Archaeology

What is Archaeology?:the study of prehistoric people

and their culturesThen what does “prehistoric”

mean?◦ “Prehistoric” means BEFORE white

explorers

Archaeologists have studied the early people in Utah.

They know they ate animals because of found charred animal bones found at their campsites.

We also know from burial sites how the groups buried their dead.

ArtifactsArtifacts: are tools, weapons,

baskets, clay pots, or other items made by humans.

But…There are MANY things we don’t

know about prehistoric people so he have to infer, or try to figure out, how they used different artifacts.

The follow are pictures of found artifacts. Sketch a picture of each one and use your best judgment to figure out what it is and what it was most likely used for.

Artifact #1

Artifact #2

Artifact #3

Artifact #4

Artifact #5

Artifact #6

Danger CaveJesse Jennings from the

University of Utah found a variety of artifacts at Danger Dave located west of the Great Salt Lake.

Danger CaveHe found leather scraps, pieces of

string, nets of twine, basket fragments, and bone/wood tools like knives.

They dated these artifacts to be over 11,000 years old!

Hogup CaveHogup Cave, a few miles into the

Great Salt Desert, was found to have artifacts about 8,000 years old from different types of cultures.

The first group used it to harvest pickleweed- a herb that probably used for preserving food.

The second culture, The Fremont, used the cave as a temporary camp.◦They left moccasins, jewelry, and other

items.Later, another culture, the Shoshone

Indians, left pottery and animals hides.