Doctoral Dissertation: Folsom Adaptive Systems in the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado

在David J. Meltzer博士的监督下，Brian Andrews将分析从甘尼森盆地的五个福尔松时期遗址收集的数据。福尔索姆时期大约在10,800到10,000年前，最常见的特征是相对较小的高流动性狩猎野牛的群体。这一特征是基于数十年来对大平原上大型野牛杀戮地点的研究。最近在落基山脉的几个地区，包括甘尼森盆地的工作表明，并不是所有的福尔索姆人都有这种高度流动的生活方式。该项目将试图了解传统平原环境和山地甘尼森盆地之间福尔松行为的差异。福尔松人是在山区高度移动，还是他们在一个地方呆的时间更长？他们是专注于在盆地狩猎野牛和其他大型动物，还是他们的饮食包括更广泛的食物？它们是一整年都住在盆地里，还是季节性地迁入迁出？对福尔索姆盆地遗址的分析将有助于回答这些问题。大部分研究将集中在位于高台地上的登山者遗址中发现的文物上。这个站点比典型的福尔松站点要大得多，并且可能多次被占用。一个结构的证据表明，它可能被占用的时间比其他福尔松遗址长得多。石器文物表明，在占领期间发生了广泛的活动，包括食品和兽皮加工以及工具制造。这个地点似乎还被用来监视下面山谷里的动物活动。其他将被考察的遗址比“登山者”遗址要小得多，可能代表了执行特定任务的小群体的活动，如狩猎动物、采集植物或获取用于制造石器的原材料。该项目的最终目标是描述在北美冰河时代末期，福尔索姆部落是如何在甘尼森盆地严酷的气候中生活的。这项研究将对覆盖北美西部大部分地区的考古“文化”中存在的变异性提供更全面的理解，并将对人们如何以多种方式适应不同的、具有挑战性的气候和环境环境提供总体见解。大学生、初中和高中学生以及当地业余考古学家团体参与了对“登山者”遗址的挖掘和分析，确保了史前人类对与现在截然不同的环境的适应所获得的见解和经验教训将与广大观众分享。

Under the supervision of Dr. David J. Meltzer, Brian Andrews will analyze data gathered from five Folsom period sites located in the Gunnison Basin. The Folsom period dates from approximately 10,800 to 10,000 years ago, and is most often characterized by relatively small groups of highly mobile bison hunting peoples. This characterization is based on decades of work that focused on large bison kill sites in the Great Plains. Recent work in several areas of the Rocky Mountains, including the Gunnison Basin, suggest that not all groups of Folsom people may have practiced this highly mobile lifestyle. This project will seek to understand the differences between Folsom behavior seen between the traditional Plains setting and the mountainous Gunnison Basin. Were Folsom people as highly mobile in the mountains, or did they stay in one place for longer periods of time? Did they focus on hunting bison and other large game in the Basin, or did their diet consist of a wider variety of foods? Did they spend all year living in the Basin, or did they move in and out seasonally? Analysis of Folsom sites in the Basin will help answer these questions.Much of the research will focus on the artifacts recovered from the Mountaineer site, located atop a high mesa. This site is much larger than typical Folsom occurrances, and was likely occupied on multiple occasions. Evidence of a structure suggests that it may have been occupied for much longer periods at a time than were other Folsom sites. Stone artifacts suggest that a wide range of activities took place during occupation, including food and hide processing and tool manufacture. It also appears that the site was used to monitor the movement of game in the valley below. Other sites that will be examined are much smaller than Mountaineer, and likely represent the activities of smaller groups of people performing specific tasks, such as hunting animals, gathering plants, or acquiring raw materials used to make stone tools. The ultimate goal of the project is to describe how Folsom groups lived in the sometimes harsh climate of the Gunnison Basin at the end of the Ice Age in North America. This research will provide a more complete understanding of the variability present in an archaeological 'culture' that covered much of western North America, and will offer general insight into how people adapted in multiple ways to different and challenging climatic and environmental settings. The involvement of undergraduate, junior high and high school students, and local amateur archaeologist groups in the excavation and analysis of the Mountaineer site ensures that the insight gained and lessons learned of prehistoric human adaptation to dramatically different conditions than at present will be shared with a wide audience.