One of the most important archaeological sites in North America is right in our backyard! The Lindenmeier Site is located near Fort Collins, Colorado within the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area.
Although the Clovis people lived here previously, the Folsom culture is the most prominent at the site with findings of sewing needles, hide-scrapers, beads, and stone tools making the Lindenmeier site the most extensive Folsom culture site found to this day.
What were they thinking about as they sat around the first fire pit? Where they bragging about today's hunt, or wondering what the weather would be tomorrow. 
The Folsom people were highly mobile hunter-gatherers who followed seasonal migration patterns across the Great Plains and American Southwest. They were given their name when archaeologists discovered their distinctive projectile points near Folsom, New Mexico, in the late 1920s.
The Folsom Point is thin, finely crafted stone projectile has a distinct channel (flute) chipped out of the sides to help attach them to spears and atlatl darts.
The atlatl is the weapon that filled the evolutionary gap between the spear and the bow and arrow.
Discovered originally in 1908 by a former enslaved cowboy named George McJunkin, George tried numerous times to interest archaeologists, but with little success. 
In 1918 he sent sample bones and a lance point to the Denver Museum of Natural History, who sent paleontologist Harold Cook during the following spring, and he and McJunkin did some exploratory digging. But a thorough excavation did not occur until 1926, sadly after McJunkin's death. The site would become known as the Lindenmeier site, named after William Lindenmeier, the landowner at the time.
Finding the Folsom site, forever changed American archaeology by linking human tools directly to Ice Age megafauna.
The City of Fort Collins owns the site today. The property is open for visits from March 1 until November 30 each year.
The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated a National Historic Landmark. Artifacts from the site can be found at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery and in private collections.
Directions
Soapstone Prairie is 25 miles north of Fort Collins, allow about an hour travel time. From Fort Collins, take Hwy 1/ Terry Lake Road to County Road 15 north (towards Waverly). From CR 15, turn north onto Rawhide Flats Road and continue north to the entrance station.
From I-25, take exit 288 (Buckeye Road) west to County Road 15. Go north on CR 15 and turn north onto Rawhide Flats Road. Follow Rawhide Flats Rd to the entrance station. Soapstone Prairie is not accessible via I-25 exit 293 (CR 126/CR 5).
My Stories:
Western Romance: Break Heart Canyon * Undercover Outlaw * Cowboys, Cattle and Cutthroats * A Cowboy’s Fate*Special Delivery.
Contemporary Romantic Thriller: Fatal Recall
Medieval Romance: The Dragon and The Rose * Iron Heart *Promise Me Christmas.
Victorian Romance: Lady Gallant * Victorian Dream
Romantasy: The Fae Warriors Trilogy: Solace * Bliss * Portence
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/people/Gini-Rifkin-Author/100001680213365
Amazon author https://amzn.to/2R53KA9
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ginirifkin/pins/
Goodreads http://bit.ly/2OnHbrK
Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/2xPs9S4
AudioBooks https://adbl.co/2OlWbGJ
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gini-rifkin-15950489/
Universal link https://books2read.com/u/3JLGMv
The wild rose press https://wildrosepress.com/?s=rifkin&post_type=product&type_aws=true
1 comment:
Hi Gini. What an interesting piece of Colorado history. (Love your atlatl!) It's sad that McJunkin passed before the thorough excavation. Am I understanding correctly that The Folsom people lived below ground in a cave? Thank you!
Post a Comment