Results of the 2003 Hell Gap Investigation

Summary

Hell Gap (48G0305) is located in the Hell Gap Valley in Goshen County, Wyoming (Figure 1 ). The site contains at least five discrete localities (Figure 2) including remnants of a complete Paleoindian cultural sequence, from more than 11,000BP to 7 ,500 BP (IrwinWilliams et al. 1973). Initially investigated in 1959 by George Agogino of the University of Wyoming, the site was excavated by Agogino along with Henry Irwin, Cynthia Irwin, and J. O. Brew of Harvard University from 1961-1966. In conjunction with a re-analysis of the site and the recovered assemblage beginning in the early 1990s, the University of Wyoming initiated fieldwork at Hell Gap in 1992 and continues investigations through the present (Kornfeld et al. 2002). In cooperation with the Wyoming Archaeological Foundation and the Wyoming Archaeological Society, in 2001 the University of Wyoming began a ten-year project centered on the excavation of a contiguous block left by Harvard University between Locality I and Locality I East, and the investigation of the surrounding valley. Questions regarding chronostratigraphy, geomorphology, and paleoenvironment are the primary focus of this research effort and as such involve a multidisciplinary effort (Kornfeld et al. 2002). However, to understand the Hell Gap site it is inadequate to just focus on Locality I, as the entire valley forms the research domain. Consequently testing and sampling in other portions of the valley are being carried out. The 2003 excavations focused on Locality I and two recently discovered localities: Locality II West and the Baars Locality.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Wyoming Archaeologist 2003

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Marcia Peterson

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