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Precontact history and archaeology
The ancestors of the Shoshone and Bannock people have occupied southern Idaho and the surrounding regions for thousands of years. This time span is referred to as the Precontact Period, which begins deep in time and ends when Euro-Americans arrived and began interacting with the first Americans, around 1805.
Archaeologists express their understanding of the Precontact Period in geological time to delineate significant environmental changes that would have impacted plants, animals and the humans that relied on these resources.
The Pleistocene Archaeological Record
Archaeological evidence tells us that the ancestral Shoshone and Bannock people were on the eastern Snake River Plain during the latter part of the Pleistocene epoch or “Ice Age”. The environment was much cooler and wetter, but people were well adapted to living in these conditions. Despite colder temperatures than today, game animals and plant resources were plentiful because glacial melt water was flooding the Pioneer Basin, forming a large lake (Lake Terreton) and creating rich wetland habitats (link to article below)
These habitats were populated by mammoths (Mammuthus columbi), camels (Camelops hesternus), horses (Equus sp.), muskoxes (Bootherium bombifrons) and their predators, including dire wolves (Canis dirus), short-faced cave bears (Arctodus sp.) and saber-toothed cats (Smilodon sp.).
Although we haven’t found evidence that people hunted and killed these now extinct animals in southeastern Idaho, Clovis and Folsom points (the same stone tools used to kill mammoth and extinct bison on the Great Plains) have been found in the Pioneer Basin. Clovis points (Photo of casts) are thought to be between 13,500 and 12,700 years old. Folsom technology (Photo of casts) seems to have replaced Clovis technology, appearing about 12,700 years ago. By roughly 12,000 years ago, other weapons replaced Folsom points as the climate warmed and large megafauna vanished.
Pewaishe Suakiga (Shoshone)/Pekwanishu songaga (Bannock), “It Still Breathes”: An unusual discovery in the desert west
In the 1990s, Folsom points (photo of points) were found at a site now known as Pewaishe Suakiga meaning “It Still Breathes”. “Channel flakes” found with the points make the site unusual. (photo of channel flakes). A channel flake is a biproduct of making a Folsom point. Although Folsom points are rare because of their great antiquity, channel flakes are even rarer because these extremely fragile artifacts are easily destroyed by natural processes.
Folsom points are one of the most complicated stone tools ever invented and require great skill to make. To prepare a Folsom point for hafting to a spear, a channel flake must be removed from both sides of the point. Archaeologists refer to the scar from the channel flake as a “flute.” Although the older Clovis points also have a flute on both sides, the Folsom flutes run nearly the full length of the point, making this tool very sturdy after it has been hafted. Folsom points appear to have served well as weapons for killing the now extinct Bison antiquus on the Great Plains. INL archaeologists suspect that Folsom points served the same purposes in the Pioneer Basin, since herds of Bison antiquus roamed this region during the last 15,000 years of the Pleistocene epoch.
The Pewaishe sugakiga Folsom points, along with most of the Folsom points from the region, are made of obsidian, not chert or flint. The obsidian used to make these points came from nearby sources, like Big Southern Butte. This is a significant discovery. Many archaeologists have argued that Clovis and Folsom hunters were very nomadic. They never settled anywhere but followed game great distances and across vast regions. The fact that Folsom hunters in the Pioneer Basin knew exactly where to find local tool stone confirms the oral histories of the Shoshone and Bannock people. The eastern Snake River Plain has been their home for millennia.
With the onset of warmer, drier environmental conditions around 11,000 years ago, Lake Terreton retreated and ultimately disappeared. Although the timing of megafauna extinctions in eastern Idaho is still poorly understood, we know that these extinctions are associated with the significant changes in the environment that occurred as the Pleistocene epoch ended.
The Holocene Archaeological Record
The warmer, drier environmental trends that emerged around 11,000 years ago prompted a new geological epoch referred to as the Holocene. Climate studies confirm that there have been both cool, wet and hot, dry periods during the Holocene epoch. To capture these environmental changes and help archaeologists understand how people, animals and plants responded, the Holocene epoch has been divided into three parts by climatologists and archaeologists: the early Holocene, the middle Holocene and the late Holocene (see timeline).
Owl Cave: An early Holocene bison kill on the eastern Snake River Plain
Despite the dramatic environmental changes at the end of the Pleistocene, the ancestors of the Shoshone and Bannock people adapted quickly and hunted animals that had survived the late Pleistocene extinctions. Resident bison populations also adapted, and modern bison, which have been assigned the taxonomic classification of Bison bison, evolved from Bison antiquus during this period. Although smaller than Bison antiquus, modern bison are still formidable and dangerous to hunt.
In the late 1960s, a mass bison kill was discovered in a lava tube cave just east of the INL. This mass kill occurred after the onset of the Holocene epoch, about 9,000 years ago. Judging from the variation in the bone recovered from this ancient “bone bed,” the herd included very large bison within the size range of Bison antiquus, while smaller specimens appear to be Bison bison. This evidence demonstrates that bison populations on the eastern Snake River Plain were evolving and adapting to changing conditions well into the early Holocene.
Roughly 100 bison may have been killed in Owl Cave during what appears to be a single event (photos of bone bed). Unlike the Folsom points from the Pioneer Basin, the obsidian and other stone tools associated with this kill come from much greater distances, suggesting that this was an organized, communal hunt involving many groups coming together. Researchers are investigating whether the kill occurred during the spring or fall. A fall kill involving a cow/calf herd would have provided plenty of rich, fatty meat over the winter. Early spring may be considered an odd time for a bison kill because the meat would have been very lean, but other parts of a bison, including bone marrow, would have provided essential nutrients following a hard winter.
Cold storage during the middle Holocene
With the onset of even warmer, drier conditions that mark the beginning of the middle Holocene around 7,500 years ago, these mass kills seem to have ceased. It’s likely that the size of bison herds on the eastern Snake River Plain became much smaller because the cool season grasses typically available on the sagebrush steppe during wetter times would have been greatly reduced during hot, dry periods.
The cataclysmic eruption of Mount Mazama in central Oregon about 7,700 years ago also marks the beginning of the middle Holocene. This eruption was one of largest anywhere on Earth during the last 12,000 years. Like much of western North America, southeastern Idaho was covered with a thick layer of ash. Archaeologists encountered the ash while excavating the sediments of Owl Cave. How this eruption and the dark skies that followed may have affected the eastern Snake River Plain climate, plants and animals is still poorly understood.
Despite the hardships created by the hot, dry phases of the middle Holocene, the ancestors of the Shoshone and Bannock people, as always, adapted, using the cold lava tube caves scattered across the eastern Snake River Plain to preserve a precious resource: bison.
Based on evidence from the seven known “cold storage caves” in the region, these sites were part of the expansive seasonal round and important to small, extended family groups that traveled across their territory each year to gather resources. However, the process of hunting bison on foot, hauling them to dark caves and carefully insulating meat and carcasses from warm air and carnivores, like grizzly bears and wolves, was likely very challenging.
When the climate was cool and moist and bison were plentiful, the ancestral Shoshone and Bannock people probably didn’t bother with the cold storage caves. Nevertheless, the caves’ locations were likely handed down from generation to generation.
The Late Holocene Archaeological Record
After about 4,000 years, there appears to be a thousand-year span of cooler, wetter weather in southern Idaho. However, by around 2,500 years ago, bison meat was being put on ice again, marking another dry spell that may have lasted several hundred years.
Yet another dry period occurred between 1,100 and 800 years ago. This dry phase on the eastern Snake River Plain may be associated with what scientists call the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). The MWP resulted in long-term megadroughts and the collapse of agriculture in many parts of North America, including the complex civilizations in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, and Cahokia, Illinois.
However, the ancestors of the Shoshone and Bannock people were not dependent on horticulture or agriculture. They hunted and gathered resources during the MWP. How this megadrought may have impacted the availability of water, plants and animals in the Pioneer Basin is not fully understood. These impacts are being studied.
Teppi Muhave (Bannock)/Te´iya aika tempi pa´ayunde (Shoshone)
One of the sites that may date to the MWP or soon afterward is Teppi Muhave. The Bannock and Shoshone names for this site mean, “Lookout for Animals and People”. Located on a high basalt pressure ridge overlooking a large, broad basin, this site provides a tremendous, long-distance view of the surrounding terrain. Many rock walls have been constructed on the ridgetop so people can “look out” without being seen. Women and children could stay hidden and safe at the seasonal base camp in sheltered areas at the base of the ridge.
It appears that a cooler, wetter climate returned around 700 years ago. This period is referred to as the “Little Ice Age” or LIA. Just like the Medieval Warm Period, the “Little Ice Age” occurred throughout the Northern Hemisphere. On the Snake River Plain, the cooler, wetter climate of the LIA allowed cool-season grasses to thrive. When grasses thrive, bison herds flourish.
In the graph in the bottom right, note the significant change in temperature and precipitation that follows the Medieval Climatic Anomaly. Fur trappers’ journals from the early 1800s refer to the “thousands of bison” on the Snake River Plain, confirming that grass became plentiful during this time. As you can see in the graph, we also know that the cold storage caves were never used to store bison following the onset of the LIA. Bison storage may have been abandoned simply because it wasn’t needed anymore. It’s even possible that deeper portions of Lake Terreton may have refilled, providing wetland habitats once again.
No’obi bozhe’na dawiiste (Shoshone)
The site now known as “Buffalo’s Little Brother Hill” was used as a bison jump during the LIA. The site is a real jump, just the bison jumps on the Great Plains, with drive lanes extending from a large basin to several steep basalt cliffs where bison plummeted to their death.
Ensuring a successful bison jump requires a great deal of planning. First, the bison herd must of be sufficient size for a stampede and enough people must be present to keep the bison moving in the right direction. (Executing a bison jump is very, very dangerous). Because the bison at the head of the herd can turn on a dime, the cliff must not be seen until the last minute. As the lead bison approach the edge of the cliff, it has to be too late for them to react. The rest of the herd pushes them over.
Buffalo’s Little Brother Hill appears to have been repeatedly used as a bison jump between 800 and 300 years ago when bison were plentiful on the Snake River Plain. However, by the late 1600s, jumps may have become unnecessary. The Shoshone and Bannock people had acquired the horse from the Comanche and quickly became highly skilled in dispatching bison on horseback.
