Archeological Survey of Trail Maintenance, Revegetation, and Prescribed Burn Areas in Bryce Canyon National Park

Summary

During 1988 a survey was conducted of 704 acres along trails and 433 acres of proposed burn areas, covering a total of 1,137 acres (Utah Project #U88-NA-184N). Eight prehistoric sites and seven historic sites were recorded. The prehistoric sites are small- to medium-sized lithic scatters, each of which appears to have resulted from one or several episodes of temporary use. Several characteristics of settlement strategies and lithic material use patterns have been observed in analysis of the field records, and these are described as hypotheses for further research in the area. Although small, these sites add substantially to the data base of prehistoric resources in the Park and should be protected. The historic sites are all aspen carvings, some produced as early as 1900. They record the presence and some of the activities of ranchers, foresters, and tourists since that time. These trees have been extensively recorded and no further work is recommended.

A total of 17 prehistoric and 27 historic isolated artifacts was recorded. The prehistoric isolates include 18 pieces of debitage and four tools. The historic isolates include 25 scarred aspens and two scatters of historic items.

Ground cover is extremely dense in some areas, and it is likely that both prehistoric and historic materials were missed during this survey. Some of the isolated artifacts may have been associated with a larger number of unobserved materials, and it is possible that prehistoric sites extend beyond their known boundaries. It is recommended that these areas be further investigated by resurvey following the burns or by raking selected areas.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Midwest Archeological Center Technical Reports

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Utah Project (s): #U88-NA-184N

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