Martin, James E. and Alex, Robert A. 1986. Prehistory of Wind Cave National Park. 65 p.

Abstract

Each of three projects studying aspects of the prehistory preserved within Wind Cave National Park are discussed according to research undertaken in 1986, and the papers and presentations that resulted. The study was initiated in 1984 as a survey of the vertebrate remains in the Chamber of Lost Souls in Wind Cave. In 1985, investigations were expanded to include a shelter outside of the cave that contained vertebrates similar to those within the cave. The significance of this shelter increased with greater excavation, and much of the activity during 1986 was focused on the project at the Beaver Creek shelter. The third aspect of research is in much older rocks preserved in the eastern portion of Wind Cave National Park. Oligocene deposits of the White River Badlands contain fossil vertebrates which may be compared with those in the White River Badlands to the east of the Black Hills. Because these specimens were exposed, effort was concentrated on collecting fossils before they were destroyed by the elements.