In June and September of 2000, the Office of Contract Archeology conducted salvage excavations at the Leone Bluff site (5LA1211) in Trinidad Reservoir, Los Animas County, Colorado, at the request of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). High waters in the reservoir significantly impacted several areas of the site. The Leone Bluff site is attributed to the Sopris Phase (ca. A.D. 1000—1250) and previous excavations throughout the 1960s and 1970s identified the remains of a substantial settlement consisting of multiple residential structures and human remains. Funding for the analysis and final report of these salvage excavations recently was approved by the USACE. OCA’s analyses include a detailed comparison using X-Ray Fluorescence of Sopris Phase sherds recovered from this site and contemporaneous sherds recovered by Southwest Archaeological Consultants, Inc. from sites in the Vermejo Park area west of Raton, NM. The obsidian artifacts also were subjected to X-Ray Fluorescence in an attempt to source these artifacts.
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