sky-high prehistoric villages

[gejohnston]

To an outsider, the Wind River Range of Wyoming does not seem a hospitable place. Glaciers dot the peaks, and snow can fall even in August. But in the thin air above 10,000 feet, archaeologists have discovered a host of sky-high prehistoric villages, including one that may be the oldest mountain settlement in North America.

Researchers will report 13 new Wind River villages in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Archaeological Science, bringing the total number to 19. Such high-altitude settlements are extremely rare in North America, and scientists plan to study plant remains from the villages that may help them understand the prehistoric peoples who moved to the roof of the world.

"To find honest-to-God villages up there … was astounding," says Colorado State University archaeologist Richard Adams, whose team identified the first one. "They're on the crest of the continent. Who'd have thunk it? Nobody expected this."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/20/wyoming-prehistoric-villages/2965263/