THESIS COMMUNAL HUNTING IN THE COLORADO HIGH COUNTRY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THREE GAME DRIVE SITES NEAR ROLLINS PASS, GRAND COUNTY, COLORADO Submitted by Aaron M. Whittenburg Department of Anthropology In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Fall 2017 Masters Committee Advisor: Jason M. LaBelle Mary Van Buren Randall Boone Copyright by Aaron M. Whittenburg 2017 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT COMMUNAL HUNTING IN THE COLORADO HIGH COUNTRY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THREE GAME DRIVE SITES NEAR ROLLINS PASS, GRAND COUNTY, COLORADO The pioneering efforts of James Benedict and Byron Olson demonstrated the importance of alpine communal game drives in the lives of prehistoric Native American populations living in northern Colorado. Their research resulted in numerous books and journal publications on alpine and sub-alpine sites from Rocky Mountain National Park southward to the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Unfortunately, their meticulous work on the spectacular sites at Rollins Pass remained unpublished. This thesis presents their data and additional data collected by the author, Jason LaBelle, and the Center for Mountain and Plains Archaeology at Colorado State University. This thesis is an archaeological investigation of three alpine game drive sites (5GA35, 5GA36, and 5GA37) and a nearby lithic scatter (5GA4268). As of September 2015, 80 hunting blinds, 1,935 meters of walls, and 15 cairns and two additional cairn lines have been recorded between the three game drives. Diagnostic projectile points demonstrate Late Archaic through Late Prehistoric use. The chipped stone debitage assemblage is representative of late-stage production or maintenance of stone tools and only a limited amount of initial reduction occurred on-site. Raw material types for the artifact assemblage are dominated by Middle Park sources, namely Troublesome Formation chert, indicating groups moved into the alpine zone ii from the intermountain basins from the west. Spatial analysis of blind morphology and density show that groups were constructing game drives in such a way as to maximize the number of hunters near areas of wall convergence in the kill zone, the most critical location of the game drive. The relationship between features and artifacts suggests that artifacts found within 20 meters of blinds are directly related to the hunt itself while artifacts found outside this range may relate to pre-hunt or post-hunt activities. Protein residue analysis suggests that elk and/or deer may have been a target species at these sites. Spatial analyses of the relationship of artifacts to features indicate a limited amount of post-hunt processing occurred in the kill zone, while blinds served critical roles throughout all phases of the hunt. 5GA4268 is interpreted as a specialized processing site associated with 5GA35. Use wear analysis indicates that scraping hide was the dominant activity at 5GA4268. This thesis illustrates the merit of applying spatial analyses to feature and artifact attributes to gain a more holistic interpretation of human behaviors associated with alpine communal hunting sites. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis is the culmination of several years worth of work that would not have been possible without the support and inspiration of a number of individuals. First and foremost, I owe a great amount of gratitude and thanks to my advisor, Dr. Jason LaBelle, for introducing me to the fantastic archaeology of the Rollins Pass Project and for allowing me to become part of that research. Throughout my time at Colorado State University, he was a positive influence on my life, helping me grow both personally and professionally. His guidance, patience, and true love of archaeology inspired me to become the better archaeologist. His years of dedication to the Rollins Pass Project helped make this thesis possible. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Mary Van Buren and Dr. Randall Boone. Your comments were most helpful in finalizing this thesis. Special thanks must be extended to the late Jim Benedict and Byron Olson for their tireless pursuit of archaeology in the Colorado high country. Their research laid the groundwork for future archaeological inquiry along the Front Range and their importance to this project cannot be understated. It has been an honor and a privilege to work on a legacy project started by Jim and Byron over 40 years ago and I can only hope that this research holds up to the lofty standards they set. Thank you to the numerous field crews over the years who worked through oftentimes trying weather conditions to meticulously record the data presented in this thesis; your work is greatly appreciated. iv Funding for this research came from several sources, to all of which I am grateful. The Karen S. Greiner endowment from the Department of Anthropology at Colorado State University funded use wear analysis which proved very enlightening to the project. The Ward F. Weakly Memorial Fund from the Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists and the Alice Hamilton Scholarship Fund by the Colorado Archaeological Association funded protein residue analysis which offered great insight to the project and professional illustrations of selected artifacts. Thank you to Tyson Arnold for beautifully illustrating these artifacts. The graduate teaching assistantship offered by the Department of Anthropology at Colorado State University provided valuable financial support and experience during my first year. And last but not least, the Jim and Audrey Benedict Fund for Mountain Archaeology provided further financial assistance for this project. I would like to thank Jason LaBelle for affording me many opportunities to enhance my archaeological skills both in the lab and in the field which greatly enhanced my graduate school experience. I am greatly indebted to all the above for their support. Thank you. I would like to extend a great deal of thanks to my parents, grandparents, and extended family for their support as I progressed through graduate school. I am grateful for your unwavering support and encouragement throughout the process. Thank you for instilling in me a desire to always perform to the best of my abilities and not settle for anything less. I would not have made it this far without you. Finally, I would like to thank my fellow graduate students who were always willing to lend an ear or valuable time to help. Thanks especially to Hallie Meeker, Ben Perlmutter, Chris v Johnston, Kelton Meyer, Michelle Dinkel and Kristen Welch for constructive conversations on all things archaeology. You all made the graduate school experience much more enjoyable. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 Thesis Objectives and Organization.................................................................................................... 2 Thesis Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 3 Thesis Organization ............................................................................................................................. 4 Physical Environment ........................................................................................................................... 7 History of Research ............................................................................................................................. 12 CHAPTER 2 - PREHISTORIC COMMUNAL HUNTING AND COLORADO HIGH ELEVATION GAME DRIVES: AN OVERVIEW ................................................................................. 17 Colorado Alpine Game Drives .......................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 3 - THEORY AND METHODS........................................................................................... 30 Theoretical Perspective ....................................................................................................................... 30 Historical Background ....................................................................................................................... 32 Human Behavioral Ecology and the Acquisition of Food Resources ................................................. 32 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................... 36 Methods of Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 38 CHAPTER 4 - THE ARTIFACT AND FEATURE ASSEMBLAGE .................................................... 44 Projectile Points (n=27) .......................................................................................................................