Carter County From Homelands to Present

Background Info / Historical Story

“The Mill Iron Site, which is a Paleo-Indian archaeological site dating back to 10,450 years ago, provides the earliest archaeological evidence of human habitation in the area. Discovered in 1983 by Jerry Clark, a BLM archaeologist from Miles City, this site was excavated by George C. Frison of the University of Wyoming and several local volunteers from the Carter County Geological Society and museum. Excavation revealed a Paleoindian camp and a bison butchering site, the last of which revealed the bones of twenty-nine bison antiquus — an ancestor of modern bison — thirty-one projectile points, and forty-one other tools. Pleistocene hunters would have used a modified arroyo trap to capture and kill the bison antiquus, with a combination of spears thrown by hand and by a spear thrower, or atlatl, remains of which were also found at the site. The discovery of the Mill Iron site yielded more evidence for the cultural classification of the Goshen Point as a separate transitional style between Clovis and Folsom, the type of point which takes its name from Goshen County, Wyoming, where it was found.”- Sabre Moore

Collections Spotlight

Points and Tools from the Mill Iron dig site

Photos, Maps, etc

• Mill Iron Area
• Mill Iron Dig 1
• Mill Iron Dig 2
• Mill Iron Dig 3

Links to other helpful sources:

• Foreshaft made of mammoth bone found at Mill Iron Site Illustration
• Hunting bison using an arroyo trap illustration
• atlatl throwing instrustions illustration