Packhorses are used to transport all of our equipment and food to a basecamp high in the mountains

A pack string carries research and camp equipment in the high Tetons

Hiking the Teton Crest, Wyoming

Recording a 5,000 year old campsite high above the trees

A 9,500 year old Alberta style projectile point that was discovered above 11,000 feet in the Teton Range

Teton Archaeological Project

A USGS researcher sleds down a steep alpine icepatch with a ground penetrating radar and mapping prism in order to map the surface and interior of the ice

It's not always sunny up there. An archaeologist excavates a prehistoric house structure in a blizzard

An archaeologist catches the last rays of sun while looking for evidence of prehistoric structures amongst a large boulder outcrop

Members of the polar ice drilling team and USGS extract an ice core from a remote ice patch in northwestern Wyoming. The data will be used to recreate climate and the life history of high elevation ice.

Looking onto the continental divide an a lifetime's supply of places to explore

Archaeologists excavate a prehistoric house structure amongst a thick stand of whitebark pine.

The Teton Archaeological Project team maps a 5,000 year old campsite above treeline. The mosquitos were so bad that it was nearly impossible to do paperwork.

An archaeologist packages a massive soapstone bowl that was found near 11,000 feet. It is covered in tin foil so that the interior is not contaminated before being tested for biomolecular remains of ancient food

Archaeologist Rebecca Sgouros stands on an exposed alpine ridge high in the Teton Mountains while surveying melting ice patches for artifacts

A researcher takes notes while recording a 6,000 year old campsite

A broken rim of a soapstone bowl. Soapstone, or steatite, bowls were commonly made by the Mountain Shoshone and used to cook a variety of stews, soups, and to make glue from melting down animal hides. Fragments of these bowls were collected and non-destructively tested for absorbed food residues. We are now getting a glimpse of past diets and cuisine in the high mountains.

A researcher takes notes at camp during a chilly summer evening in the high Tetons

The moment of discovery. This soapstone bowl was discovered when a piece of trash fell between these large granite boulders. It was likely cached there sometime in the ancient past and never recovered.

A small fragment of a broken soapstone bowl. This particular piece tested positive for trout residue and marks some of the earliest evidence we have for prehistoric trout fishing in the high Teton Mountains

A researcher investigates the foot of a melting icepatch for possible artifacts and biological specimens. These items have remained preserved in frozen conditions for thousands of years, but are now melting out and disappearing because of climate change.

Cutting 'cookies' from an ancient Whitebark Pine tree to investigate environmental trends in the Rocky Mountains

A possible wooden artifact recovered from a completely melted icepatch in northwestern Wyoming

A member of the United States Geological Survey carries a freezer backpack to transport cores of ice and frozen artifacts.