Colorado Archaeology

This course is a general survey of Colorado's American Indian heritage. It discusses the various stages of prehistoric and historic Native American development, time and regional relationships, lifestyles, origins, social organization and technology. Although an outline of historically known tribes in Colorado is included, the emphasis is on the Precolumbian era. The course is necessary for understanding cultural affiliation and cultural use of a region. Anyone remotely interested in Colorado archaeology should take this type of course.

Bibliography & Glossary (PDF)

Class Outline

1. Introduction
   1. Terminology
   2. Colorado's physiography & environment, & relationships to early cultures


2. Native Americans in the New World
   1. Theories & evidence on initial peopling of the western hemisphere
   2. Pre-Clovis sites


3. Colorado Prehistory
   1. Paleo-Indian or Lithic Stage (10,000-5500 BC)
      1. regional variation & chronology
      2. lifeways
      3. technology
      4. important sites
      5. geoarchaeological considerations
   2. Archaic Stage (7500 BC-AD 500)
      1. regional variation & chronology
      2. lifeways
      3. technology
      4. important sites
      5. geoarchaeological considerations
   3. Formative Stage (500 BC-AD 1450) regional variation & chronology
      1. lifeways
      2. eastern & central Colorado
      3. western Colorado (Ancestral Pueblo & Fremont)
   4. Protohistoric & Historic Tribes (AD 1540-1880)
      1. General considerations
      2. Colorado's tribes