Renewed Studies of the Hell Gap Paleoindian Site, Wyoming with Special Emphasis on the Folsom Component

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Papers in Celebration of Bruce B. Huckell, Part 1" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

First excavated in the 1960s, the Hell Gap site provided the backbone of North American Paleoindian chronology. Paleoindian complexes defined over the previous 30 years lacked solid evidence of temporal relationships. The new science of radiocarbon dating preceded the investigations of Hell Gap, but the solid carbon assaying and the requirement for large samples proved incapable of enhancing our understanding of cultural sequencing of this early period. The 10 cultural complexes found superimposed on each other at Hell Gap, demonstrated the cultural succession of the complexes found at the site, several of which were newly defined. Sixty years later, renewed site investigations show the reliability of the original results and contribute to current debates of Paleoindian lifeways. The focus of this presentation is on one of the earliest components at Hell Gap, the Folsom occupation. Although recent reinvestigations suggest that the Hell Gap valley represents palimpsests of small recurring occupations, the Folsom component appears to be a single longer term episode of site occupation. Evidence for a more substantial Folsom occupation is discussed as is the nature of on site activities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Papers in Celebration of Bruce B. Huckell, Part 1   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50833