June-July 2008 -- American Bar Archaeological Field School

Oregon State University, under the direction of Dr. Loren Davis, completed field work under a BLM challenge cost share agreement to perform archeological excavations on a cultural site eroding along the Salmon River. Over a five-week period, about 160 visitors, representing 23 states, the District of Columbia and three foreign countries toured the site. The field school, scheduled every summer, helps provide clues about how people lived in the Salmon River canyon several thousand years ago. Human occupation of other sites in the canyon date back nearly 11,500 years ago. Determining the age of major landslides within the canyon has helped predict the location of prehistoric sites and the age of occupation. Dr. Davis, who started as a graduate student over ten years ago with Idaho BLM Cottonwood Field Office Archeologist David Sisson, continues to work with BLM conducting research, writing papers and bringing students to the area who continue the work. News of the excavation spread among the river users; drawing many groups of rafters to the site where Dr. Davis or his students explained the project and showed visitors some of their findings, including stone tools, debitage from tool making, and mussels which provide data to determine paleoclimatic conditions.