The Mountaineer Site

A very rare discovery of a Paleoindian house was made at the Mountaineer site, located just outside Gunnison, Colorado, about 125 miles northeast of the Mesa Verde region. The site was found on a high mesa overlooking a river valley—an ideal perch from which Paleoindian hunters could have watched for game coming to the river for water.

In a systematic survey of the mesa, archaeologists found 15 clusters of Paleoindian artifacts. Excavation at one of the clusters revealed large rocks piled around the edge of a shallow, circular basin that measured about 12 feet across—what archaeologists believe is the remains of an ancient house. Inside the house, excavators found many stone tools, including Folsom projectile points, a chopper, and an anvil that probably was used to crush animal bones. They also found rib-bone fragments from a large animal, a possible hearth, and chunks of daub (mud used as an adhesive and "filler"). The daub had impressions of tree trunks, probably aspen. Outside the house was a second hearth, more stone tools, and several postholes. The postholes are evidence of a windbreak or perhaps a rack that could have been used for hanging or drying food.

From the evidence uncovered during excavation, it appears that the sides of the shallow basin had been ringed with large rocks, both inside and outside the structure. The rocks braced the butt ends of numerous aspen poles that had been carefully leaned, tipi-style, to form the framework of the house walls. The poles were then covered with brush and daub.

A Paleoindian family may have lived in the house during the winter, when deep snow would have made it difficult for them to follow game. They ate large game—probably bison—which they could have kept preserved in snowbanks near the house.

Read a short magazine article about this extraordinary discovery!