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GOSHEN, Utah County — A significant early Native American archeological find has been unearthed in Utah County. BYU Archaeology professors are calling it the largest pit structure from the Fremont Indian period that has ever been found.
The structure was found on a piece of property belonging to Richard Wolf. He has lived on and farmed the land near Goshen for nearly his entire life.
"(I) started running in these hills when I was 10 years old or younger, and found arrowheads and grinders," Wolf said Wednesday. "But (I) never realized this was here like this."
It was really almost by chance we found this and excavated it; and it's, in fact, the largest Fremont pit structure ever excavated.
–Jim Allison, BYU professor
Wolf and his father, Buck, raised cattle on the land for decades, completely unaware that an incredible piece of history lay just below the surface.
"It was really almost by chance we found this and excavated it; and it's, in fact, the largest Fremont pit structure ever excavated," said Jim Allison, a professor of anthropology at BYU.
What's unique about the structure is that it is not an individual pit house. Rather, it's a communal area, a place that once brought an entire village together.
But it's not just the place where the ancient Indians lived that is interesting, it's the common items of their lives they left behind.
"There was actually a layer of prehistoric trash that was really rich in artifacts, we found," Allison said. "We have probably a couple hundred arrowheads; there's animal bones from meals, residue of meals they were eating; we've got corn and beans out if it, lots of broken pottery."
And one more discovery was made Wednesday during KSL's visit to the site: an arrowhead.
"We have some radiocarbon dates which tell us that the site was occupied probably in the 1000's A.D., probably between 1025 A.D. and 1100 A.D.," Allison explained.
Students have done most of the excavation work.
"I ended up finding quite a few corn cobs — burnt kernels, whole cobs," student Daniel King said. "You hear the voices crying from the dust, (and) you want to go after it."
While the property has been in the Wolf family for generations, this reminds them they are stewards of the land — land that was occupied hundreds of years ago by a different people.
"It's been really a surprise to see what's been uncovered here — the artifacts, the bowls, the game pieces, the figurines they've found. It's just amazing," Wolf said.
