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Continuing and Past
Field Activities

CAS-Denver members have participated, and are continuing to participate, in a number of archaeological projects and special events over the last several decades.  The majority of the projects are located in the Front Range and Denver Basin. Here is a sample of what we have done:

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  • Prehistoric sites, some with occupations as old as 6000 BC, were excavated on the Ken-Caryl Ranch in Jefferson County.  These excavations took place from the early 1970s-1990s and include Bradford II and Bradford III, Falcon’s Nest, the Crescent Site, and the Swallow Site.  The final report on the work at the Swallow site is in preparation (for some additional information go to Colorado Encyclopedia). 

  • ​​Excavations were also done at the Lamb Spring site in the Roxborough/Highlands Park area.  Since 2006, CAS-Denver members have participated in the preservation and analysis of this PaleoIndian occupation site working in collaboration with the Lamb Spring Archaeological Preserve.​

  • CAS-Denver members have recently been collaborating on excavations at the 1500-year old open-air site of Meadowlark Terrace in Arapahoe County along W. Bijou Creek, working with members of the CAS-Indian Peaks chapter and CRM-industry professionals.​

  • CAS-Denver has collaborated on the archaeological project excavations at the Tahosa Creek site directed by our state archaeologist, Dr. Holly Norton and Dr. Kimball Banks of Metcalf Archaeological Consultants.

  • CAS-Denver members are participating in the excavation and survey of the Cherokee Ranch property in Douglas County.  Both prehistoric and historical archaeological sites are being investigated.

  • Starting in September 2020, CAS-Denver members worked with the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Cultural Resources managers on recording features and artifacts from the Gorham and Crackerjack Mines on Marshall Mesa Open Space and doing condition reports on petroglyphs in the Fox Hills formation along Boulder Creek.  This work is expected to continue once pandemic restrictions are lifted.​

  • In 2019, History Colorado’s Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) held the Program for Avocational Archaeological Certification (PAAC) summer survey at Lone Mesa State Park. The survey focused on these three aspects: education in basic archaeological field techniques, the identification of resources in previously unsurveyed areas, and testing of a resource sensitivity model for further research. Lone Mesa State Park is currently not open to the public except for limited hunting licenses. 

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There are other sorts of  “events” in which members have, and in some cases, still are participating.  These include:

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  • Recording rock art panels in SE Colorado in collaboration with the Colorado Rock Art Association;​

  • Serving as site stewards by helping maintain site visitation trails on the Ute Mountain Ute property in W. Colorado;​

  • Helping to co-sponsor the annual International Archaeology Day and Archaeological Awareness Month, both in coordination with the state’s Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.

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Finally, we are also social beings, and as such have developed some chapter traditions including an annual chili cook-off and an annual Member’s Night (the latter being a pot-luck at which members can present their slides of sites they have visited and/or worked on during the year).

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