Archaeology

Utah is an extraordinarily rich state in terms of its archaeological past. Indians have lived in every part of the state from extremely ancient times, and have left rock art reminders of their presence in all parts of the state.

The Prehistoric Museum's most ambitious exhibit featuring the ancient cliff dwellers of Southeastern Utah. The exhibit centers around a full-sized, walk-through cliff dwelling apartment, and highlights some of the artifacts recovered from the Westwater (F...

This magnificent animal was discovered in 1988 in the Manti La-Sal National Forest, and is a hairless Columbian Mammoth. The big bull was approximately 15 feet tall and looked a lot like a modern elephant.

These figurines were discovered in March, 1950, by Clarence Pilling of Price, Utah in a small side canyon of Range Creek. They have since been called in archeological circles, the “Pilling Figurines.”

A slab-lined pithouse is the most common house type encountered in the archaeological record of the Fremont culture. A shallow pit was lined with stone and covered with a wood and mud superstructure.

Projectile point are often “diagnostic” for archaeologists, and when found on a site they contribute a lot of information about what happened there, especially when photographed and recorded in the context of the “assemblage,”

The Ute or Nuche communities of this region in the 1800s included the Uintah on the Tavaputs Plateau, the Uncompahgre around Grand Junction, and the Sheberetch in the location that we call Moab.

Washakie was probably born in Montana between 1798 and 1804. His father, a member of the Flathead tribe, was killed by the Blackfeet when Washakie was four or five. His mother, a Shoshone, took her young family to live with the Lemhis.