Located near Calhan, about thirty-five miles northeast of Colorado Springs, the Calhan Paint Mines are an area of clay deposits that have seen extensive prehistoric habitation and historic quarrying of the clay for pottery and bricks. In the 1990s,…

The Draper Cave Archaeological Site contains evidence of human occupation dating back to the Middle Archaic period (3000–1000 BCE). In 1972 the Denver chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society excavated the site under the supervision of Ivol K…

The Harris Archaeological Site includes an Archaic period rockshelter first occupied at least 3,500 years ago, associated rock art, and a separate historic Ute campsite along a drainage on the eastern edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau. The site is named…

The Kaplan-Hoover Bison Kill Site west of Windsor preserves one of the largest single-event Archaic arroyo kills ever found. Discovered in 1997 during construction of a housing development, the site was excavated by a Colorado State University (CSU) team…

Located in Battlement Mesa, the Kewclaw Archaeological Site contains the best-preserved Archaic period (5500 BCE–150 CE) structure in Colorado. Dating to at least 1095 BCE, the Kewclaw pithouse was built in a resource-rich area that would have allowed a…

The Roxborough State Park Archaeological District contains one historic homestead and a variety of prehistoric rockshelters and campsites dating back to at least the Early Archaic period (5500–3000 BCE). It is located at the southern end of the valley…

Located on the eastern edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau near Montrose, the Shavano Valley Rock Art Site is one of the most important concentrations of rock art in western Colorado. Used from at least 1000 BCE to 1900 CE by Archaic and Nuche (Ute) peoples,…

The Sisyphus Shelter Archaeological Site was an Archaic period (5500 BCE–150 CE) rockshelter on the northwest side of the Colorado River between Parachute and De Beque. Before the shelter was destroyed by the construction of Interstate 70, it was…

Located about forty miles east of Trinidad, the Trinchera Cave Archaeological District is known primarily for its large assortment of well-preserved perishable artifacts, such as basketry and sandals. With diverse occupations ranging from the Paleo…

Located in the southern Gore Range at an elevation of 10,662 feet, Vail Pass has been the site of periodic human occupations for at least 8,000 years. The prehistoric camp probably served as a high-altitude base when the growing population of nearby…

The Wilbur Thomas Shelter Archaeological Site is a rockshelter in northwest Weld County featuring evidence of at least six intermittent occupations stretching over 8,500 years. David A. Breternitz and graduate students from the University of Colorado…

Located near the Colorado River north of State Bridge, the Yarmony Archaeological Site is a prehistoric habitation that saw at least five separate occupations during the Archaic period (6650 BCE–150 CE) and the Late Prehistoric period (150–1540 CE)…