Sheltered among trees along the shores of a sub-alpine lake high in the Colorado mountains, a group of Native Americans spend the afternoon gathered around several fire pits repairing stone tools damaged during a recent hunt and subsequent animal processing, cooking food, and reliving the exciting highlights of the hunt. A few members of the group remain up on the alpine ridge near the hunting site, processing the last of the animals for transport back to the main camp. Evidence left behind by these early occupants of the mountains demonstrates an intense pre-contact use of the sub-alpine and alpine zones of Gilpin County by Native Americans.
Gilpin Historical Society & Metcalf Archaeology
The James Peak Wilderness Sub-Alpine Basin Archaeological Assessment Project is a collaborative effort between Gilpin Historical Society and Metcalf Archaeology. The project investigates the pre-contact occupation of the sub-alpine and alpine zones near James Peak, specifically identifying sites that may have served as camps for use of the nearby alpine communal hunting systems. The broad goal of the project is to create a holistic interpretation of lifeways practiced in the area, highlighting a period that is often overshadowed by the county’s illustrious mining history.
Summer 2021 Survey
Survey was undertaken in late summer of 2021 and Metcalf is happy to report a successful project with the identification of three new pre-contact sites, including one animal processing site and two new camp sites! Numerous artifacts and features were identified at the sites, including stone tools such as projectile points, scrapers, and bifaces, and hearths, the remains of old fire pits. Processing and camp sites can potentially provide new information on the age and length of occupation, the types of plant and animal foods used, and the type of technologies utilized by pre-contact people. In the coming months, the focus of the project will shift to public education and outreach and will include conference presentations, public presentations, and an interpretative poster display and presentation for Gilpin History Museum. Stay tuned!
SHF Archaeological Assessment Grant
This project builds on the results of a previous State Historical Fund (SHF) funded project, the James Peak Wilderness Survey project, which identified alpine communal hunting sites as part of a holistic research project addressing the occupation and use of the alpine and sub-alpine areas as mutually inclusive landscapes in the lifeways of Colorado’s original occupants.
More information on that previous project can be found here: https://www.gilpinhistory.org/jame-peak-survey-project.
The current project is funded by a SHF Archaeological Assessment grant awarded to Gilpin Historical Society.
