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Frequently Asked Archaeology Questions
What should I do if I find artifacts?
Public lands in Utah can be informative places to learn about the past. Traces of Utah's human history can be seen in sites ranging from scatters of artifacts, ruins, old cabins, rock art, and old hunting camps. Artifacts on public lands are protected
by state and federal laws. It is illegal and unethical to collect artifacts on public lands. Artifacts are items made or used by humans and include arrowheads or flakes, pottery or potsherds, mats, baskets, rock art, and even old bottles and cans.
All of these are protected under the law. Sketch and/or photograph the artifacts, but leave them behind for others to enjoy. Never dig in an archaeological site or collect artifacts from the surface. You may want to report findings to the local federal land managing agency (BLM or Forest Service) or to the State Archaeologists Office.
What should I do if I find bones?
Human remains, including any part of a human body in any stage of decomposition, including ancient human remains, are protected under state and federal laws. In Utah, the state law covers human remains found on private lands as well. If
you find human remains, contact the local law enforcement agency.
Who do I call if I see someone destroying a site?
If you witness persons damaging or illegally digging in an archaeological site, call local law enforcement with a description
of the persons and their vehicle. Get a license number if possible. Don't try to apprehend or confront them yourself; leave
that up to law enforcement. On federal lands, you can call 1-800-722-3998 to report archaeological vandalism.
Where can I learn more about archaeology in Utah?
By becoming a member of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society (USAS), you can be involved with professional archaeologists in the field and in the laboratory. For more information on USAS, contact Ron Rood, Assistant State Archaeologist.
How long have people lived in Utah?
Native peoples have occupied Utah for the last 10,000 - 11,000 years (at least).
What tribes live here in the distant past?
Archaeologists don't know what "tribes" lived in Utah thousands of years ago. We have our own names for them that help
us categorize them and understand them. Archaeologists use the terms Paleoindian, Archaic, Fremont, and Anasazi to describe the prehistoric cultures of Utah.
When did Indians begin to use horses?
Horses were reintroduced to North America by the Spanish in the 1500s. Native groups began to use horses in the
Southwest soon after, and within 150 years most groups in the western United States had horses. For thousands of
years of Utah's past, Native Americans walked from place to place.
What animals did Indian people domesticate?
Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, and all of the prehistoric groups in Utah had domesticated dogs.
The Anasazi also domesticated the turkey. Horses were not used until the 1600s.
What crops were grown by Indians?
Here in Utah, Native groups started experimenting with corn about 2,500 years ago. The Fremont lived a mixed life of
hunting and gathering along with the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash. The Anasazi depended heavily on these
same crops. At the same time, the Fremont and the Anasazi continued to gather wild plant foods. Tools for plant
processing, the mano or handstone and the metate or grinding stone, are often found at archaeological sites in Utah.
When did Indians begin using the bow and arrow?
Bow and arrow technology came into Utah roughly 2,500 years ago. Prior to the bow, people used an atlatl or spear
thrower for hunting.
What Native groups were here when the European settlers arrived?
Utah is the historic home to the Utes, Paiutes, Goshutes, Navajo, and Shoshone.
Were some tribes rich and other tribes poor?
Try to think of this in terms of different cultures. All of the Native American groups who lived here were very different from
each other. Some groups possessed finely made pottery and lived in masonry buildings, while others lived a nomadic
lifestyle as hunters and gatherers. Groups were different and cannot be compared in terms of rich and poor, good or
bad.
When did Indians first make pottery?
The Fremont and the Anasazi were the first groups to use pottery in Utah. About 2,000 years ago the idea of pottery
reached the Southwest. Pottery was made by coiling strands of clay mixed with a temper, usually sand or crushed rock.
Much of the pottery made in Utah is what archaeologists call "grey-ware," due to its color. Both the Anasazi and Fremont made excellent pottery, and some of it was decorated with white slips and black paints. The Paiute and Shoshone made pottery in historic times.
Was there warfare in prehistoric Utah?
The term "warfare" is open for interpretation, but what we do know is that in prehistoric Utah there was violence
between prehistoric peoples. The archaeological record tells of murder, beatings, disarticulation, and possibly
cannibalism.
What do the symbols on rock art mean?
Nobody knows exactly what they mean. Symbols have meanings but these can be different for each person who looks
at them. Obviously, some symbols represent humans or animals, but most of the time the real meaning is unknown.
Are there different types of rock art?
Petroglyphs are symbols pecked into the rock. Pictographs are actually painted on the rock. In Utah, we have both types
of rock art.
Are archaeologists only interested in ancient sites and artifacts?
No. Archaeologists also study the materials left behind by the European settlers in Utah. Archaeology is a science that
studies all cultures, present and past. Some archaeologists specialize in underwater shipwrecks, while some specialize
in military forts, battlefields from the Civil War, and pioneer sites. Recently, archaeologists have started to become more interested in World War II sites: plane crash site, buildings, military fields, and battlefields.
Did people live around the Great Salt Lake?
Yes and how! The marsh system around the Great Salt Lake provided great resources in terms of food, usable plants,
and fresh water. Human groups in the Great Basin often would focus their culture on the marsh systems. Marsh systems allowed people in some parts of Utah to live in year-round settlements adjacent to the marshes.
Is it illegal to collect arrowheads?
It is illegal to collect artifacts from sites on federal or state lands. It is illegal to take anything from private land without
the permission of the landowner. Removing artifacts from sites disrupts the archaeological record because the artifact is removed from its context. Illegal artifact collection is a huge problem in Utah. Some archaeological sites are no longer
visible because all of the artifacts have been collected. There have been recent cases where people have been sent to
prison and/or fined for damaging archaeological sites on public lands.
Do archaeologists study dinosaurs?
No, archaeologists deal only with material left by human beings. Paleontologists are the scientists who study dinosaurs a
nd fossils.
(Note: We get this question more from older kids, i.e. 7th and 8th graders and adults. 4th graders seem to
understand the difference, but then it gets lost.)
What's the coolest or best artifact you ever found?
Answer by Ron Rood: I get this question almost every time I visit a school. I use this as an opportunity to talk about other things archaeologists are interested in besides the artifacts. I use an example of pinyon pine charcoal from fire-pits 6000 years old in Colorado where currently there are no pinyon pine trees. This works as a good way to introduce other topics (environmental change and human impacts) that we're interested in. Sometimes I talk about coprolite studies as a way to
talk about other things of great interest and importance besides artifacts. I often show a slide of an archaeologist taking a
soil sample then talking about the tiny seeds and such recovered from the soil and what that can teach us. I never talk
about cool or neat items or artifacts that I've found. Recently I used the example of a 3,000-year-old bison bone from the
cave on Antelope Island. I know some folks (archaeologists) who might talk about finding whole pots or fantastic artifacts,
but that sounds more like treasure hunting to school kids - and to adults, for that matter. Any chance to get rid of the treasure-hunting notion is worth taking.
Did Indians eat their dogs?
(I've only been asked this question one time but the girl told me her dad told her that Indians ate dogs all the time). Dogs were sometimes used as a food source in prehistoric Utah. Indian people also used dogs for hunting and in times before
the horse, dogs were used to carry loads. On the Great Plains, the time before the horse were called "Dog Days" by old Indians who talked with anthropologists in the early 1900s.
Where are Indian burial grounds?
Different groups buried their dead in different ways and in different places. Sometimes the dead were placed in specially prepared "graves" that were next to or within houses, and often, the Anasazi would bury their dead in the midden area of
the village. Middens are areas where trash and debris were placed, but it is also a place where the dirt is soft and easy to
dig. Special care was given to the dead person in the way of offerings and utensils for the next world. Some groups placed their dead in trees or on platforms made of wood. Some would place the dead high in the mountains on talus slopes or in
rock cracks. Native Americans in Utah did not have one specific place where they buried their dead. That is our culture's custom, but that was not the custom of Utah's prehistoric people.
How much money do you get paid?
Very common question from junior high and high school kids. About the same as a schoolteacher.
Is archaeology hard work?
Yes
Is archaeology fun?
Yes
Where have you done archaeology work?
Very common question with all ages. I usually start by saying that archaeology is pretty much everywhere you go across
the entire world. People generally expect to hear Egypt, Israel, France, Greece, etc. I tell them North Dakota, Wyoming,
and Montana. This is a good way to address the misguided notion that all archaeologists go to some far-off exotic place to
do fieldwork. The recent find of a Fremont site underneath South Temple Street in Salt Lake City shows that sometimes we even do archaeology within modern cities..