A vivid account of the prehistory and history of Denver as
revealed in its archaeological record, Denver: An
Archaeological History invites us to imagine Denver as it once
was.
Around 12,000 B.C., groups of leather-clad Paleoindians passed
through the juncture of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek,
following the herds of mammoth or buffalo they hunted. In the
Archaic period, people rested under the shade of trees along the
riverbanks, with baskets full of plums as they waited for rabbits
to be caught in their nearby snares. In the early Ceramic period, a
group of mourners adorned with yellow pigment on their faces and
beads of eagle bone followed Cherry Creek to the South Platte to
attend a funeral at a neighboring village. And in 1858, the area
was populated by the crude cottonwood log shacks with dirt floors
and glassless windows, the homes of Denver's
first inhabitants.
For at least 10,000 years, Greater Denver has been a collection
of diverse lifeways and survival strategies, a crossroads of
interaction, and a locus of cultural coexistence. Setting the scene
with detailed descriptions of the natural environment, summaries of
prehistoric sites, and archaeologists' knowledge
of Denver's early inhabitants, Nelson and her
colleagues bring the region's history to life.
From prehistory to the present, this is a compelling narrative of
Denver's cultural heritage that will fascinate
lay readers, amateur archaeologists, professional archaeologists,
and academic historians alike.