David DeMille

ddemille@thespectrum.com

People have lived in Utah for 12,000 years or more, based on the archaeological evidence. The Utah Division of State History provides brief descriptions of some of those peoples, using the ages of found artifacts, structures and other items to piece together a general timeline.

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Paleoindians

Up to about 10,000 to 8,000 years ago, North America was occupied by “Paleoindians,” people who lived here soon after the last ice age ended approximately 10,000-12,000 years ago.

Mostly nomadic, Paleoindians hunted mammoths, giant sloths, camelops, giant bison and other animals that are now extinct. They also fished, hunted birds and gathered seeds, berries and other plants.

The climate 10,000 years ago was much different. Utah’s temperatures were cooler and it might have rained more often. Paleoindians camped along the shores of lakes and streams, including the Great Salt Lake, which was much larger and not yet salty. The oldest inhabited sites archaeologists have found in Utah are in caves in the Great Salt Lake Desert.

Archaic

Approximately 8,000 years ago, the climate turned drier and warmer and lifestyles had to change. Archaeologists call the culture of this time the Archaic.

Archaic people were hunters and gathers, usually moving around as they followed food sources. Their shelters were usually caves or wickiups made from brush.

People at this time made baskets, which they used for collecting seeds, pinyon nuts and other plants. They also used baskets for cooking.

Archaic people made several kinds of spear points. An atlatl, or spear-thrower, helped them hurl small spears faster and farther. They also would have eaten insects.

The Archaic people left behind petroglyphs, and you can see echoes of their lives in the Barrier Canyon style marks left behind in sites around the San Rafael Swell and Canyonlands National Park.

Fremont

Life gradually changed approximately 2000 years ago from nomadic hunting and gathering to more farming. Two broad cultures evolved during this time, one of which was the Fremont. This is the general term for people who lived in northern and eastern Utah.

Fremont people were farmers and foragers. We know the Fremont were farmers because many Fremont sites around Utah have granaries where dry food was stored. The climate was probably close to what it is now.

We see change in the archaeological clues which tell us that people created more objects such as clay figurines and petroglyphs. We see these as “art” but might have served other purposes.

As the climate continued to change, the Fremont people couldn’t easily adapt their lifestyle to the hot, dry weather. They returned to hunting and gathering. What became of them is unknown. Other groups moving into the area known as “ Numic ” might have driven them out or the Fremont may have assimilated into these new cultures.

Numic

Starting sometime after AD 1250 the Anasazi migrated out of Utah and Colorado, the Fremont culture disappeared, and people in Utah stopped farming and went back to hunting and gathering. The climate turned drier, with long periods of drought, including a 30-year drought that began in AD 1270. With a growing population, food may have become scarce. We know there was violence during this time, perhaps a reaction to the scarce resources.

The Numic-speaking people migrated into Utah around AD 1200. They might have driven out or assimilated the previous inhabitants into the Numic culture.

Over time, Numic-speaking people evolved into four groups:

- Northern Shoshone: They lived in northern Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, as hunter-gatherers.

- Goshute: Living in the west deserts of Utah, they masterfully adapted to this harsh climate.

- Southern Paiute: Living in southwestern Utah, they both hunted and gathered and did some farming using irrigation.

- Ute: Several groups of Ute people ranged throughout northern and central Utah. Some acquired horses early and became horse-traders, as well as slave-traders (raiding the Southern Paiutes and Navajos).

Navajo

The Navajos moved into Utah and were in the Four Corner area by AD 1400. Although the Navajo, who spoke an Athabaskan language as opposed to Numic, were Numic contemporaries, they weren’t amicable.

The Navajo presently still reside in the southeastern corner of Utah and the Four Corner area. More than half of the population of San Juan County, Utah is Navajo – most living south of the San Juan River.

Because the Navajo archaeology dates to times when there is written documentation about their early practices and ways of life archaeologists consider them in the category of “historic,” and not “prehistoric.”

Source: Utah Division of State History.

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