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24. The Curecanti Archeological Project: The Late Prehistoric Component at Pioneer Point.
Dial, Janis L.

Mitigative archeological investigations were conducted at 5GN41 in advance of visitor facility construction in the Pioneer Point Development Area, Curecanti National Recreation Area, Colorado. Block excavations in two areas of the site in 1982 exposed probable hearths within concentrations of lithics, brown ware ceramics, ground stone, and faunal remains. The radiocarbon dating of features, together with ceramic and projectile point comparisons, suggest that the site represents an occupation during the last part of the Late Prehistoric by a small group of Numic speakers related to the Historic Utes of Colorado. The Pioneer Point data suggest a temporary summer or early fall occupation(s) by a small group(s) practicing a mixed hunting and gathering economy. Subsistence related activities conducted on-site appear to have included the processing and consumption of large game animals, as well as the processing of Chenopodiumand Gramineae seeds. The range of activities at the site which involved chipped stone material included tool manufacture, use, and maintenance. Analysis of the edge angles and bifacial/unifacial retouch on the numerous quartzite implements and resharpening flakes, together with their spatial distribution around one of the hearth features, suggest that relatively heavy cutting/chopping and scraping activities were conducted on-site. The cutting/chopping activities in particular were probably related to the processing of the large game animals mentioned above. The manufacture and/or repair of hafted tools is suggested by the presence of projectile points and other formerly hafted implements, a sandstone shaft smoother, and debitage which appears to have been produced during the retooling of hafted implements. Finally, the recovery of dog/wolf remains, interpreted as debris from the manufacture of a bone whistle or bead, suggests that craft activities occurred on-site at Pioneer Point. The data are consistent with a model of seasonal use of the Upper Gunnison Basin during the Late Prehistoric proposed by Kevin Black (1982:165-168, 1983:21-23). Site 5GN41 was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as part of the Curecanti Archeological District.