scholarly journals Recent Developments in Gateway Phase Research

2018 ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
Rand Greubel
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Local Variant ◽  
Northern Colorado ◽  
Ancestral Puebloan ◽  
Data Gaps ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Research Questions

The Gateway tradition was defined by Alan D. Reed in 1997 to describe a class of prehistoric sites in west-central Colorado that had previously only been described in generic terms or as a local variant of well-known cultural traditions such as Ancestral Puebloan or Fremont. Reed and Michael D. Metcalf elaborated upon the new archaeological taxon in the prehistoric context for the Northern Colorado River basin, which was published in 1999. Several studies and research projects conducted since that time have resulted in new datasets that are relevant to many of the research questions and data gaps identified by Reed and Metcalf for the Gateway tradition. A consideration of these data has resulted in new insights into the lifeways of these people and a taxonomic reformulation of the Gateway tradition into the Gateway phase.

scholarly journals Balancing the Scales: Harmonizing Heritage Management, Site-Specific Research, and the Mitigation of Adverse Effects

2019 ◽  
pp. 19-39
Author(s):  
Richard Wilshusen
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Specific Research ◽  
Mesa Verde ◽  
Research Questions

The Southern Colorado River Basin context published in 1999 offered a remarkable overview of Mesa Verde regional archaeology. It reviewed the available research for each main period of occupation and, at the end of each summary, outlined some of the most important questions for future research. For the late Basketmaker and early Pueblo periods many of those research questions have been addressed or are now outdated. Current questions are not just about research, but also about how to balance long-term heritage management goals with site-specific research. The accelerating loss of cultural landscape to irrigated fields, energy development, and the expansion of country homes requires us to both broaden the scope of our preservation planning and the scale of our research questions to the landscape level. In this review I propose changes to the extent and nature of the Southern Colorado River Basin context area, as well as offer amendments to the previous period chronologies based on what we have learned. Lastly, I suggest an array of research themes for future work. Although this is not a state-approved context, it is offered as a challenge to us—whether we represent the state, a federal agency, a university, or a CRM firm—to think big about the research we do in the greater Mesa Verde region.

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