A Journey through Utah's Past
Journey through Utah's prehistoric archaeology sites, covering 13,000 years of history!
*Winner of the 2022 Best of Utah - Best Use of GIS Award!*
What is archaeology?
Archaeology is the study of the human past through objects and other traces people have left behind. This StoryMap covers the archaeology of Utah, which started when people first came to Utah about 13,000 years ago. It moves forward through time, showing the artifacts and features past people left behind that have been found by archaeologists, such as stone tools. To learn more about what archaeology is, what archaeologists do, and how do archaeologists know stuff, keep scrolling and visit I Love History and History To Go .
Timeline of Utah's archaeological past!
The Paleoindian Period
People first came to Utah around 13,000 years ago. Archaeologists call these people Paleoindian. They walked a long ways across the land in small groups in search of food and water. The yellow stars on this map represent sites archaeologists have found that Paleoindian people left behind.
The Paleoindian Period lasted from ~11,000 BC to 7,000 BC, or for about 4,000 years.
Paleoindian people hunted large animals like mammoths and bison, but they also hunted smaller animals such as rabbits and ducks. They also had domesticated dogs with them, just like humans have dogs today.
Paleoindian people made stone tools in a very certain shape. Archaeologists call these stone tools Clovis points, and the shape tells archaeologists that they were made by Paleoindian people. Photo courtesy of Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum and the Natural History Museum of Utah.
In the Paleoindian Period, the climate was much wetter and colder. Western Utah was covered in lakes and wetlands, which provided food and other resources for Paleoindian people. Archaeologists have found clusters of Paleoindian sites in western Utah, showing that wetlands supported a lot of Paleoindian people.
During the Paleoindian Period, western Utah was a lush wetland environment rather than the dry desert it is today. Paleoindian people went to western Utah to hunt, fish, and gather plants to eat, which is why archaeologists have found so many Paleoindian sites in western Utah. Image Credit: BLM Oregon & Washington (top) and Logan Simpson (bottom).
The Archaic Period
Around 7,000 B.C., the climate became warmer and megafauna like mammoths became extinct. People started living in different ways because the climate changed. This started a new era called the Archaic Period. People lived together in larger groups and still walked around the land in search of food and water, but stayed in places longer than Paleoindian people did. The green stars on this map represent the many sites archaeologists have found that Archaic people left behind.
The Archaic Period lasted for about 8,000 years, from ~7,000 BC to 500 BC — which is the longest archaeology time period in Utah's history!
Archaeologists have found a lot more Archaic sites than Paleoindian sites. Why do you think that is? One reason is that the Archaic Period lasted nearly 4,000 more years than the Paleoindian Period! Populations also grew in the Archaic, meaning there were more people in Utah during the Archaic Period than there were in the Paleoindian Period.
Archaic people hunted medium and small sized animals, like deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and rabbits. Archaeologists have found tools that were used to hunt these animals, such as fishing hooks, at-l-at-l spears, and nets for catching rabbits.
Top: People made baskets to store food that they processed with grinding stones, like nuts and seeds. Baskets from the Archaic Period have been found in cave sites, such as Hogup Cave and Danger Caves located in northern Utah. Image courtesy of the Utah State Historic Preservation Office. Bottom Center: People began processing their food in the Archaic Period. They used grinding stones, or manos and metates, to grind seeds and nuts. Image courtesy of J. Stephen Conn. Bottom Right: Archaic people made smaller arrowheads, or projectile points, and added notches to them. This projectile point is made out of obsidian and is called an Elko Corner-Notched by archaeologists. Image courtesy of Savanna Agardy, Utah State Historic Preservation Office. Bottom Left: Archaic people also made split-twig figurines out of plant materials in the shape of animals. Image courtesy of the USU Prehistoric Museum.
Archaic Rock Imagery
Archaic people are also known for making rock imagery, or rock "art", which is found all around Utah! The green circles on this map show places where Archaic People created rock imagery. Other prehistoric people also created rock imagery, such as Ancestral Puebloans and Fremont people. There are two types of rock imagery: pictographs and petroglyphs. Pictographs are painted onto the rock with mineral and organic materials, and petroglyphs are pecked into the rock surface. Rock imagery can be found in many places around Utah, including near the Salt Lake and Utah Valleys. Click here to see where they are!
Archaic people created petroglyphs like these, which are located in Northern and Central Utah near Tooele, Saratoga Springs, and Provo. Many of these images are abstract figures and classified by archaeologists as the Great Basin Curvilinear Style. Images courtesy of Savanna Agardy, Utah State Historic Preservation Office.
Rock imagery can also be found in Eastern and Southern Utah, including painted pictographs with red pigment made from red ochre (a mineral found in rocks or clay).
Pictographs made by Archaic people in Eastern and Southern Utah showing human hand prints, human-like figures, and animal-like figures. Archaeologists call the pictographs in the bottom photo Barrier Canyon Style. Images courtesy of the Utah Division of State History.
Think of how you have imprinted your hand with paint on paper or in wet cement. Well, Archaic people did that too and their hand prints are still around today, thousands of years later! Do think your handprints in the sidewalk may also last for thousands of years?
The Fremont Period
After the long Archaic Period, people started living in different ways yet again due to cultural changes. The new culture that developed is known by archaeologists as the Fremont culture. Fremont people farmed corn, beans, and squash, unlike Archaic peoples. Because they farmed, they stayed in places more permanently, building houses and villages. In addition to farming, they also practiced hunting and gathering activities, as Paleoindian and Archaic peoples did, but not as much. The blue stars on this map are sites left by Fremont people that archaeologists have found.
The Fremont Period lasted for about 1,700 years, from ~500 BC to 1250 AD.
A lot of Fremont people lived in underground houses called pithouses. Building houses underground would have kept people cool in the summer and warm in the winter, so they didn't need air conditioning or heating! In Fremont villages, people would build many pithouses next to each other, just like houses are clustered together in neighborhoods today!
Top: Fremont people farmed corn, or maize, that was brought by other peoples migrating or trading from Mexico. Fremont maize was smaller than the corn we eat today, and archaeologists find old, eaten corn cobs at sites left behind by Fremont people. Image courtesy of the Utah State Historic Preservation Office. Bottom left: Fremont people also made human-like clay figurines. This figurine was found in eastern Utah near Price. Image courtesy of the USU Prehistoric Museum. Bottom right: Fremont people made pottery, which made them different from Paleoindian or Archaic peoples. Pottery vessels allowed Fremont people to store things, such as the corn they grew. They added little beads to their pottery, known as coffee-bean applique, which tells archaeologists that the pottery was made by Fremont people. Image courtesy of the USU Prehistoric Museum.
Think about how these artifacts look different than artifacts for earlier time periods. Different cultures and the ways they responded to the Earth's environment led to changes in artifacts. This is how archaeologists identify how old artifacts are and who made them.
Archaeologist have studied Fremont sites in central and eastern Utah in Range Creek and Nine Mile Canyons near Price.
Archaeologists teaching middle schoolers how to excavate at Cottonwood Village, a Fremont archaeology site in Nine Mile Canyon. Image courtesy of Nicole Lohman, Bureau of Land Management.
Between 1250-1500 AD, Fremont cultural practices came to an end in Utah. Archaeologists aren’t sure if Fremont culture changed, if Fremont people moved, or if they combined with new groups moving in to the Great Basin. A combination of reasons likely caused the Fremont culture to end and for new cultures to begin in Utah.
The Ancestral Puebloan Period
While Fremont people were living in central and northern Utah, Ancestral Puebloan people were in Southern Utah. Like Fremont, they also farmed corn (maize) that was brought from Mexico. Although Ancestral Puebloans still did a little bit of hunting and gathering, they mostly ate corn, beans, and squash as their main food source. Because they farmed, they stayed in places more permanently and built houses and structures to store their food, gather, and live in. The orange stars on this map are sites made by Ancestral Puebloans that archaeologists have found.
The Ancestral Puebloan period lasted for about 1,700 years, from ~500 BC to 1250 AD. This is very similar to the Fremont period, but Ancestral Puebloan people had different cultural practices.
Ancestral Puebloans created very diverse objects, known as artifacts to archaeologists. Some of the artifacts here include a basket to hold seeds, a worn sandal (just like your shoes get worn over time!), a bone tool, a stone maul, and two decorated pottery vessels in the shape of a mug and pitcher. Think about how the black and white mug shown at the top looks very similar to the mugs you have in your cupboard today! All images courtesy of Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum.
which has the largest concentration of Ancestral Puebloan sites. Some say this area in Utah contains the highest density of archaeology sites in the world!
Why do you think this area in Utah has a high concentration of Ancestral Puebloan sites? Well, this area contains lots of canyons with alcoves and seasonal streams that provided good places to live and farm. It may be a sparse place today with not many people living there, but it was once populated with thousands of Ancestral Puebloan people!
Ancestral Puebloans are also known for trading with people living in other places. They had a large trade network that went all the way down to Central America! The left artifact is a sash made from macaws feathers that came from Central America. Archaeologists suspect that Ancestral Puebloans even raised macaws, right here in Utah! Images courtesy of Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum.
Ancestral Puebloan Architecture Sites
Ancestral Puebloans are perhaps best known for the structures they built. The orange circles on this map show archaeology sites where Ancestral Puebloans built structures to live in (cliff-dwellings), to store food (granaries), to keep a look out on the land (guardhouses), or to gather together (kivas).
Architecture sites are much like our houses, community centers, and storage units today. These structures have stood for 1,000 years! To make sure that these sites are being protected for the future, be respectful when visiting archaeology sites. Do not climb on these structures, take artifacts, or write your own name on the rock walls. By keeping these sites protected, archaeologists can learn more about Ancestral Puebloans (and other prehistoric people) and they can also be protected for Native American communities, the descendants of the people who built these sites. Images courtesy of Savanna Agardy, Utah State Historic Preservation Office.
Want to help protect Ancestral Puebloan sites or others like it? Show your parents or an adult the website link below, where they can help you pledge to stop vandalism to archaeology sites, or even become a Site Steward where you can help protect an archaeology site that you love!
Where did Ancestral Puebloans Go?
Around 1250 A.D., Ancestral Puebloans left this region in Utah. Where did they go? This is a question that many people, including archaeologists, have asked. Hear from an archaeologist and the Pueblo people themselves about their migration from this area in the short video below.
Ancestral Puebloans didn't disappear as many people think. They migrated out of Utah and became part of other groups, evolving into modern Tribes that live in the Southwest today!
The Late Prehistoric Period
Late Prehistoric peoples lived in Utah after Fremont and Ancestral Puebloans left or changed around 1200-1300 AD, but before Europeans started coming to the West in the 1700s . Late Prehistoric people were different than the Fremont and Ancestral Puebloans, who evolved into new cultures influenced by new people coming from other areas. Archaeologists call these new people Numic based on the type of language they spoke. Today, many Native American Tribes of Utah like the Ute, Paiute, Goshute, and Shoshone relate to these Late Prehistoric people and still speak Numic languages. Navajo people were also in Utah during the Late Prehistoric, who speak a language from the Athabaskan language group. The purple stars on this map represent sites from the Late Prehistoric Period that archaeologists have found.
The Late Prehistoric Period lasted for about 500 years, from ~1250 AD to 1700s AD.
When Europeans came to America, but before they came to Utah, they introduced horses to the continent. When certain Native American groups were introduced to horses, such as the Ute, Shoshone, & Navajo, it changed their lifestyle very much. Instead of having to walk across the land for food and water, they could ride horses, which was much easier. Certain Native American groups were able to travel much larger distances with horses and could find more food sources and even trade with people who lived far away from Utah.
Some Late Prehistoric people didn't farm like the Fremont or Ancestral Puebloans. They lived more like the hunter-gatherers of the Archaic period, focusing on hunting and gathering in larger ranges using horses. However, some groups continued to practice some farming like the Navajo and Paiute.
Late Prehistoric peoples still made stone tools like projectile points, but they were much smaller than projectile points made by people who came before them. This is a base of a projectile point called a Desert Side-Notched by archaeologists that was probably used to hunt small animals such as rabbits. Image courtesy of Savanna Agardy, Utah State Historic Preservation Office.
Europeans first started coming to Utah in the 1700s, which ended the Late Prehistoric Period. One notable European expedition through Utah was the Dominquez Escalante Expedition in 1776. In 1847, people from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints settled in Salt Lake Valley and had interactions with Ute and Shoshone people living in the area. To learn more about historical time periods in Utah, visit I Love History .
Today, Utah has 8 federally-recognized Native American Tribes. Click on the box below to learn more about them from the Utah Division of Indian Affairs. In addition to the 8 federally-recognized tribes in Utah, many other Tribes that no longer live in Utah have ancestral lands here, such as the Pueblo Tribes in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
Native American people are very much a part of Utah's culture today and they have a history of 13,000 years in Utah! Read about Native American stories by clicking the box below.
The study and preservation of archaeology is crucial to protecting our past and improving our future! If you want to learn more about archaeology, visit I Love History or History To Go .
All cover and end photos courtesy of Savanna Agardy, Utah State Historic Preservation Office.
This StoryMap is a product of the Utah Historical Society and Utah State Historic Preservation Office, created in 2021 by Savanna Agardy, M.A., Compliance Archaeologist.
