern High Plains during the Middle Ceramic Period from AD 1200-1400. Panhandle sites are primarily in the panhandle and west central Oklahoma and the northern half of the Texas Panhandle....
– - Plano culturesPlano culturesThe Plano cultures is a name given by archaeologists to a group of disparate hunter-gatherer communities that occupied the Great Plains area of North America during the Paleo-Indian period in the United States and the Paleo-Indian or Archaic period in Canada....
–
- Apishapa culture
- Post-Archaic, Puebloan people
- Basketmaker cultureBasketmaker (culture)The Basketmaker culture of the Ancient Pueblo People began about 1500 BC and continued until about AD 500 with the beginning of the Pueblo I Era...
– - Ancient Pueblo People –
- Basketmaker culture
People and sites
- Origins
- Southern AthabaskansSouthern Athabaskan languagesSouthern Athabaskan is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the North American Southwest with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas...
–
- Southern Athabaskans
- Nomadic hunter-gathererHunter-gathererA hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
s- MegafaunaMegafaunaIn terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
, such as Bison antiquusBison antiquusBison antiquus, sometimes called the ancient bison, was the most common large herbivore of the North American continent for over ten thousand years, and is a direct ancestor of the living American bison....
, CamelopsCamelopsCamelops is an extinct genus of camels that once roamed western North America, where it disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene about 10,000 years ago. Its name is derived from the Greek κάμελος + , thus "camel-face."-Background:...
, Columbian mammothColumbian MammothThe Columbian Mammoth is an extinct species of elephant of the Quaternary period that appeared in North America during the late Pleistocene. It is believed by some authorities to be the same species as its slightly larger cousin, M...
- Lamb SpringLamb SpringLamb Spring is a pre-Clovis prehistoric Paleo-Indian archaeological site located in Littleton, Colorado with the largest collection of Columbian mammoth bones in the state. Lamb Spring also provides evidence of Paleo-Indian hunting in a later period by the Cody culture complex group...
–
- Lamb Spring
- BisonBisonMembers of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
, often using mass killingBuffalo jumpA buffalo jump is a cliff formation which North American Indians historically used in mass killings of plains bison. Hunters herded the bison and drove them over the cliff, breaking their legs and rendering them immobile. Tribe members waiting below closed in with spears and bows to finish the kills...
techniques, or smaller animals- Franktown CaveFranktown CaveFranktown Cave, located southwest of the town of Franktown in Douglas County, Colorado, was a prehistoric rock shelter between about 6,400 BC and AD 1725. Excavations at the site unearthed a remarkable number of perishable items, including corn, plant material and clothing...
– - Jones-Miller Bison Kill SiteJones-Miller Bison Kill SiteThe Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site, located in northeast Colorado, was a Paleo-Indian site where Bison antiquus were killed and butchered. Hell Gap complex bones and tools artifacts at the site are carbon dated from about ca. 8000-8050 BC.-Geography:...
– - Jurgens SiteJurgens SiteThe Jurgens Site is an Paleo-Indian site located near Greeley in Weld County, Colorado. While the site was used primarily to hunt and butcher bison antiquus, there is evidence that the Paleo-Indians also gathered plants and seeds for food about 7,000 to 7,500 BC.-Geography:The site is located on a...
– - Lindenmeier SiteLindenmeier SiteThe Lindenmeier Site is a stratified multi-component archaeological site most famous for its Folsom component. It is located on the former Lindenmeier Ranch, now the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, in northeastern Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The site contains the most extensive...
– - Olsen-Chubbuck Bison Kill SiteOlsen-Chubbuck Bison Kill SiteThe Olsen-Chubbuck Bison kill site is located southeast of Kit Carson, Colorado. The Paleo-Indian site dates back to an estimated 8000-6500 B.C. and provides evidence for bison hunting long before the use of the bow and arrow or horses. The site was named Olsen-Chubbuck after the amateur...
– - Phillips-Williams Fork Reservoir SitePhillips-Williams Fork Reservoir SiteThe Phillips-Williams Fork Reservoir site is a Paleoindian site located on the shore of the Williams Fork Reservoir, about southeast of Kremmling at an elevation of 2400m in Grand County, Colorado, near the center of Middle Park....
- Roxborough State Park Archaeological DistrictRoxborough State Park Archaeological DistrictRoxborough State Park Archaeological District is located in Douglas County, Colorado near the town of Waterton. Roxborough State Park, south of Denver, Colorado, is a Colorado State Park day park...
– - Trinchera Cave Archeological DistrictTrinchera Cave Archeological DistrictThe Trinchera Cave Archeological District is an archaeological site in Las Animas County, Colorado with artifacts primarily dating from 1000 BC to 1749 AD, although there were some Archaic period artifacts found...
–
- Franktown Cave
- Megafauna
- Semi-permanent village dwellers
- Cedar Point VillageCedar Point VillageCedar Point Village is an archaeological site located in Elbert County, Colorado near Limon. It is a prehistoric residential site with artifacts of the Dismal River culture and likely inhabited by early Apachean people....
– - Chimney Rock Archeological SiteChimney Rock Archeological SiteChimney Rock Archaeological Area is an archeological site within the San Juan National Forest in Colorado. This area is located in Archuleta County, Colorado between Durango and Pagosa Springs and is managed for archaeological protection, public interpretation, and education.-Geography:Chimney...
– - Colorado Millennial SiteColorado Millennial SiteColorado Millennial Site is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian archaeological site located near Ruxton, Colorado in Baca County, Colorado and Las Animas, Colorado. It is also known by its site ID 5LA1115 and the names Hackberry Springs and Bloody Springs.The site was inhabited from 6999 B.C. to A.D. 1900...
– - Franktown CaveFranktown CaveFranktown Cave, located southwest of the town of Franktown in Douglas County, Colorado, was a prehistoric rock shelter between about 6,400 BC and AD 1725. Excavations at the site unearthed a remarkable number of perishable items, including corn, plant material and clothing...
– - LoDaisKa SiteLoDaisKa SiteThe LoDaisKa Site is a prominent archaeological site in the U.S. state of Colorado, located within a rockshelter near Morrison. The rockshelter was first inhabited by people of the Archaic through the Middle Ceramic period, generally spanning 3000 BC to 1000 AD.-Geography:Located near the town of...
– - Magic Mountain SiteMagic Mountain SiteThe Magic Mountain Site is an Archaic and Woodland village site in Jefferson County, Colorado dating from 4999 BC to 1000 AD. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980....
– - Roxborough State Park Archaeological DistrictRoxborough State Park Archaeological DistrictRoxborough State Park Archaeological District is located in Douglas County, Colorado near the town of Waterton. Roxborough State Park, south of Denver, Colorado, is a Colorado State Park day park...
– - Trinchera Cave Archeological DistrictTrinchera Cave Archeological DistrictThe Trinchera Cave Archeological District is an archaeological site in Las Animas County, Colorado with artifacts primarily dating from 1000 BC to 1749 AD, although there were some Archaic period artifacts found...
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- Cedar Point Village
- PuebloPuebloPueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
ans- Ansel Hall RuinAnsel Hall RuinThe Ansel Hall Ruin, also known as Cahone Ruin, is located in Cahone, Dolores County, Colorado. A pre-historic ruins from the Pueblo II period, the Northern San Juan pueblo was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.-Ansel Hall:...
– - Canyons of the Ancients National MonumentCanyons of the Ancients National MonumentCanyons of the Ancients National Monument is located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of Colorado, and is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior...
– - Hawkins Pueblo and PreserveHawkins PreserveHawkins Preserve is a property within the city limits of Cortez, Colorado. It is protected by a conservation easement held by the Montezuma Land Conservancy....
– - Hovenweep National MonumentHovenweep National MonumentHovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, located between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain...
– - Mesa Verde National ParkMesa Verde National ParkMesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...
– - Yucca House National MonumentYucca House National MonumentYucca House National Monument is a United States National Monument located in Montezuma County, Colorado between the towns of Towaoc and Cortez, Colorado...
–
- Ansel Hall Ruin
Tribes who lived in prehistoric Colorado
- Arapaho
- Cheyenne
- ComancheComancheThe Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
- Jicarilla ApacheJicarilla ApacheJicarilla Apache refers to the members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation currently living in New Mexico and speaking a Southern Athabaskan language...
- Kiowa
- Pawnee
- Shoshone
- Ute
General concepts
- Paleolithic lifestylePaleolithic lifestyleA paleolithic lifestyle refers to living as humans did in the paleolithic era , or attempting to recreate such a lifestyle in the present day. The rationale for such an approach is that humans have evolved for millions of years in a paleolithic environment...
- Prehistoric medicinePrehistoric medicinePrehistoric medicine is a term used to describe the use of medicine before the invention of writing. As the timing of the invention of writing varies per culture and region, the term "prehistoric medicine" encompasses a wide range of time periods and dates....
- Rock artRock artRock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
– - Solar calendarSolar calendarA solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun .-Tropical solar calendars:...
- YuccaYuccaYucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of North...
, a source of food, material for clothing and sandals, soap and more
Diet
- Cultivation – maizeMaizeMaize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, squash, beans - Paleolithic dietPaleolithic dietThe modern dietary regimen known as the Paleolithic diet , also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various hominid species habitually consumed during the...
Dwellings
- AdobeAdobeAdobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
dwellings - Crude lean-toLean-toA lean-to is a term used to describe a roof with a single slope. The term also applies to a variety of structures that are built using a lean-to roof....
shelters - Rock shelters
- Pithouses
Tools
Food gathering, storing, preparation and cooking- BasketBasketA basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibres, which can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehair, baleen, or metal wire can be used. Baskets are...
s - MetateMetateA metate is a mortar, a ground stone tool used for processing grain and seeds. In traditional Mesoamerican culture, metates were typically used by women who would grind calcified maize and other organic materials during food preparation...
and manos - PotteryPotteryPottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
Hunting
- AtlatlAtlatlAn atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...
- Bow and arrow
- Projectile points
- SpearSpearA spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...
s
Other
- Bone awlStitching awlA stitching awl is a simple tool with which holes can be punctured in a variety of materials, or existing holes can be enlarged. It is also used for sewing heavy materials, such as leather or canvas. It is a thin, tapered metal shaft, coming to a sharp point, either straight or slightly bent....
s - Scrapers
See also
- List of prehistoric sites in Colorado
- Prehistory of ColoradoPrehistory of ColoradoPrehistory of Colorado provides an overview of the activities that occurred prior to Colorado's recorded history. Colorado experienced cataclysmic geological events over billions of years. The way the events occurred in Colorado, though, shaped our land and ecosystems...