Partnerships and Research
Cultural Resources at INL
Partnership
Our Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Partners
For more than two decades, DOE-ID and the INL CRMO have participated in an important partnership with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes with commitment detailed in the Agreement-in-Principle (AIP). This partnership enables tribal and INL CRMO staff to jointly conduct many general and project-specific activities including archaeological surveys and site evaluations, identification of and protective strategies for tribally sensitive resources, recommendations for cultural resource protection and/or mitigation, educational outreach and tours, tribal access to and use of significant areas and resources on the INL Site, and general planning and feedback on INL Site activities. The AIP was revised and reissued in late September 2022.
Regular, face-to-face meetings of the INL Cultural Resources Working Group (CRWG), with representatives from DOE-ID, the INL CRMO, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and INL Site Project Managers facilitate this important partnership and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect that is conducive to open communication and effective consideration of tribal views in decisions regarding INL Site cultural resources and overall land management.
Our Community Partners - Museum of Idaho
INL CRMO and DOE-ID support of the MOI Way-Out West exhibit continued in FY2023 with a display of archaeological and historic artifacts. The MOI receives approximately 90,000 visitors each year.
Active Research
Eastern Idaho Precontact Context (PCC)
In adherence with commitments outlined in the 2023 PA, as well as the Secretary of Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation (Federal Register, Vol. 48, No. 190, 1983), the INL CRMO in partnership with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes is currently developing a context to address the Precontact period. The PCC will span the vast time frame between 13,000 and 200 years ago. The PCC represents an organizational framework for the identification of Precontact archaeological resources within the 8-million-acre study area, with the understanding that the Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) and surrounding regions were included in the ancestral seasonal round of the Northern Shoshone and Bannock people spanning millennia.
Pre-WWII Historic Contexts at INL
As part of DOE-ID’s commitments to strengthen the INL Site Historic Preservation Program in the 2023 PA, the INL CRMO and DOE-ID initiated efforts to create the pre-WWII historic context in FY2023. To represent the breadth and depth of historic activities at the INL Site during the 1852-1942 period, two context statements were outlined: Historic Networks: Migration, Transportation, and Trade across the Eastern Snake River Plain, 1852-1942 and Home on the Plain: Homesteading and Agricultural Settlement on the Eastern Snake River Plain, 1855-1942. Definition of the context statements and associated time periods included establishing a six-million-acre study area, including the INL Site. Since submission of the proposal, work towards the completion of the context statements includes a record review of the current inventory of archaeological resources at the INL Site for the context time periods, re-recording of six historic archaeological sites, and research supporting the historic narratives of the context statements.
As work on the historic contexts for the Pre-WWII period continues in FY2024, research will inform historic narratives and ensuing site records for the re-recorded resources. Together, narratives and field data will be utilized in refining site types and their archaeological correlates with the goal of providing a framework for application in evaluation of eligibility and integrity of the relevant resources under the NHPA.
Pluvial Lake Terreton: Building a Multidisciplinary Dataset to Understand Human Land Use During the Terminal Pleistocene
To better understand the land use practices of the ancestral Shoshone and Bannock people during the Late Pleistocene, the INL CRMO continues to investigate Lake Terreton and the Big Lost River Trough. Analyses are on-going and will be integrated with the PCC. The existing collections for Owl Cave (10BV30), now curated at the Museum of Idaho (MOI), are also being utilized to address research questions related to the PCC. In FY2023, a total of 15 bone samples from Owl Cave were dated using AMS by the University of Georgia Center for Applied Isotope Studies. These data will be used to refine the regional projectile point chronology, as well as advance our understanding of bison procurement on the ESRP during the past 13,000 years.
Decoding the Southern Idaho Cultural Landscape Through Volcanic Glass Source Analysis
To fully characterize the geographic distribution of Southern Idaho obsidian source groups, the INL CRMO has compiled a comprehensive Idaho Obsidian Reference Collection. The current dataset contains over 2,000 samples of geologic obsidian from 155 locations that correspond to 30 geochemically distinct source groups, a few of which have not been previously defined or recognized by archaeologists and produce a technical report categorizing this collection.
Pewaishe suakiga/Pekwanishu songaha – It Still Breathes, 10BT1449
Site 10BT1449 was originally recorded in 1989 by Idaho State University. During a 1993 monitoring visit, the INL CRMO staff encountered Folsom points and possible channel flakes on the ground surface, in addition to the extensive flake scatter documented during the original recording. In early May of 1993, over 2,000 waste flakes, 11 bifaces, 20 channel flakes and four Folsom points were collected during these efforts. The site was given Shoshone and Bannock names and fully re-recorded in 2022. The site represents a Folsom surface campsite with a complement of tools and debitage, allowing for a rare comparison with widely recognized Folsom technological patterning. Dr. Daron Duke is collaborating with Dr. Suzann Henrikson (INL CRMO) to characterize the Folsom assemblage recovered from Pewaishe Suakiga (10BT1449). A co-authored manuscript for peer-review is being prepared.
Examining the Chronology, Distribution and Source Attributions of Volcanic Glass Haskett Points in the Pioneer Basin of Idaho
Richard Rosencrance (University of Nevado, Reno) includes Haskett projectile points from the INL Site in a geospatial analysis of Haskett projectile points across the Far West. This project represents a collaboration with Joshua Clements and Taylor Haskett (INL CRMO) to examine whether the distribution of this point type reflects a form of land use and mobility distinct from foragers utilizing fluted technology during the same period. Mr. Rosencrance presented the preliminary results of the research at the 38th Great Basin Anthropological Conference (GBAC) in Bend, Oregon in October 2023. The results of the research will be included in a co-authored manuscript for peer-review and incorporated with Mr. Rosencrance’s dissertation research.
Mobility on the Eastern Snake River Plain During the Early Holocene/Middle Holocene Transition: Obsidian Conveyance and Spatial Analysis of Early Holocene and Northern Side-notched Projectile Points
Jennifer Finn (Utah State University) is performing a geospatial analysis to examine whether Precontact mobility patterns on the ESRP were influenced by climatic events during the Early Holocene/Middle Holocene (EH/MH) transition. Ms. Finn is utilizing proxy archaeological data from an eight-million-acre study area to test Long’s (2007) hypothesis that the ancestral Shoshone and Bannock people remained in highly productive resource patches (such as Lake Terreton and river corridors) during the Terminal Pleistocene (TP) and EH. However, Long (2007) argues that, with the disappearance of Lake Terreton roughly 8,000 years ago, foraging return rates within this patch diminished, prompting the utilization of small, productive resource patches spread across the open ESRP landscape. This hypothesis will be tested against the distribution of projectile points spanning the TP/EH, along with associated volcanic glass source attribution data. Preliminary results of this research were presented at the 38th GBAC in Bend, Oregon in October 2023. This project is being completed as a graduate thesis. The results of her research will be integrated with the PCC.
