![]() ![]() Materials from the more recent Middle Archaic Period (3800–1250 BCE) made up the Apex complex and the most recent cultural deposits correspond to the Early Ceramic Period (200–1000 AD). The earliest levels date back to the latter part of the Early Archaic Period, roughly 5000–3800 BCE and were associated with what they called the Magic Mountain complex. Irwin-Williams identified six zones (Zones A–F), corresponding to roughly three periods of use. Irwin-Williams renamed the site as Magic Mountain to acknowledge the now defunct amusement park by the same name that owned the land at the time. By as early as the 1920s, the site was described as a “treasure-trove” of artifacts and a “cratered minefield” due to looting.ĭespite that history of disturbance, intact archaeological deposits were still present at the site when systematic archaeological investigation began in the late 1950s by Denver native Cynthia Irwin-Williams, then a PhD, student at Harvard University. The earliest professional report on Magic Mountain appears in the 1877 Smithsonian Institution Annual Report and describes it as a camp with great quantities of tools and arrowheads made from diverse local and nonlocal materials. The town of Apex is now reportedly beneath the parking lot associated with the Heritage Square Amusement Park. The site was previously known as the Apex or Apex Gulch site due to its proximity to the eponymous town. Old newspapers indicate that homesteaders and miners knew about the site in the 1860s, when the town of Apex was established nearby to supply mines in Central City via the Apex and Gregory Wagon Road. We accomplish this through public tours and youth programming, teen internships for students in underserved communities and underrepresented groups, community group partnerships, targeted marketing and an intertribal meeting day, among many other activities. We designed MMCAP to bring our backyard history into the hands of the public. The MMCAP has enjoyed two exceedingly successful field seasons of community-based archaeological fieldwork (20) and continues to offer outreach opportunities during the analysis phase of the project. The MMCAP is a multi-disciplinary, public archaeology collaboration between the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Paleocultural Research Group (PCRG), and various local Colorado communities to conduct world-class research at one of the most important archaeological sites on the Front Range. The Magic Mountain Community Archaeology Project (MMCAP) taps into that shared sense of place and explores the stories of the people who lived there long ago, while making these tales relevant and tangible to people today. From the nomadic hunter-gatherers who lived there for over 9,000 years, to the Pioneers of the 1800s, to those who bike and hike the area today, there is a collective awareness that the area is special. The archaeological site Magic Mountain in Golden, Colorado, has served as a crossroads of culture throughout human history. Nestled in the foothills along Apex Gulch in Golden, Colorado, Magic Mountain is proclaimed to be one of the most important archaeological sites on Colorado’s Front Range ![]()
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