Q: What is the most telling artifact an archaeologist can find?

A: To an archaeologist, every single artifact from a site is like an archive of information. Each little pottery shard or stone flake or even a seed or a tiny bone fragment are all working together to tell us the story. As a young student said once, "artifacts are like the letters in words in a book." No one letter or artifact is really more important than another. When we look at artifacts together, the story begins to unfold about the past. Granted, some artifacts may be more spectacular or beautiful, but all of them are seen by the archaeologist as equally important.

Q: What is the archaeologist's most important tool?

A: You might think it is a trowel or a shovel or even fancy GPS equipment, but the most important tool is a paper and pencil. Archaeology is not really that much about digging but about the documentation. An archaeological dig actually destroys the part of the archaeological site that is being excavated. Therefore, detailed notes and documentation are a must, and thus a pencil and paper are the most important tools.

Q: When did the first people move into what is now Utah?

A: The first groups, known as Paleo-Indians, moved into the area between 11,000 and 7,500 year ago. They were considered hunters and gatherers. They used stone-tipped spears, various stone tools and some grinding implements. They encountered a wide range of animals, including mammoth, mastodon, horse, camel, bison, birds and fish.

Q: What is the Archaic culture?

A: These were people who lived here between 7,500 and 2,500 years ago. They also were hunters and gatherers. They used atlatls and darts in addition to chipped-stone tools and interacted with a wide range of modern flora and fauna. Archaeological evidence points to use of winter base camps and pit houses.

Q: When did the Fremont culture exist?

A: People known as the Fremont lived over most of Utah some 2,000 to 750 years ago. They were part-time horticulturists and part-time hunters. They had bow-and-arrow technology and lived in pit-house villages.

Q: Were the Fremont a single ethnic group that all spoke the same language?