Visualizing Mountain Shoshone Occupations in the Washakie Wilderness of Northwestern Wyoming

Summary

This is an abstract from the "New and Ongoing Research on the North American Plains and Rocky Mountains" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Interpreting past uses of mountainous regions of the American West is hampered by difficult access, excessive ground vegetation, and wilderness restrictions. Recently however researchers working in the Greater Yellowstone Area have recorded hundreds of sites exposed by forest fires, and our knowledge of campsite structure, resource use, and movement patterns has increased dramatically. Remote campsites often contain tens of thousands of artifacts that represent a greater commitment to mountain resources and places than previously considered. In this paper, we focus on the seventeenth-century Caldwell Creek site (48FR7091) in the Shoshone National Forest as a case study. At more than 30,000 square meters in area, Caldwell is a massive campsite with over 70,000 recorded artifacts including diagnostic lithics, sourced obsidian, carved pipestone, and the largest quantity of ceramics found in western Wyoming. We discuss challenges in data recording, our evolving methodologies, and ways to combine disparate data sets, photographs, and field maps. In order to better visualize the campsite, we present the results of three-dimensional models and photogrammetry. Using emerging technologies increases our ability to participate in wider discussions of cultural heritage and preservation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• New and Ongoing Research on the North American Plains and Rocky Mountains

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25992