Ancient hunters used high-alpine driveline; similar artifacts concentrated in Paradise Valley (copy)

Bison have occupied the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for thousands of years. Ancient hunters used drivelines to route the animals to kill sites as they migrated through the Paradise Valley.

Jacob W. Frank, NPS

They sprout like uneven whiskers growing on a teenage boy’s face — a jumble of irregular lines concentrated in one place with long, isolated strands spread out nearby.

Traced across the landscape of the Paradise Valley, and divided by the Yellowstone River, the marks record prehistoric drivelines made of stone that Native American hunters used to funnel bison and other migratory animals to their death.

As a whole, they represent “one of the largest driveline complexes in North America” and highlight an ancient wildlife migration corridor between what is now Yellowstone National Park and surrounding lowlands used as winter range.

The Paradise Valley contains “one of the largest driveline complexes in North America,” stone cairns that guided bison and elk to Native American kill sites.

Brett French High

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