Ancient cave draws MSU archaeologists to southeast Montana
Submitted by coldrum on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 Page Views: 4589
Natural PlacesCountry: United States State: Montana Type: Cave or Rock ShelterInternal Links:
The Montana State University team had already excavated ancient fire hearths and stone flakes, but a severe thunderstorm on the final day of field work added a new dimension to the archaeology dig in southeast Montana.
As rain careened through gullies and lightning sliced the sky, the undergraduates took refuge in the rock shelter they had been excavating the past two weeks. Erika Thorley imagined prehistoric Native Americans experiencing the same kind of weather thousands of years ago.
The MSU team started excavating Horseshoe Cave in July after federal archaeologists and local ranchers asked Fisher to continue a project that University of Montana archaeologists had conducted in 1976.
Others on the MSU team were Seth Alt of Bozeman, Clint Garrett of Texas, and Dallas Timms of New Mexico. Halcyon La Point and Michael Bergstrom, archaeologists with the U.S. Forest Service in Billings, provided supplemental funds and logistical support.
Fisher, La Point and Bergstrom presented their findings in early October at the Plains Anthropological Conference in Laramie, Wyo. Fisher, back in his lab, said the team found three fire hearths, nearly 100 stone artifacts and hundreds of animal bones. He pulled out one bag that held red and grey flakes made out of porcellanite, a stone native to southeast Montana and widely used by ancient people. The flakes were apparently left over after making tools, Fisher said. Another bag held a perforating tool that looked like it could've been used for sewing. One bag held a bison bone. Others held tiny rodent bones.
"The big question is what sort of group of ancient people were using Horseshoe Cave," Fisher said.
He wants future research to gather more information about the environment when the cave was used, Fisher continued. He wants to answer a variety of questions, such as the number of times the cave was occupied, how it was used, how the rock shelter was formed and more.
"We know from elsewhere that the climate did change somewhat over the past 9,000 years, so we will sample the soil to look for pollen from different time periods," Fisher said.
Bergstrom, an archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service, said caves are well-known for sealing evidence of multiple occupations, and he was excited about the possibilities of Horseshoe Cave.
"It's a very significant site in terms of the paleo-potential there," he said. "We don't have that many sites in that area of Montana that have produced or potentially could produce real old evidence of human occupation."
For more, see the university website. Horseshoe Cave is located in the Custer National Forest near the village of Birney, Montana.
Note: Early Americans use Horseshoe Cave across multiple time periods. Spear points, awls, lithic finds, and butchering remains.
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