The 1992 field season in Glacier National Park was the first year of a
five-year inventory project to be completed in the park under the auspices
of the National Park Service's National Archeological Survey Initiative.
Additional funding for inventory came from Glacier National Park. In
total, approximately 1,600 acres were inventoried. Eleven sites were
recorded for the first time during this inventory, and seven other sites
were redocumented to current standards. Five sites were recommended as
eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
Site 24FH509, the Bowman Lake site, was tested during the 1992 field
season. The prehistoric surface component of the site was heavily
disturbed due to several decades of historic use of the area. This
material, however, still provided information on raw material types and
uses, and on the technology utilized. A buried horizon was found near the
lakeshore. A projectile of an anomalous Archaic style was located here.
Residue from a biface in this horizon reacted positively to bear blood
antisera. Obsidian from the site was chemically sourced to Bear Gulch,
Idaho, and Obsidian Cliff in Yellowstone National Park. Because of the
potential to add to the knowledge of prehistory through the intact buried
horizon, this site is recommended as eligible for the National Register of
Historic Places.
In the area of the Red Bench fire, four new sites were located and six
previously recorded sites were re-recorded. The most serious effect of the
fire on these resources was the death of the scarred trees. This destroyed
their eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places. The
remainder of the prehistoric sites documented were surficial lithic
scatters. Surficial lithic materials within the Red Bench fire perimeter
showed color alteration due to heating at both 24FH60 and 24FH479. This
did not significantly affect their information potential or their
integrity.
Inventory on the east side of the park included the shoreline of Lake
Sherburne, the east side of St. Mary Lake, and the north side of Lower Two
Medicine Lake inside the park boundaries. Seven sites were recorded for
the first time during this inventory-three historic sites and four
prehistoric lithic scatters. 24GL201, the Altyn town site, and 24GL203, a
prehistoric lithic scatter, were recommended as eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places under Criterion D.
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