Topic ID #8104 - posted 7/13/2010 7:24 AM
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Archaeologist stumbles upon ancient tepee poles by chance
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
LORNA THACKERAY Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Sunday, July 11, 2010 8:41 pm
BIGHORN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA — Only a trained eye would have been able to spot fragile evidence left behind perhaps hundreds of years ago by native peoples traversing the semi-arid foothills of the Pryor Mountains.
It was only by chance that National Park Service archaeologist Chris Finley saw them at all — long strands of weathered wood that he identified immediately as pieces of ancient tepee poles.
When he saw the first one a year ago, Finley had been scrambling down a rocky incline checking on the work of contract archaeologists who were surveying in advance of a plan by the Western Area Power Administration to rebuild transmission lines through the park. After Finley showed the remnant to Crow tribal members monitoring the survey, they started seeing them everywhere.
Read the rest of the article here.
BIGHORN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA — Only a trained eye would have been able to spot fragile evidence left behind perhaps hundreds of years ago by native peoples traversing the semi-arid foothills of the Pryor Mountains.
It was only by chance that National Park Service archaeologist Chris Finley saw them at all — long strands of weathered wood that he identified immediately as pieces of ancient tepee poles.
When he saw the first one a year ago, Finley had been scrambling down a rocky incline checking on the work of contract archaeologists who were surveying in advance of a plan by the Western Area Power Administration to rebuild transmission lines through the park. After Finley showed the remnant to Crow tribal members monitoring the survey, they started seeing them everywhere.
Read the rest of the article here.
Post ID#17867 - replied 7/13/2010 9:49 AM
FireArch
Moderator
"They started seeing them everywhere..."
I'm sure everyone has had that experience too...
I'm sure everyone has had that experience too...
Post ID#17870 - replied 7/13/2010 3:03 PM
marehart
Interesting find. Wonder why there aren't more over a wider area if the trail was used consistantly for a wide time span. Is there a geo that would cause a travois to break at that point?
Post ID#17871 - replied 7/14/2010 6:45 AM
scottyj432
The Bighorn Canyon area is very rugged and arch sites are all over the place. It's hard to say why there are not more poles over a wider area. The climate in that area is very arid and has aided in the preservation of the poles they have found. In fact dead bodies can mummify in this area. Of course, the poles may not date that far back, but certainly appear to be pretty old in the photos.
Scott
Scott
Post ID#17872 - replied 7/14/2010 7:27 AM
DesertWalker
More than likely a bunch of old unused fence posts.
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