A GEOLOGICAL NARRATIVE IN ALPINE ARCHAEOLOGY: THE HUMAN RECORD AS PART OF THE CONTEXT FOR LANDSCAPE CHANGE

Cultural groups have utilized the high elevation environments provided by the Absaroka Mountains of northwest Wyoming throughout the most recent geological history. A record documenting over 150 sites dating to as early as the Paleo-Indian period continues to be formulated by Colorado State University as part of the GRSLE (Greybull River Sustainable Landscape Ecology) project. While the majority of these sites are surface collections, a cutbank initiated by a first order stream has exposed a site providing both a cultural and geological history. Removal of a hearth and documentation of additional cultural components such as chipstone and burnt bone has been paired with analysis of natural components of the site's formation. Stratigraphic profiles and lab analysis display both short-term events such as a debris flow and fires, and more long-term events like fluvial deposition and soil formation that have shaped the context of the site. Based on these observations, how the cultural record fits into the geologic narrative can begin to be explored in terms of the relationship between geological processes, climatic events, environment, and people. While this is one site example, it can be used comparatively to show how alpine environments played a role in human mobility and adaptation through time in terms of changing landscapes on a broader scale.