February 15 (Wednesday).  Program.
No-host dinner from 6:00-7:00 pm in the basement room of Wild Boar Coffee, 1501 S. College, Fort Collins. Program: Dr. Jason LaBelle, Director, Center for Mountain and Plains Archaeology, Colorado State University presents Coming to a City near You! Ancient Native American Occupation within the City of Fort Collins. Relatively little is known about the prehistoric Native American occupation within the bounds of the Fort Collins, Loveland, and Windsor urban areas. The reasons for this are varied, but include the early settlement of this area during the 1860s, subsequent agricultural development, heavy avocational artifact collecting from at least the 1930s, and finally the urban development of the region, especially since the 1970s. Glimpses of this ancient life are known, however, from a few select sites along Fossil and Spring Creeks, two major tributaries of the Cache la Poudre River. The Center for Mountain and Plains Archaeology has recently been working at several of these locales (Spring Canyon, Fossil Creek, and Harvester sites), located on protected natural areas owned by the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County. The majority of known occupations date to the Plains Woodland period (approximately AD 150-1100), although there is limited evidence dating back to at least Folsom times or the latest Pleistocene. The on-going results of this fieldwork are presented, based on our surveys and testing completed over the past several years. The possibility of site stewardship, future public surveys/digs, and the need for public interpretation are all discussed as well. Dr. Jason LaBelle is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Colorado State University and Director of the Center for Mountain and Plains Archaeology. Over the past 6 years, he and his students have led an active field and lab program related to the archaeology of the grasslands, foothills, and mountains of northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming. Jason also is past-President of the Colorado Archaeological Society, where he encouraged the collaboration between avocational and professional archaeologists alike.  This program is free and open to the public. Please join us!

March 16-18 (Friday-Sunday).  PAAC Class: Lithics.
Dates: Friday, March 16, 2012, 6::00pm – 10:00 pm, Saturday, March 17, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, Sun-day, March 18, 2012, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm NEW Location: The Group Real Estate office – basement meeting room, 2803 E Harmony Rd, Fort Collins Registration deadline: March 9, 2012. To register for the class send a check for $12, made payable to “Colorado Historical Society”. Mail to: NCC-CAS/PAAC, P O Box 270738, Fort Collins CO 80527 Note: A separate fee, not to exceed $10 per registrant will be necessary. The room is free during business hours but some class time is outside of their normal business hours. Exact amount will be determined once we know how many participants we have. Please include your telephone number and e-mail ad-dress. Registration confirmation will be sent by e-mail. We need a minimum of twelve people to hold the class. The $12 fee covers the class sessions and course materials. No outside work is required. A final exam is optional unless the course is taken for college credit (contact me for information) or as part of the PAAC certification program. Class participants must be at least fifteen years old and sign the PAAC Code of Ethics starting with the second class taken. Neither prior experience with archaeology nor membership in the Colorado Archaeological Society is required. Course Description:. The lithics course introduces individuals to the technology of stone tool manufacture, the identification of tool classes, and basic lithic analysis. “It is important that individuals learn to recognize this kind of material, as it's often the best indication of the presence of an archaeological site.” More information on the Colorado Historical Society’s PAAC program can be found at: http://coloradohistory-oahp.org/programareas/paac/paacindex.htm  Or call Dave Swinehart, PAAC Coordinator for the Northern Colorado Chapter of the Colorado Archaeo-logical Society. 970-397-7589 dave@developingsolutions.biz