 Explore the work of Hannah Marie Wormington and her colleagues at the Frazier excavation site in Weld County, Colorado.

Dr. Hannah Marie Wormington was one of the first women in the United States to forge a career in archaeology and was an expert on the Paleo-Indian period. In 1937, Wormington was hired as the first Curator of Archaeology at the Colorado Museum of Natural History, later the Denver Museum of Natural History, and as of 2000 the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Between 1965-1967 she led the excavation of the 10,000-year-old Frazier Site, a bison kill site in northern Colorado. In the male dominated field of archaeology, Wormington often stacked her field crews with women. Her and her team’s work allowed for a better understanding of how bison were killed, butchered, and utilized by the Paleo-Indians of the Agate Basin time period. 

Marie Wormington and unidentified workers and Frazier excavation site block E37.

Wormington.jpg

Plains to Peaks Collective

Block E 37

In the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Annals, Dr. Hannah Marie Wormington is described as, 

“Precocious. Audacious. Gifted. Prolific. Ambitious. Connected. Cavalier. Regal. Fiery. Intelligent. Generous. Opinionated.” 

She was born in Denver in 1914 and earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Denver in 1935. That same year she was hired at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and a short time later became the first Curator of Archaeology. In 1954 Wormington became the first woman to earn a PhD in archaeology at Harvard University.

This is a straw hat with a brown and yellow cloth hatband. It has to holes on either side of the crown designed for ventilation. Inside the crown it has a leather forehead sweatband. The crown is pinched and has a a center dent.

Hat.jpg

Hannah Marie Wormington Hat

Paleo-Indian hunters killed their prey with wooden spears tipped with large stone blades, called "projectile points." Paleo-Indian points are often found with animal bones indicating that they were used for hunting and butchering big game. 

For archaeologists, these and other projectile point types are useful as markers of distinct “complexes” - unique sets of artifacts thought to represent different technological traditions and cultures - which help archeologists better understand how the points were used both as spear points and knives.

Frazier.jpg

Saquare G25-H25

The most recognizable projectile point style of the North American Plains and the late Paleo-Indian period is the Agate Basin point. They are often characterized as being long, slender points with very regular horizontal, parallel-sided flake scars across the surface. The blades are usually up to 5½-6 inches long but average around 3 inches long. The blade edges are usually ground smooth along the lower third of the specimen and they vary from parallel to slightly excurvate. The blade tapers to the base which is straight or slightly concave. 

Multi-tone brown stone projectile point. It has been identified as an Agate Basin point, which dates 10,500-8,000 BP.

Agate Basin.jpg

Point, Projectile

The Frazier site, a Paleo-Indian bison kill site in northern Colorado, was discovered by geologist Frank Frazier in 1965, and was excavated from 1965 to 1967 by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science under the direction of Dr. Hannah Marie Wormington. 

Paleo-Indians were an ancient people that were some of the first to move into North and South America toward the end of the ice age (approximately 12,000-10,000 BC). Paleo-Indians were comprised of hunting and gathering cultures. Such cultures are characterized by small, family-based groups called bands that move from place to place. Paleo-Indians are subdivided and named by the types of spear points they created and used including Agate Basin. 

The Frazier site is important not only because it is one of a few Agate Basin sites on the Northwest Plains, but also because it was the last major excavation directed by Wormington for the Denver Museum of Natural History. Wormington was fired from the museum in 1968 after a decades-long contentious relationship with Museum Director Alfred M. Bailey. She was granted emeritus status by the Museum in 1988.

James A. Michener and Frank Frazier look at a wall map held against a brick wall.

James A. Michener and Frank Frazier, Denver, CO.jpg

James A. Michener and Frank Frazier, Denver, CO

Throughout her long career Wormington authored numerous scholarly publications and seven popular archaeology texts that are still used in universities today. She wrote her textbooks so they were accessible to as wide an audience as possible. She published her first book, 

Wormington oversaw and assisted in the field research and excavations for many famous sites for Paleo-Indian culture around Colorado and Utah. She also led excavations in France, Canada, and Alaska. After leaving the Museum of Nature and Science, Wormington became a visiting professor at Colorado College and taught at the Universities of Minnesota and Wyoming. She was the first female archaeologist to be elected president of the Society for American Archaeology.

Despite all her success as a professional archaeologist, Wormington was an ardent supporter of amateur archaeologists. She said of them, "

There are, however, other individuals that provide invaluable aid in discovering, preserving, and interpreting an irreplaceable part of the human record.  They seek knowledge, not simply specimens to be doted over. Only the latter deserve to be called amateur archaeologists, a title that given its true connotation should be a source of pride.  The word “amateur” is derived from the Latin “amator” – to love, and these are individuals who have, and who demonstrate, a genuine love of archaeology."

H. Marie Wormington doing a TV show at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Standards for Hannah Marie Wormington, PhD. - American Archeologist