An Archeological Overview of Great Basin National Park

This overview provides a discussion and summary of the archeology and cultural resources of the newly formed Great Basin National Park in east-central Nevada. The Overview has been prepared following the guidelines outlined in NPS-28 and in concordance with previously prepared archaeological overviews for other Western Region parks.
Although a great deal is known of the culture history of the Great Basin, very little research has been conducted in the southern Snake Range. Most of what has been done was completed in the 1930s and 1950s, and the data generated by these studies are not up to modern scientific standards.
The cultural resources of Great Basin National Park include sites, features, structures. and objects ranging from the recent past to as much as 10,000 or more years ago, and the scientific research potential of the Park is considered to be extremely high. These resources are fragile and nonrenewable and they deserve our best efforts at interpreting, managing and protecting them from deterioration or destruction.
The Overview covers the past and present environmental setting; ethnographic, archaeologic and historic backgrounds; previous archaeological research and cultural resources known to be located in the Park; and makes recommendations both for management and for future research.