The Hanson Site includes two separate areas of
Paleoindian acheological sites in the northern
Bighorn Basin
The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the Bighor ...
of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
, United States. The southern Hanson I site was investigated first in 1973, finding evidence of tool working and stone flakes at a campsite. The northern Hanson II site is larger and includes the sites of lodges. Activity in these areas dates to 10,700 +/- 670 years ago to 10,080 +/- 300 years ago. The Hanson site is also of interest in
paleontology
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
, with animal fossil remains at deeper levels. The site was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on December 15, 1978.
References
External links
Hanson Siteat the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
{{NRHP in Big Horn County, Wyoming
National Register of Historic Places in Big Horn County, Wyoming
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming