With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Sarah Nelson and Mr. Kevin Gilmore will analyze and date some of the most important prehistoric artifacts and ecofacts from Franktown Cave (5DA272), a dry rockshelter located on the western edge of the High Plains. Excavations at Franktown Cave recovered one of the best preserved collections of perishable artifacts and plant remains known in the western Great Plains region. Basketry, woven yucca sandals, moccasins, pieces of a possible rabbit fur robe, a small sinew net, pieces of stitched leather clothing, 140 pieces of cordage, maize kernels and cobs are only a part of the collection of perishable artifacts and plant remains associated with the Late Prehistoric occupations. Franktown Cave is one of a cluster of sites in an area that is thought to have been an enclave whose unique environment allowed maize cultivation. This area is somewhat isolated from the Southwest and Central Plains culture areas, yet the ceramics and stone tools exhibit influences from the Central Plains, while the textiles from the site most closely resemble those from the Southwest and Colorado Plateau, and a complete moccasin is most similar to those manufactured historically by Algonkian speakers of the northeastern U.S. These factors make the site ideal for investigations into the cultural and environmental forces that result in the integration of cultigens into existing hunting-gathering economies.
Dating the Franktown Cave artifacts in conjunction with detailed analysis will allow us to ask questions concerning the transmission of information between groups and determine points of origin. NSF funding will allow direct AMS dating of many of the artifacts and the maize, including the prehistoric textiles and hide artifacts, which are among the most culturally distinct artifacts. Determining the age of the maize is an important initial step toward understanding the role of this important cultigen during the Early/Middle Ceramic Period transition in a geographic area for which maize is not well documented. The project is significant because Franktown Cave contained the most complete collection of maize and perishable artifacts from the western High Plains, and analysis will provide an excellent case study of the factors that lead to the development of agricultural systems by hunter-gatherers.
NSF funding of the preliminary analysis of this unique collection will have broader impacts in two ways. First, the AMS dates will allow for placement of both the perishable and the stratigraphically associated non-perishable artifacts into temporally meaningful contexts, which will immediately create opportunities for student researchers to make significant contributions to our knowledge of the prehistory of the Great Plains through projects, theses and dissertations. Second, the NSF funds will provide the matching funds required for a Colorado State Historical Fund grant sufficient to fund student and staff analysis of the entire Franktown Cave collection. Besides providing crucial baseline data and an unprecedented view into the lifeways of the prehistoric inhabitants of the western High Plains of Colorado, these initial investigations will provide the framework for future detailed analysis.
