Lower Salmon River 

Archaeological Field School on Lower Salmon River Site in Idaho 
Read daily updates the OSU Field School Blog

The Oregon State University Archaeology Field School, lead by Dr. Loren Davis, resumed excavations at the Cooper's Ferry site in the summer of 2010. The field school, funded through a BLM challenge cost share program, allowed students from OSU, under the direction of Dr. Loren Davis, to excavate an area and gather data about how people lived in the canyon thousands of years ago.  The Cooper's Ferry site is located in the beautiful lower Salmon River canyon of western Idaho and contains some of the earliest evidence of humans in the Pacific Northwest. The 1997 OSU excavations at the Cooper's Ferry site revealed a long record of repeated human occupation, beginning with a Western Stemmed Tradition assemblage associated with radiocarbon dates of 11,370 and 11,410 14C years BP. These dates are controversial and, if true, support arguments that peoples bearing the Clovis tradition were not the first to settle the Far West.  OSU's work at the site is building upon the exciting information collected already and is seeking to address many archaeological questions related to the evolution of technology, economic patterns, and environmental conditions during the late Pleistocene to early Holocene period (ca. 13,000-13,000 cal BP). Ultimately, these new excavations at Cooper's Ferry will hopefully contribute critical data to answer many questions about the first peoples of the Pacific Northwest and, by extension, the Americas.

More Links

About.com / OSU Field School

Summary of Early Idaho Archaeologic Sites

Cultural Chronology of the Lower Salmon River (pdf), DAVIS, Loren G., Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University

Measuring Late Quaternary Geoecological Relationships In The Lower Salmon River Canyon, Idaho, DAVIS, Loren G., Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University

Geoarchaeological Perspectives and Archaeological Interpretations of Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Cultural Behavior in the Lower Salmon River Canyon, Idaho, DAVIS, Loren G., Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University

  

Evidence of the past can be easily damaged by current activities. Along the Lower Salmon River the degree of damage from various sources of deterioration is accelerating. Thus, public land users must be more aware of what the cultural resources represent, how irreplaceable these resources are, and what actions each person can take to ensure evidence of past human activity is not destroyed. We hope your activities along the Lower Salmon River are enjoyable and that the people who preceded you left the environment in a condition suitable for your use, as we hope you leave it for those who follow you.