Homeland
XIII. Eaters of Meat

The over-all theme of the essays in this volume portrays a varied, but continuous, concept of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem as a homeland for prehistoric and historic peoples for the past 11,000 years. From the 1600s on, the impacts of foreign cultures in the form of trade, warfare, disease and inter-marriage created shifting residential areas, boundaries and lifestyles. However, because of topographic security and resource availability in the mountainous areas, one group of Shoshoni pedestrian hunters and gatherers were able to maintain a way of life that provides a general analog for some of the archaeological record. Known as ethnographic analogy, it is important to note that ascribing lengthy time depth, language affiliations and subsistence comparisons from ethnographic and historic records and observations is hypothetical at best and a debate that will long continue among archaeologists.

HOMELAND CONTENTS