Trinchera Cave Archeological District

About this property

The Trinchera Cave Archeological District (5LA9555) is an archaeological site in Las Animas County, Colorado with artifacts primarily dating from 1000 BC to AD 1749, although there were some Archaic period artifacts found. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 and is located on State Trust Lands. Trinchera Cave is located within the Trinchera Creek canyon in south central Colorado, east of Interstate 25. The climate zones and topography vary significantly in the 3,147 square mile Trinchera data analysis area (State of Colorado). Elevations range from 5,370 to 14,345 feet (1,637 to 4,372 m), the lowest being at the San Francisco Creek to the height at Blanca Peak. Between the two points are low rolling hills, valleys, ridges, steep mountain slopes and cliffs. At the lowest elevation there is less than 6 inches of precipitation per year; The mountainous areas receive 20 or more inches of precipitation per year, primarily in the form of snow. The habitat supports elk and deer populations. Archaeological data indicates that there were people who inhabited or camped at the site from the late Archaic cultural period, Sopris phase, Apishapa culture complex, and late prehistoric periods, which spanned a period from several thousand years BC to AD 1749. People of the Archaic period were hunters of smaller game, such as deer, antelope and rabbits, and gatherers of wild plants. The people moved seasonally to hunting and gathering sites. Late in the Archaic period, about AD 200-500, corn was introduced into the diet and pottery-making became an occupation for storing and caring food. Large corner notched points from the Archaic age are artifacts found at the site and akin to the Texas Ellis points or Denver area Magic Mountain site points found in Zone B. The presence of the points could show a relationship to the Basketmaker culture of New Mexico and Arizona, one of 17 such sites in southern Colorado. Sopris phase was an Upper Rio Grande hunter-gatherer culture that followed the Archaic period, influenced by pueblo people, such as the Taos Pueblo, and trade in the Upper Rio Grande. Santa Fe black-on-white pottery and Taos gray pottery were found at the second oldest level at the rock shelter. Also at that level was a greater percentage of corner-notched projectile that was found in the oldest level. The research and dating of items of this period indicate dates from AD 1100 to 1350, likely in the 1200s, and indicate a trading relationships with people of the American southwest. Panhandle culture is a prehistoric culture of the southern High Plains during the Middle Ceramic Period from AD 1200-1400. Panhandle sites are primarily in the panhandle and west central Oklahoma and the northern half of the Texas Panhandle. Antelope Creek focus is the primary, and to some the only, cultural tradition of the Panhandle culture. The Optima focus was defined for sites in west central Oklahoma, but after further study, these sites were defined as Antelope Creek focus. In 1975 Robert G. Campbell defined the Apishapa of southeastern Colorado's Chaquaqua Plateau as a Panhandle culture, which is disputed by other archaeologists. Most of the sites are centered around the Canadian River or its tributaries, primarily Antelope Creek and also Cottonwood Creek, Dixon Creek, Tarbox Creek and also on the Archie King Ranch.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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