Record-breaking glacial retreat in the Southern Rocky Mountains has exposed perfectly preserved hunting structures used by the ancestors of the Ute People approximately 7,000 years ago. The discovery includes high-altitude hunting blinds constructed from local stone, but most remarkably, it features intact willow-branch screens that were used to funnel elk and bighorn sheep toward hunters.
Archaeologists from the Heritage Climate Task Force noted that the lack of oxygen and the constant sub-zero temperatures within the ice kept the organic materials from decaying. Along with the wooden screens, researchers found preserved sinew bindings and fragments of animal-hide clothing, providing an unprecedented look at the clothing and technology of early mountain dwellers during the mid-Holocene.
This 'climate archaeology' find is being treated as an emergency salvage operation, as exposure to the air causes rapid deterioration of the ancient wood. Tribal elders are working alongside scientists to document the site, which they describe as a sacred landscape that confirms oral histories of their people's long-standing presence in the highest reaches of the mountains.