The Montana-Yellowstone Archeological Project at Yellowstone Lake

Description

At 7,750 feet above sea level, and covering almost 300 square miles, Yellowstone Lake, in Wyoming, is North America’s largest high-elevation lake. Because of the numerous archeological sites that ring its 124 mile circumference, archeologist have long sought to understand the lake’s role in the seasonal subsistence and settlement patterns of the region’s many Native American groups. For the past five years, the Montana-Yellowstone Archaeological Project (MYAP) has focused on research from Yellowstone Lake. Researchers from the University of Montana have worked with Yellowstone National Park cultural resources staff to identify and investigate archeological sites around the lake’s shores. The project is focused on defining the role of Yellowstone Lake in the lifeways of Native Americans who lived within the northwestern Great Plains, the northern Rocky Mountains, and the far northeastern edge of the Great Basin.