A geoarchaeological interpretation of the Lamb Spring Site,Colorado

Geoarchaeological analysis and reinterpretation of the Lamb Spring Site, undertaken to better understand the stratigraphic and depositional context of the late Pleistocene bone bed, is based on 1980–1981 stratigraphic maps and field notes supplemented by regional geological information and published radiometric dates. Though previous archaeological interpretations refer to a seemingly homogenous “mammoth layer,” analysis of the site stratigraphy presented here demonstrates more complex microstratigraphy and facies relationships than previously reported for the site. Evidence of multiple, previously unrecognized sedimentary units, repeated cut and fill episodes, and extensive stratigraphic mixing does not support earlier geologic interpretations of stratigraphic integrity. The previously reported association between broken and whole mammoth bones cannot be demonstrated; there is no evidence for either a pre-Clovis or Clovis age cultural presence at the Lamb Spring Site. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.