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ANDREW J. CLARK & DOUGLAS B. BAMFORTH. 2018. Archaeological perspectives on warfare on the Great Plains. Louisville: University Press of Colorado; 987-1-60732-669-4 $99. The Great Plains of North America offer [...]

This article represents an update to "The Lithic Caches of Colorado" volume previously published in Southwestern Lore (LaBelle 2015; LaBelle and Johnston 2015). Continued review of the state's archaeological literature as well as correspondence with fellow archaeologists revealed an additional 13 "caches" from Colorado. The majority of these were found by members of the public, although four were found during professional fieldwork, including excavation. They range from several hundred years (Peri-Colonial or Protohistoric) to over 9,000 years (Paleoindian) in age. Descriptions of these caches are provided herein, as well as a discussion of their variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our professional understanding of the archaeological record is informed through academic research interest, the nature (tensions of time/money/location) of cultural resource management, and the ability of archaeologists to fully access diverse forms of data potentially available to them. Knowledge of eastern Colorado is poorly known, given that 40% of the state is publicly owned (federal and state) and most professional work occurs on land administered by federal agencies in western Colorado. Given this research disparity, we argue that professional archaeologists in eastern Colorado would certainly benefit from expanding their research networks to include the efforts of avocational archaeologists. Our article describes how artifact collectors have searched eastern Colorado for the past 100 years; although their methods differ from professional approaches, their cumulative efforts provide a nuanced read of the archaeological record. Differences relate to increased time spent on sites, access to a variety of landforms, and repeated visits over the long term. We present a case study on playa lake archaeology to emphasize these concepts and provide suggestions as to how archaeologists can create better partnerships to unlock potentially novel perspectives of the archaeological record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Spring Canyon site (5LR205) is a multicomponent prehistoric campsite located in a foothills valley within Fort Collins, Colorado. It is one of the largest, most diverse sites in the northern Colorado foothills, possessing over 1,700 artifacts spanning Folsom to Late Prehistoric times. This study is a synthesis of existing research at the site that combines several informal and formal investigations starting in the late 1930s. These investigations document the presence of a diverse array of chipped and ground stone tools, diagnostic projectile points, obsidian from the northern Plains and Southwest, ceramics, and buried artifacts and features. It is concluded that the Spring Canyon site served as an important residential base camp for much of prehistory, and that further excavation would likely reveal buried archaeological deposits. The case is made that the Spring Canyon site, though heavily impacted by historic practices, remains a valuable asset for its archaeological merit and its potential focus for public outreach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithic caches were reported in the Colorado literature as early as the 1930s (Renaud 1933; Yelm 1935). Since then, additional caches have occasionally been described through publication, the gray literature, and in site forms housed within the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) in Denver. However, no compilation of this important feature type has ever been prepared for the state. This paper has two primary purposes. First, it serves as an introduction to this special edited volume of Southwestern Lore dedicated to Colorado lithic caches. I provide definitions of various cache types and discuss some of the difficulties inherent in the study of caches. The second purpose of the paper is to review lithic caches known from Colorado, gathered from the literature and the OAHP site files. This information is presented to supplement the additional papers published in this issue. Together, this volume provides data on 37 lithic caches recorded from Colorado. They range from small concentrations of flakes and simple tools to large collections of well-made bifaces. The diversity in cache location, contents, and function suggests these features played a variety of roles in prehistoric settlement systems. Our collective understanding of caches and storage behavior is underdeveloped at the present time, and much work remains in integrating caches into our mobility and lithic technology models. This volume is the first step in accomplishing that goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lutes site (5LO830) is a burial locale containing two adult interments situated along the South Platte River of Logan County, Colorado. The site was excavated by Colorado State University archaeologists in 1976; however, neither a final report nor a site form was originally prepared. In this article, the authors present verbatim a manuscript written shortly after the excavation. We then evaluate this manuscript, based on the presented information as well as associated photo documentation. Four Hanna dart points were found during the excavation, representative of the McKean Complex and dating to the Middle Archaic era. Three of the projectile points were found in direct association with one of the individuals. The points might have been interred as funerary objects, or perhaps less likely, the projectile points reflect evidence of prehistoric violence. Comparison with other Archaic period burials from the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains suggests that the Lutes site represents an uncommon occurrence, that of a multiple burial containing associated projectile points. Unfortunately, the evidence at hand does not allow for clear determination for a cause of death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biography of geoarchaeologist and conservationist James "Jim" Bell Benedict is provided. Benedict was born in 1938 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and obtained his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin. He did geological mapping work in the North American tundra during the 1960s. Benedict created the Center for Mountain Archaeology (CMA) in the early 1970s, and engaged in an interdisciplinary approach to archaeology that combined geology and ethnobiology.

Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resource, which means that, at some point in the future, there will be nothing left to find. In this paper, we model trends in archaeological discovery based on the growth of the field and the probability of site discovery. We compare this model to seven diverse datasets of archaeological discovery trends: (1) all sites from the state of Wyoming, USA; (2) high-altitude archaeological sites from the state of Colorado, USA; (3) mostly complete Neandertal crania; (4) monumental sites of the Maya Classic period; (5) proboscidean kill/scavenge sites globally; (6) Upper Paleolithic sites from Europe; and (7) a compilation of shipwreck discoveries. We forecast discovery trends over the current century. We show that, for all datasets, rates of discovery are in decline, and some segments of the record are near depletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]