The Sisyphus Shelter. 5GFllO. is a multicomponent rockshelter complex composed of two shelters and a natural rockfall enclosure. The site is located on the northwest side of the Colorado River. midway between the present communities of Parachute and DeBeque. The thirteen major stratigraphic levels in the three separate areas of the site contain a series of occupations tentatively assigned to Preformative (Fremont?) and Archaic culture groups. During excavations twenty-six features of human origin were discovered. one of which appears to be a slab-lined habitation floor that possessed remnants of coursed wall bases and a hearth area. Artifacts retrieved from floor context appear to be of late Archaic styles and radiocarbon dates support that observation. A total of seventeen radiocarbon dates obtained from charcoal samples from the three site areas ranged from a modern sample to a sample dated at 4400 B.P.
The intent here is the description of the various occupations of the shelter complex and interpretation of the data in the light of current occupation models for the northern Colorado Plateau. It is suggested here that the occupations at Sisyphus were discontinuous and seasonally determined. The occupation sequence represented at the site is not totally representative of the region or even the subregion in chronological terms. However. Sisyphus is representative of 1) an established seasonal strategy. and 2) a locational strategy that is consistent with an Archaic hunting and foraging lifestyle that was basically unaltered through time.