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The Shoup Rock Shelters are two prehistoric
rock shelter A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...
s located in
Lemhi County Lemhi County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,974. The largest city and county seat is Salmon. The county was established in 1869, named after Fort Lemhi (or Limhi), a remote Mormon mis ...
,
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
. The rock shelters, which were excavated in 1965, are located in a rift valley within the
Bitterroot Range The Bitterroot Range is a mountain range and a subrange of the Rocky Mountains that runs along the border of Montana and Idaho in the northwestern United States. The range spans an area of and is named after the bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva' ...
, near the Salmon River. The shelters provide evidence that the surrounding area had been occupied for at least 8000–8500 years before the present. In addition, the continuity of the archaeological remains found at the site suggests that the original inhabitants are the ancestors of the
Northern Shoshone Northern Shoshone are Shoshone of the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho and the northeast of the Great Basin where Idaho, Wyoming and Utah meet. They are culturally affiliated with the Bannock people and are in the Great Basin classification ...
and stayed in the region permanently after settling it. The rock shelters were added to 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 November 8, 1974.


References

Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Idaho Geography of Lemhi County, Idaho National Register of Historic Places in Lemhi County, Idaho {{Idaho-NRHP-stub