Find out about the Colorado Archaeological Society (CAS)?

CAS is a private organization with local chapters in ten Colorado communities.  Membership in CAS entails access to many activities, as well as a subscription to their quarterly archaeology journal Southwestern Lore.  For additional information visit their web site.

Find out the age of my arrowhead collection?

The age of arrowheads and spear points can only be approximated, unless they are well-documented in a precisely dated archaeological context.  Many projectile point styles persisted for hundreds, if not thousands, of years and were used by a number of different cultural groups.  From an ethical standpoint, archaeologists discourage the hobby of "arrowhead collecting" as an irreplaceable loss of scientific data because, in most cases, the precise location of each find is not recorded.

Find out if it is legal to collect arrowheads?

The collection of any prehistoric or historic artifacts from public lands (federal, tribal, state, county or city) is prohibited except by qualified archaeologists working under the terms of a current permit.  Collecting on private land is, technically, legal with the landowner’s permission but is discouraged.  Also, collecting artifacts of any kind found in association with human remains is forbidden, regardless of land ownership.  In keeping with this preservation philosophy, no appraisals of artifacts’ monetary value is available from the Colorado Historical Society.  While collecting artifacts is discouraged, the opposite is true when it comes to learning about our cultural heritage.  To satisfy your urge to know more about archaeology, consider attending PAAC courses and/or reading one of the many fine books on the subject.  Bibliographies on the subjects covered in all 13 PAAC courses are available on our web site.

Locate a speaker for our program?

If you are a teacher in the Denver Public School system, please contact Community Resources Inc. (303.782.0975) whose staff arranges such talks with us.  For all other requests, call our office at 303.866.4671 or 3395.  We also maintain a speaker’s list of individuals who are willing to speak on various topics.

Find out what I should do with some dinosaur bones I found?

Contact a paleontologist.  The study of fossils—bones of animals such as dinosaurs, plant remains such as wood or leaves, and traces like footprints and burrows—is in the realm of paleontology.  Archaeology, by contrast, is the study of the material remains of people which, in Colorado, are generally not fossilized.  Our office maintains a list of paleontologists in the Directory of Cultural Resource Management Agencies, Consultants and Personnel for Colorado.

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