ABOUT US
A BRIEF HISTORY
In 1965 the local Upper Snake River Prehistoric Society contacted Leonard Wasden about excavating three lava tube caves (named Owl, Dry Cat and Coyote) on property owned by him and his
brother in law Ken Huskinson, located west of Idaho Falls
The USRPS, with support from B. Robert Butler of the Idaho Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University began digging in 1965. For six years to 1971, the excavators uncovered tens of thousands of artifacts including numerous projectile points and a dense layer of bones from an organized kill
of 80+ ancient bison dated to 12,250 BP.
In 1974, Earl Swanson and Susanne Miller, a doctoral student from ISU and other members of the USRPS continued excavation of the sediments in Owl Cave, Then in 1975 to 1977 with help from a NSF grant and with supervision from Wakefield Dort, the team removed a thick pile of "roof fall rock" then reached the floor of the cave and discovered more ancient bison bones and mammoth, camel, dire wolf and other smaller mammals some dating back to 13,000-14,000 years. Folsom points were also found near some of the mammoth bones resulting in various theories to explain the adjacencies.
At Owl Cave was found the first association of mammoth with artifacts in a rock shelter in the Pacific Northwest. Recent, more comprehensive research spearheaded by Suzann Henrikson, adds further evidences to the first known massive bison kill west of the Rockies as early as 12,500 BP.
This extensive collection of artifacts is now curated at the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls, ID. These numerous cave deposits represent approximately 12,750 years of human and animal activity preserved in a unique protected environment. Over 60,000 artifacts include stone and bone tools and worked pieces, shells, pottery and textile fragments and more than 10,000 bones of large mammals (primarily bison) and five times more small mammal bones were recovered.
Theses remarkable artifacts continue to be the subject of numerous research papers, articles and presentations of interest to archaeologist nationwide.
The 10 acre Wasden Site was acquired in 2013 by the Archaeological Conservancy as is known as the Croft Archaeological Preserve (a first for the state of Idaho).
A National Historic PLACE & idaho heritage trust
Wasden Site (Owl Cave) was Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976
See Links:
National Register of Historic Places - Ref# 76000669
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/database-research.htm#table
Idaho Heritage Trust-The Wasden Site
https://www.idahoheritagetrust.org/projects-grants/the-wasden-site/