Cedar Point Village
Encyclopedia
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
located in Elbert County, Colorado
Elbert County, Colorado
Elbert County is the 21st most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 19,872 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Kiowa...
near Limon
Limon, Colorado
Limon is a Statutory Town that is the most populous town in Lincoln County, Colorado, United States immediately east of Elbert County. The population was 2,071 at the 2000 census. Limon has been called the "Hub City" of Eastern Colorado because Interstate 70, U.S. Highways 24, 40, and 287, and...
. It is a prehistoric residential site with artifacts of the Dismal River culture
Dismal River culture
The Dismal River culture refers to a set of cultural attributes first seen in the Dismal River area of Nebraska in the 1930s by archaeologists William Duncan Strong, Waldo Rudolph Wedel and A. T. Hill...
and likely inhabited by early Apachean people.
Cedar Point Village, declared "the most spectacular Dismal River site in Colorado," was a small village with 7 round houses. The village was connected to the Dismal River culture through the Dismal River type of pottery and the side-notched, triangular and unnotched projectile point
Projectile point
In archaeological terms, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a projectile, such as a spear, dart, or arrow, or perhaps used as a knife....
s.
The site was excavated in 1952 by Herbert W. Dick, curator of the University of Colorado museum
University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
The University of Colorado Museum of Natural History is a museum of natural history in Boulder, Colorado. With more than four million artifacts and specimens in the areas of anthropology, botany, entomology, paleontology and zoology, the museum houses one of the most extensive and respected...
from 1949-1953. When Dick left his position at the museum, Joe Ben Wheat
Joe Ben Wheat
Dr. Joe Ben Wheat was an archaeologist, curator, teacher, and author known for his expertise on blanket weavings and textiles of the Navajo and other Indians in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. His research focused on Mogollon, Anasazi, Great Plains Paleo-Indian, and African Paleolithic...
led the excavation.
See also
- Franktown CaveFranktown CaveFranktown Cave, located southwest of the town of Franktown in Douglas County, Colorado, was a prehistoric rock shelter between about 6,400 BC and AD 1725. Excavations at the site unearthed a remarkable number of perishable items, including corn, plant material and clothing...
, another Dismal River culture site in Colorado - Jicarilla ApacheJicarilla ApacheJicarilla Apache refers to the members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation currently living in New Mexico and speaking a Southern Athabaskan language...
- List of prehistoric sites in Colorado
- Prehistory of ColoradoPrehistory of ColoradoPrehistory of Colorado provides an overview of the activities that occurred prior to Colorado's recorded history. Colorado experienced cataclysmic geological events over billions of years. The way the events occurred in Colorado, though, shaped our land and ecosystems...