Evidence for Shoshonean Bighorn Sheep Trapping and Early Historic Occupation in the Absaroka Mountains of Northwest Wyoming

Abstract

This report briefly summarizes 2004-2005 archaeological investigations at five sites located on Boulder Ridge in northwest Wyoming's Absaroka Range. Archaeological investigations on Boulder Ridge began in the 1970s when Frison (1978:258-262) documented site 48PA781, the Boulder Ridge Animal Trap (Figure 1C). In July 2003, school documented several additional sites on Boulder Ridge, including 48PA2646, a previously unrecorded feature interpreted as remains of a bighorn sheep trap (Finley and Finley 2004).