Prehistoric Archaeology in Wyoming
Feb 12, 2016
Prehistoric Archaeology in Wyoming
Chronology of Prehistoric Archaeology in Wyoming
• Paleo-Indian (12,000 to 8000 Years B.P.)
• Early Archaic (8000 to 5000 Years B.P.)
• Middle Archaic (5000 to 2000 Years B.P.)
• Late Archaic (2000 to 250 Years B.P.)
• Historic Period
Paleo-Indian Period• cooler and wetter
climate • multiple lakes and
large marshes• retreating glaciers• massive flood events • ice-free corridor• coastal route
Paleo-Indian Period• Large projectile points
Clovis Folsom Agate Angostura Alberta Eden Scottsbluff Basin
Archaic (8000-250 Years Before Present)
• Warmer and drier• Extinction of Pleistocene Mega-Fauna • Atlatl and arrow points• Greater reliance on plants • More diverse artifact assemblage and features
– Gaming pieces, ceramics, adornment shells– Quarries and lithic work shops– Village sites, house pits, wickiups– Rock art
• Anadromous fish (weirs, hooks, net weights)• Burials much more common
Mummy cave - stratigraphy
House pit
Lithic scatter
Site location
Plains Culture
Paleo – E. archaic Wyoming Plains Cultural Area
• Large permanent village sites• Seasonal camps for hunting and gathering• River settlements• Bison-centric• Complex fishing technology• Canoes
Wyoming Tribes- Traditional Lands
Federally Recognized Tribes
Wyoming Specific• Northern Arapaho• Eastern Shoshone
Traditional Lands• Shoshone-Bannock• Northern Ute• Crow• Cheyenne
Plains Cultural AreaArapaho Cheyenne Crow
• Algonquian and Siouan language group• Mobile hunter and gatherers• Small summer campsites (family units)• Large winter encampments• Resource areas
• Bison• Acorns and berries• Mountain game & fish• Lithics
Lithic scatter
Great Basin Cultural AreaNorthern Ute Eastern Shoshone
• Mobile hunter and gatherers• Small summer campsites (family units)• Large winter encampments• Resource areas
• Rabbit• Bison• Mountain game & fish• Lithics
Historic Period• Contact with Europeans and their cultural
materials• Horse• Firearms• Steel • European Diseases• Written History/ Ethnographers• Lewis and Clark• Early Fur Trade
Lithic scatter
Lithic scatter
Devils Tower
ArapahoCheyenne
CrowKiowaLakota
Rock Art
•Pictographs•Petroglyphs
Rock Art – Shield
Rock Art – Shield
Natural Features of Cultural or Religious Significance