An ongoing archaeological survey near the Book Cliffs could lead to new discoveries about the way the prehistoric Fremont people lived in central Utah. The pristine nature of the Range Creek site makes it one of the nation's premier survey sites, said Duncan Metcalfe, curator of archaeology at the Utah Museum of Natural History. "This one hasn't been looted. I used to think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime find. We found about 130 untouched (sites), and I think there are thousands."

The Fremont people lived in central and northern Utah from about A.D. 200 to A.D. 1300, about the same time the Anasazi inhabited the Four Corners area, Metcalfe said. The Fremont made pottery, lived in pit houses and grew corn, beans and squash. While there are several competing theories as to what caused the disappearance of the Fremont, Metcalfe said most point to worsening farming conditions, warfare or both.

Range Creek finds so far include a large number of rock art sites, remote granaries in the rock wall and pit houses. Metcalfe said the granaries were so remote that researchers have yet to figure out how to reach them without climbing ropes. "Why build a place to store corn that's 50 feet up a sheer cliff?" he said. "We can't figure out how they got up there to build them, let alone to put corn in them. . . . It seems a lot easier to build it next to a house." One possibility Metcalfe suggested was protection from rodents, as well as from would-be thieves.

While it's still unknown how many people lived at Range Creek, Metcalfe said the Fremont probably occupied the area from around A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1300. Evidence, such as the use of rocks as heavy as 400 pounds in building some of the pit houses, suggest the people meant to live there longer than they did.

Deseret Morning News

Mangas - please let me know if this is in the wrong thread and I will move it! *S*