Brigham Young University archaeologists have uncovered what may be evidence of the oldest structure yet found in Utah - a pit structure of some kind dating to about 1800 B.C.
Archaeologists Jim Wilde and Joel Janetski of the BYU Office of Public Archaeology were excavating a prehistoric hunting camp near Salina Canyon when a basin-shaped depression with ancient post holes was discovered in sediments dating to between 3800 and 4000 years ago."It could be the oldest known structure in Utah if it indeed turns out to be a structure," Janetski said. "It looks like a structure, but we aren't certain that it is."
In recent years, archaeologists have uncovered a number of early pit houses dating from about 300 B.C. to 100 A.D. - the oldest structures found in Utah so far. Similar structures in Colorado date to about 900 B.C.
If the BYU discovery is confirmed through additional research, it could push back the origins of Utah architecture another 1,000 years into a period when scientists had traditionally assumed nomadic peoples lived in caves and rock shelters.
The BYU excavation, at a site called Aspen Shelter, was also in a rock shelter, and Janetski and Wilde found evidence of a prehistoric hunting camp, as they expected. But unexpected was the discovery of the outer edge of the circular depression on the last days of excavations.
"Towards the middle of the shelter we uncovered the edge of a basin-shaped pit estimated to be four meters in diameter," Wilde said. "And we found four small post holes that appear to have provided sockets for a super-structure."
The researchers hope to return to the site next year under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to complete excavations and determine if the depression is the remains of a structure, perhaps a living quarter.
Only about one fourth of the depression was excavated this year.
If it is an ancient structure, it could shed new information on life during the Archaic period (8000 B.C. through about the time of Christ) when prehistoric peoples were believed to be highly mobile hunters and gatherers. In the area of Salina Canyon, the hunting and gathering lifestyle gave way to the agriculturally based Fremont culture about 600 A.D.
BYU researchers went to the site last summer at the request of the Forest Service to search for evidence of Archaic hunting practices. The site, at an elevation of 8,000 feet, is believed to be a seasonal hunting camp used during the fall.
While excavating a portion of the rock shelter, the archaeologists found large numbers of deer bone, including skull fragments with the antlers still attached. They also found a few grinding stones and other stone tools and projectile points.
The researchers sifted through soils about a meter deep in cultural evidence, indicating the site was used over a long period of time. Below that were silts and sands a meter deep that were deposited by an ancient spring.
The archaeologists focused their excavations on the eastern half of the shelter and enlarged their pits to expose different levels of stratigraphy. That revealed a number of fire hearths and charcoal deposits.
In the top levels, Janetski and Wilde found evidence of a limited Fremont occupation dating to about 600 A.D. Below that was a much deeper Archaic occupation dating continuously from 2000 B.C. to 600 A.D. The evidence of the pit structure is located in the level of sand and sediments below the oldest occupation level.