Author: Adams, Richard

Source: World Archaeology, Volume 38, Number 3, September 2006 , pp. 528-546(19)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

Protohistoric and probably Late Prehistoric Mountain Shoshones (sometimes known as Sheepeaters) who lived in and around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of north-western North America made soapstone bowls in the mountains at the time of Euroamerican contact. The Rocky Mountain soapstone bowl industry is characterized by undecorated, flowerpot-shaped bowls that generally hold more than one litre. Using ethnographic and ethnohistoric data, as well as archaeological evidence, I examine how the distribution of soapstone - also known as steatite - vessels refines ideas about Mountain Shoshone territory, which in turn makes it possible to delineate a Protohistoric seasonal mobility system that included summertime use of alpine mineral, floral and faunal resources.

Keywords: Soapstone bowls; steatite; Mountain Shoshone; Sheepeaters; Greater Yellowstone ecosystem

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438240600814051

Affiliations: 1: Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist and University of Wyoming

Publication date: 2006-09-01

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