In 1988, extensive fires in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, impacted
over a half-million acres. The fire did not damage all areas equally.
Areas that sustained intense burning from canopy fires were adjacent to
areas that had only ground fires. Suppression efforts, such as bulldozer
lines, hand lines, and spike camps, were potentially the greatest damage to
archeological sites. The burning of Yellowstone, while potentially being a
tremendous impact to archeological sites, provided a unique opportunity for
clearing away deadfall and underbrush, thus making normally low visibility
sites (e.g., lithic scatters) much more visible. The fires also burned
vegetation around a number of undocumented historic dump sites.
During the summer of 1989, archeologists from the Midwest Archeological
Center, Lincoln, Nebraska, conducted an inventory and survey of specific
bum areas in the Park to document the archeological sites and any damage
incurred by the fire or the fire suppression activities. In 1989, about
260 km (160 miles) of trails were inventoried. Ninety-six locales were
documented, including 32 Euroamerican sites, 19 aboriginal sites, and six
sites with both aboriginal and Euroamerican components. Two prehistoric
sites along the Yellowstone River were tested for National Register
evaluation. 'nese sites yielded four radiocarbon dates, as well as
botanical and faunal remains for discerning subsistence patterns and
seasonality of site utilization. Recommendations were made concerning
National Register eligibility of the sites, specifically the historic dump
sites. The recommendations facilitated post-fire rehabilitation and
cleanup.
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