University of Alberta Museums Search

The site is located in the northeast quarter of Section 27, Range 19 E, Township 7 S. Wilson Butte cave is a site of long occupation on the Snake River Plain in Idaho, starting c 14,500 bp, which makes it one of the oldest known occupations in North America. It is located on what is thought to be one of the major migration routes to the interior. Another date of 12,500 BC from an overlying stratum indicates a human presence south of the ice at the height of the Wisconsin glaciation. Six layers covering a period of 10,000 years have been defined, five of which are middle-late Holocene. There are few artifacts, but tool assemblages indicate a hunting and gathering way of life prior to the Clovis specialization. Lithic remains are made of ignimbrite, obsidian, basalt and chalcedony. Also recovered were artifacts of bone, shell, pottery and perishable materials. The latter category is only from the upper-most occupation, and includes a moccasin.