Post by Sharon Faulkner on May 18, 2006 7:32:30 GMT -5
Colo. cave relics emerge from DU storage
05/17/2006
By Dave Curtin, Denver Post Staff Writer
Artifacts from the Franktown Cave, south of Denver, survived for more than 5,000 years before archaeologists discovered them. Then they sat in paper bags in a University of Denver basement for another 30 years waiting to tell their story. The stone tools, pottery shards and sandals are now revealing that the cave's prehistoric inhabitants were highly social and adept communicators.
The university is putting 30 of the artifacts from Franktown Cave on display at 5 p.m. today at Sturm Hall - this time under glass. Those fragments contain a wealth of clues about our ancient neighbors, researchers say. "We can learn about how they lived and how they related to their environment and how they related to other people," said Sarah Nelson, research professor at DU and principal author of "Denver - an Archaeological History."
The pottery, baskets, sandals and moccasins, which come from two distinct periods between 3348 B.C. and 1600 A.D., show influences from as far away as east of the Mississippi River, DU archaeologists said. But their stone tools made of Pikes Peak and Boulder granite also show they were rooted in Colorado and not nomadic, said Tony King, a master's student studying the artifacts.
Two major cultures at different periods are believed to have used the rocky shelter, 60 feet long and 20 feet deep, that today sits on private property. The shelter was probably not the primary residence of either culture but was used for shelter in bad weather or as a hideout, Nelson said. The inhabitants likely lived along Cherry Creek, north of Franktown.
More than 4,000 artifacts were collected in three major excavations by university students from 1942 to 1956. These include fragments of baskets 4,000 years old, a Yucca-fiber sandal dating to 3348 B.C., 1,000-year-old moccasins, pottery, prehistoric corn, stone tools and pieces of cord traps which once hung from trees.
The material was stored in paper bags in the basement and largely forgotten until 1976, when they were transferred into archival bags. In 2000, they were moved into temperature-controlled museum storage. "They were in paper bags but what's important is they were dry because Denver is dry," Nelson said. "Though not particularly well-curated, nothing happened to them." Even ancient corn kernels managed to survive.
The artifacts show that early Coloradans traveled and communicated with other people while calling Franktown home. "These are archaic people, 4,000 years ago, and they were getting around, meeting each other, traveling to each other's places," Nelson said. The basket-making techniques, for example, are similar but not exactly the same as those found in present-day Nevada, Wyoming and Missouri. The pottery and soft-sole moccasin techniques are like those found east of the Mississippi. "Franktown Cave is one of a kind because it contained perishable artifacts you don't find - ancient corn, baskets, cordage for traps and even pieces of Yucca used to make the cords," Nelson said.
Staff writer Dave Curtin can be reached at 303-820-1276 or dcurtin@denverpost.com
www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3830791
05/17/2006
By Dave Curtin, Denver Post Staff Writer
Artifacts from the Franktown Cave, south of Denver, survived for more than 5,000 years before archaeologists discovered them. Then they sat in paper bags in a University of Denver basement for another 30 years waiting to tell their story. The stone tools, pottery shards and sandals are now revealing that the cave's prehistoric inhabitants were highly social and adept communicators.
The university is putting 30 of the artifacts from Franktown Cave on display at 5 p.m. today at Sturm Hall - this time under glass. Those fragments contain a wealth of clues about our ancient neighbors, researchers say. "We can learn about how they lived and how they related to their environment and how they related to other people," said Sarah Nelson, research professor at DU and principal author of "Denver - an Archaeological History."
The pottery, baskets, sandals and moccasins, which come from two distinct periods between 3348 B.C. and 1600 A.D., show influences from as far away as east of the Mississippi River, DU archaeologists said. But their stone tools made of Pikes Peak and Boulder granite also show they were rooted in Colorado and not nomadic, said Tony King, a master's student studying the artifacts.
Two major cultures at different periods are believed to have used the rocky shelter, 60 feet long and 20 feet deep, that today sits on private property. The shelter was probably not the primary residence of either culture but was used for shelter in bad weather or as a hideout, Nelson said. The inhabitants likely lived along Cherry Creek, north of Franktown.
More than 4,000 artifacts were collected in three major excavations by university students from 1942 to 1956. These include fragments of baskets 4,000 years old, a Yucca-fiber sandal dating to 3348 B.C., 1,000-year-old moccasins, pottery, prehistoric corn, stone tools and pieces of cord traps which once hung from trees.
The material was stored in paper bags in the basement and largely forgotten until 1976, when they were transferred into archival bags. In 2000, they were moved into temperature-controlled museum storage. "They were in paper bags but what's important is they were dry because Denver is dry," Nelson said. "Though not particularly well-curated, nothing happened to them." Even ancient corn kernels managed to survive.
The artifacts show that early Coloradans traveled and communicated with other people while calling Franktown home. "These are archaic people, 4,000 years ago, and they were getting around, meeting each other, traveling to each other's places," Nelson said. The basket-making techniques, for example, are similar but not exactly the same as those found in present-day Nevada, Wyoming and Missouri. The pottery and soft-sole moccasin techniques are like those found east of the Mississippi. "Franktown Cave is one of a kind because it contained perishable artifacts you don't find - ancient corn, baskets, cordage for traps and even pieces of Yucca used to make the cords," Nelson said.
Staff writer Dave Curtin can be reached at 303-820-1276 or dcurtin@denverpost.com
www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3830791