THE PERRY CACHE: A LARGE CHIPPED STONE ASSEMBLAGE FOUND ALONG THE LITTLE THOMPSON RIVER, LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO.

The Perry cache contains 161 chipped stone items and includes an array of formal and informal tools. Discovered in the 1960s along the banks of the Little Thompson River in northern Colorado, the Perry cache is distinct from many other Colorado lithic caches not only for the quantity of items but also for the diversity of tool types and the raw materials used to manufacture the items. The cache includes five patterned bifaces, eight unpatterned bifaces, 24 scrapers, two spokeshaves, a knife and a graver, and 10 utilized flakes, as well as 110 flakes. Twenty-eight different raw material groups are identified. This paper summarizes the assemblage diversity by quantifying the different number of tool and flake classes. These data are then used to examine the raw material diversity of the assemblage. The results of this analysis show that finished tools were both brought to and manufactured on site, and then ultimately deposited in the cache. Additionally, tools were likely manufactured on site and carried away. The artifacts appear to have been cached with the anticipation of future need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]