Dixie National Forest

Contact

Marian Jacklin
Forest Archaeologist
Phone: 435-865-3700
Email: mjacklin@fs.fed.us

Clovis Points

The first inhabitants of this area arrived around 12,500 years ago and are generally called Paleo Indians. They relied heavily upon hunting as their main subsistence, targeting large mammals - or megafauna - such as mammoths, giant sloths, and giant bison. Paleo Indians are typified by the spear points created for hunting, most common being Clovis and Folsom points. These points are fluted, that is they have a notch down the center to which a spear shaft is hafted. There is some evidence of Paleo Indians in this area, however it is rare. Around 8,000 years ago, a second group emerges known as the Archaic people. By this time, the megafauna had become extinct in North America and people were forced to find different means of subsistence. Archaic people did not specialize in big game hunting as did their predecessors nor did they utilize sedentary horticulture. Generally they processed seeds and tubers as a large part of their diet. Bison, antelope, sheep and deer are all well represented in the archaeological record, but rabbits, rodents, and birds are most abundant. Nets, traps and spears were used to hunt game, and the atlatl was developed. An atlatl is a tool used basically as an extension of the arm to which a spear was attached, giving the thrower more leverage. Archaic sites are found throughout the Great Basin, and are both regionally and temporally diverse in material culture.

The Formative period begins around the time of Christ and is defined by the domestication of plants and animals as well as a surge in populations. The Fremont and Anasazi appear at this time in Utah and are later replaced by groups generally associated to the Numic language, including Paiute, Gosiute, and Ute Indians. Although the Fremont and Anasazi were contemporaneous and occupied much of the same areas in Utah, each exhibited characteristics unique to their culture.

The Fremont Indians occupied most of Utah north of the Virgin River and were very regionally diverse. These people most resembled the Archaic people, relying on hunting and gathering, however remnants of their material culture is more apparent in the archaeological record than any groups before. This includes pit houses, pottery, clay figurines, basketry, and rock art. Also, there is some evidence of maize (domesticated corn, squash and gourds) prior to this period but not to the same degree. Fremont settlements were generally spread out, unlike the Anasazi who are known to have built cities of 200 to 2,000 people.		Mano & Metate used for grinding corn

The main part of the Anasazi sequence appears to be around 500 - 1300 AD, the time when distinctive Anasazi traits are most visible in the archaeological record. The Anasazi Indians are widely known for their large pueblo cities found near the four corners area and in Arizona and New Mexico.

Between 1200 - 1600AD there is a gradual abandonment by the Fremont and Anasazi of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau. There are many explanations for the dissipation of these groups including drought and warfare. The Numic peoples, or those speaking the Numic language, seem to have expanded eastward following the Anasazi abandonment. Southern Utah was populated predominately by people of the Southern Paiute group. Southern Paiutes were described as being more pacific than their somewhat aggressive neighbors, the Utes to the north. They were highly mobile, relying on seasonal hunting and gathering with little attention given to subsistence farming.

The first record of contact with the aboriginal people of this area was with the Escalante & Dominquez party of 1776. Father Dominquez and Father Escalante were traveling through Southern Utah in an attempt to establish a route from Santa Fe to California. They forged the Old Spanish Trail and opened the area to trade, further exploration and eventually colonization. Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah by 1847 and two years later, Parley P. Pratt was sent by Brigham Young to explore Southern Utah. In 1850 a group of colonists was sent by Brigham Young to populate this area. The archaeology of the first pioneers still exists in this area in the form of house foundations, farm equipment, corrals, sawmills, mining equipment, as well as many other household and commercial goods.