I am puzzled about why we dont find points like you guys do down south, all I can figure is that the repetitive cycle of fires has broken up all the points. The other thing I was thinking is that early inhabitants were in much greater numbers down south than they were up here? Pictographs are few here as well, you have many, thanks kaywoodie, interesting.
Most all artifacts tell a story of the people that made and used them. The Northern parts of the United States, specifically Montana, were inhabited more by the hunting and nomadic tribes rather than the resident tribes of the south. Artifacts around here are mostly small and utilitarian..
My mother and I collected hundreds of artifacts that were indicative of the local Indian tribes that frequented the area around Yellowstone Park. Most were obsidian, with some chirt and basalt. Most are arrowheads, knives and scrapers.
There was a proposal for a ski area near Hebgen Lake in the early 70’s and an EIS was done of that area where the ski resort was proposed. They heard about our collection and wanted to see it.
Our collection was sent to New Jersey back in the early 1970’s for forensic data to determine the age of the points. Obsidian can be dated by how far moisture penetrated the surface of the material. Other points were aged by the style of the point itself. The oldest point I found was dated about 8,000 years old, but it wasn’t obsidian.
I haven’t looked there for years now, but would assume there are still some artifacts that we didn’t find. I keep thinking I should go back and look for more...
Thanks for that, I do wonder the role fire plays in recovering artifacts intact, or at all, interesting.
