Submitted by coldrum ---
Thousands of years before Euro-Americans “discovered” the bubbling mudpots and eruptive geysers of what is now Yellowstone National Park, early Americans were spending part of their summer camping in the Yellowstone Lake area. “It’s always been a destination resort,” said Elaine Hale, park archaeologist. “For at least 10,000 years, people have been using the lake area.”
Thanks to archaeological digs around Yellowstone Lake last summer by University of Montana assistant archaeology professor Douglas MacDonald and 13 graduate and undergrad students, park officials are now getting a broader picture of early human use of the lake area.
“The lake may have served as a crossroads of sorts for Native Americans from multiple regions,” MacDonald said.
Obsidian, a valued rock used to create razor-sharp points for weapons and tools, is located about 20 miles to the northwest at Obsidian Cliff. The lake area contains a variety of flora — as varied as camas and wild onions — that would have made a tasty stew or herbal medicines. And there was plenty of wildlife in the region. One archaeological site turned up blood residue from bear, wolf and deer as well as rabbit sinew.
“The lake area was clearly an important warm-weather hunting and gathering grounds for Native Americans from all over the northwestern Great Plains, northern Great Basin and northern Rocky Mountains,” MacDonald said.
His group’s explorations are part of the university’s Montana-Yellowstone Archaeological Project, which is now entering its fourth year. The partnership offers students the opportunity to perform field work while Yellowstone receives inexpensive research help.
MacDonald’s crew made some unique finds last summer. Along the northeast shore, the crew uncovered the park’s first Early Archaic hearth, dating to 5,800 years ago.
“The feature indicates that Native Americans used the park during the hot and dry altithermal climate period,” MacDonald said. The Altithermal Period followed the last ice age, after large mammals like woolly mammoths had become extinct. Yellowstone Lake, during that time, would have been a huge oasis drawing people, and wildlife, from throughout the region.
“There are sites along the lake where there was extensive processing of hides,” Hale said. “We found sites where freshly quarried obsidian cobble had been transported to the area. This is a lithic workshop area.”
Another campsite was littered with about a dozen shaft abraders, used to smooth arrows and spears.
Another unique find was a large obsidian spear point. MacDonald theorized that the point was created for ceremonial purposes, since it’s half again as large as other spear points of the period.
“It is well known that Obsidian Cliff obsidian was traded eastward to the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys,” MacDonald said. “Some archaeologists also speculate that Hopewell Native Americans themselves actually traveled to Obsidian Cliff to collect obsidian.
For more about archaeology in Yellowstone, see billingsgazette.com.
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