| Field Trip Description: Geoarchaeological investigations have been carried out in Middle Park as part of ongoing research by the University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology, with the primary goals of: (1) defining the soil and stratigraphic context of the Paleoindian occupation; (2) determining processes and patterns in Holocene landscape evolution potentially modifying the Paleoindian record; and (3) understanding components of the landscape most likely to yield in situ Paleoindian sites. On this field trip, we will visit two localities subjected to fairly detailed geoarchaeological inquiry: Barger Gulch Locality B, a Folsom campsite, and the Jerry Craig site, a Cody Complex bison kill. Both sites have yielded in situ Paleoindian components associated with buried forest soils in settings currently dominated by sagebrush, thus providing insights into Holocene landscape evolution and paleoenvironmental change. 3-4 hours will be spent at Locality B, where the most extensive archaeological and geoarchaeological work has been carried out. Profiles in the upland excavation block, exposure in a low-order tributary gully, and alluvial exposures along Barger Gulch proper will be examined. At Jerry Craig, we will spend 1-2 hours examining an exposure in the excavation block as well as a road cut. Our discussion at both sites will concentrate on geomorphic histories, with special attention to the soil stratigraphic records. Site records will be compared to other non-archaeological settings examined in Middle Park. Finally, the Middle Park geoarchaeological records will be compared with well-documented glacial, pollen, and fossil insect records from higher elevations in the Colorado Front Range. |