Eagle Rock Shelter Delta Co Rock Art Heritage Center

Hawkeye Rock Shelter, 5DT813,

Delta Canton, Colorado.

Photograph cpr.org,

Public Domain.

The oldest dates recovered so far in Colorado have come from an digging at Hawkeye Stone Shelter (5DT813) in Delta County, supervised past Dr. Glade Hadden, recently of the Montrose office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Beginning in 2007, the BLM and Western Wyoming Community Higher collaborated upon this excavation resulting in some remarkable findings.

"Since 2007, the BLM and Western Wyoming Community Higher have collaborated on the excavation of the Eagle Stone Shelter (Site 5DT 813) in the northern portion of the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. Excavations at the site take to date uncovered evidence of habitation within the shelter spanning the range of human being occupation of Northward America." (Hadden, quoted in Bannister2013:1)

Console ane, Eagle Rock Shelter,

Photograph Carol Patterson.

"Eagle Rock Shelter is a fairly large rock shelter located on the first bench to a higher place the Gunnison River. The site was originally recorded by the BLM in 1988 after information technology was reported as a looted site. After receiving the written report, BLM archaeologists, along with staff from Alpine Archaeological Consultants, recorded the shelter and assessed the damage from looters. Their conclusion at the time was that the shelter may still contain some in situ deposits and that BLM should initiate an excavation to recover data missed past the looters. The shelter walls comprise dozens of petroglyphs spanning the Primitive Menses (ca. seven,000 years BP to roughly 2,000 years BP), the Formative Period (ca. 300 Advert to ane,200 Advertising) and the Late Prehistoric (Numic or Ute) flow. The BLM concluded at the time that in that location was a reasonable chance that some deposits from these fourth dimension frames may still exist intact inside the shelter." (Hadden, quoted in Bannister2013: 1)

"The Archaic period is an era in the homo history of Colorado dating from ca. 6500-Advertizement 200. It is one of he three prehistoric periods used by archaeologists to characterize broad cultural changes that occurred throughout the Americas. It was preceded by the Paleolithic Indian catamenia (ca. 11,500 - 7000 BC), extending back into the belatedly Ice Age, and was followed by the Formative period (1000 BC - AD 1450)." (Blackness 2018)

Drawing of panel 1, Eagle

Stone Shelter, Carol Patterson.

"In 2007, BLM archaeologist Glade Hadden and Dr. Dudley Gardner of Western Wyoming Community College visited the site with an heart to establishing a college archaeological field school. Our assessment then was that the site may bear witness to be an ideal field school project with a high probability of finding undisturbed Formative and Middle to Tardily Archaic occupation deposits. Excavations began by delineating the damage to the site from the looting episode. After the first year nosotros had concluded that, while nearly of the later Formative and Late Prehistoric levels had been destroyed, in that location were skillful indicators of intact Late Archaic and Determinative period levels even so in place. Over the next few years, WWCC and BLM continued to excavate and uncovered numerous intact occupational levels including Ute, Fremont hearths (Determinative menstruum), and Archaic hunter/gatherer camps, with a degree of preservation that was remarkable. Perishable fibers, cordage, leather, and wooden artifacts were establish including a 3,000 year BP basked, dart foreshafts, an early archaic Pinto point with sinew wrap all the same in identify, stone, bone, and wood tools, beads, including bone beads in both round and disk form, eagle bone chaplet, food preparation impliments, footing rock, and ocher." (Hadden, quoted in Bannister2013: two)

Panel , Eagle Rock Shelter,

Photograph Ballad Patterson.

"By 2010, we had established that the shelter occupation dated back at to the lowest degree to 8,000 years BP and independent undisturbed occupations representing all phases of known human occupation for the expanse. In 2011, we excavated down through the intact Archaic levels and discovered hearths, with the beginning dating to ca. 9,000 years BP, well within the Paleo-Indian flow, and finally a single hearth which yielded ii individually certified dates of 12,800 years BP. The hearth independent charred bones (including one element of a late Pleistocene mammal), charred seeds, grasses, equally well as stone tools and droppings. The appointment from the older hearth places the early on occupation of the shelter to the end of the last Water ice Historic period, and represents one of the earliest Clovis sites in North America, placing it among a small scattering of stratified Clovis/Paleo-Indian occupation sites in the western hemisphere - and currently the oldest archaeological site in Colorado." (Hadden, quoted in Bannister2013: 2)

Drawing of console viii, Eagle

Rock Shelter, Carol Patterson.

What seems remarkable to me in this is that it has not been long since all archaeological references insisted that in that location was no habitation of North America that early. Information technology was argued that Clovis (11,500 - xi,000 BP) was the first civilization to inhabit N America. It should be noted that there is no mention of any Clovis culture affiliation in any of the textile from Eagle Rock Shelter.

"The site is important because of the Paleo-Indian component, but that is far from the only meaning component, says Hadden. "We have some of the most astonishing stuff e'er found in archaeological sites in Colorado right hither. They're not unique, merely they're astonishing." In all, the site contained more 50 hearths, and at least 42 unlike occupational contexts, including some gaps in occupation later on. In one of those layers was a 7,000-year-old woven yucca cobweb basked that archaeologists estimate looters missed by almost eight inches. Information technology's the oldest known basket in Colorado and the second-oldest plant in N America. "And information technology has a squeamish provenance," said Hadden. "Nosotros know exactly where it came from. . . and the dry out climate has maintained it beautifully."" (Meck 2016)

"Another find that could be a game-changer is a Middle Archaic Pinto point with sinew wrapped around the base. Pinto points, institute in this area, are thought to date five,000-6,000 years, but the sinew dates back 8,000 years. That could button the occupation dates of sites in the Escalante Canyon near Delta dorsum possibly ii,000 more years, said Hadden." They likewise plant tanned creature hides, a yucca-fiber sandal, and hundreds of projectile points, some dating dorsum 12,000 - xiii,000 years." (Meck 2016)

Eagle Rock shelter as well includes rock fine art, although none of it can yet exist associated with the earliest occupations of 12,000 to xiii,000 years ago, and it was recorded in detail by Dr. Carol Patterson and Dr. Alan Watchman.

They divided the stone fine art in that location into sixteen panels for their comprehensive 2006 report, and found that most of the rock art can be attributed to the Archaic and Formative eras. Their clarification of panel 1 is reasonably representative of most of the stone art in Eagle Stone Shelter. For panel one their study stated "Two eras are represented in this panel. The large animals are of the Primitive Era with branching antlers, large bodies and long thin legs and cloven feet. The smaller animals with stubby legs and round bodies, and the anthropomorph with stick legs and arms, along with the sinuous lines vest to the Formative era.

This panel exhibits characteristics of the Archaic Era with large horned animals, stick figure type anthropomorphs and abstract lines (2400 BP and older). It is superimposed in some areas by afterwards, Formative Era (2400 to 700 PB) quadrupeds, and some subsequently scratched and gouged lines. Determining historic period is difficult because of the strong weathering which has affected the surface and the glyphs. Every bit no rock surface coatings are present a straight approach to dating is not possible. Varnish has not reformed in the peckings and so an indirect age estimate of less than virtually 2000 years may exist judge for most of the motifs." (Patterson and Watchman 2006:26 & 27)

While it would take been exciting to accept examples of stone art from the earliest Paleolithic occupation, the fact that we at present have hard dates from that early, plus the swell detail of the stone art recording, provide us with a wealth of material to consider. A good job all the way around.

Annotation: For more complete data I would refer you to the resource listed below.

REFERENCES:

Banister, Craig

2013 "Eagle Rock" Clovis/Paleo Tour, The Surveyor (Newsletter of the Colorado Archaeological Society, Vol. 11, No. 4, Fall 2013, pages 1 & 2.

Black, Kevin

The Archaic Period in Colorado, https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/commodity/archaic-menstruum-colorado, accessed Apr 30, 2018.

Lofholm, Nancy

2016   A Basket Older Than God . . . Well, Jesus, July 1, 2016, www.cpr.org/news/story/basket-older-godwell-jesus

Meck,Tamie

2016 Eagle Rock Shelter Offers New Insights Into Paleo-Indian Culture, Sept. half dozen, 2016, http://www.deltacountyindependent.com/eagle-stone-shelter-offers-new-insights-into-paleo-indian-civilization-cms-4597

Patterson, Carol, Dr., and Dr. Alan Watchman

2006 Gunnison River Rock Fine art Site (5DT813), Delta County: Documentation, Evaluation, and Management Plan. Submitted for Julie Coleman, BLM Archaeologist, BLM Field Office, Montrose, CO, 80401, Urraca Archaeological Services, Montrose, Colorado

christianlablen1983.blogspot.com

Source: https://rockartblog.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-earliest-dates-in-colorado-eagle.html

Share this post