PALEOENVIRONMENTAL SYNTHESIS AND SUBSISTENCE RECONSTRUCTIONS FOR CURECANTI NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, COLORADO

Curecanti National Recreation Area is located west of Gunnison in central Colorado along
the Gunnison River. Archaeological investigations within the Curecanti National Recreation Area
have produced both pollen and macrofloral samples for analysis from several sites over a period
of nearly twenty years. These studies have addressed both questions of subsistence and
paleoenvironment, based on interpretation of these data. In addition, paleoenvironmental data
were collected via pollen analysis of soil cores from two springs outside the Curecanti National
Recreation Area. Spring deposits were expected to yield better conditions for preservation of
pollen and a more consistent, gradual deposition history than the sediments either on-site or
immediately off-site. Reconstruction of the paleoenvironment for the Curecanti area utilizes
pollen data obtained from the springs, as well as on-site stratigraphic pollen records.