Archaeologists Again Studying Ancient Indian Hunting Camp

Archaeologists are again studying a major hunting camp historically used by Indians in Franklin County’s Weston Canyon.

The site was studied 26 years ago but is being studied again because backfill from the original study was disturbed when the Weston Canal Co. laid an irrigation pipe nearby, said Mary Robertson, a Caribou National Forest archaeologist.

A T-shaped trench has been dug to see how much of the site is intact and whether there is more information that can be gathered from it, archaeologist Will Reed said.

Scientists during the early 1970s were more interested in cultural than environmental history, Reed said. This time, archaeologists are planning to study climate and vegetation that covered the area when the camp was used.

For example, any pollen that could be extracted from the site could reveal what type of vegetation covered the area. Also, microscopic seeds can be gathered to reveal the time of season the site was used.

“Archaeology is providing history now for the tribes, of places we were forced out off and can’t go to anymore because of fear of conflict,” Diana Yupe, tribal anthropologist and cultural resource director for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe.

“It has reaffirmed our history.”

However, many tribal members do not support the project because digging in such sites is against their belief that burial places should not be disturbed.

During the study in the 1970s, arrow heads and the remains of 300 mountain sheep, five bison and 27 elk were excavated.

Types of arrowheads found during the first dig suggest that hunters used atlatls, or arrow-throwing sticks, to hunt their prey.

“Findings from the dig in the early ‘70s put occupation between 7300 and 3700 years ago,” said Brooke Arkush, an archaeology professor at Weber State University.

Arrowheads found this time suggest the site was occupied at a later date, perhaps 500 to 1850 A.D., Arkush said.

More bones were found, mostly big horn sheep but also deer, elk porcupine, rabbits, freshwater clams and fish.

The project is paid for by the Caribou National Forest, the Franklin County Natural Resources Conservation Service, Weber State University, the Idaho State Historical Society and the Weston Canal Co.