Yellowstone Lake

The earliest intact cultural deposits in the park were found on the shore of Yellowstone Lake.

NPS / Jim Peaco

Quick Facts

Location:

Yellowstone Lake

Some of the earliest intact archeological deposits in the park have been found at a site on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. The site was excavated because it was at high risk of erosion, and that work revealed evidence of a 9,350-year-old camp likely occupied by several families. People used this area while hunting a wide variety of game, including bison, sheep, bear, elk, deer, felines, rabbits, birds, and other small game, gathering plants for food and medicine, and making tools and clothes.

Artifacts dating to 3,000 years ago have also been discovered on islands in the lake, leading some archeologists to speculate that indigenous peoples used watercraft to travel on the lake, or crossed over on the frozen lake.