The people who periodically used the Sheepeater campsite were most likely the direct ancestors of the Northern Shoshone, primarily the bands known as Tukudeka in the Shoshone language meaning Sheepeater. The Sheepeater bands occupied much of the Salmon River mountain region including the Stanley Basin and the Salmon River including the Middle Fork of the Salmon. They were closely related to the Northern Shoshone bands that occupied the Snake River Plain and often wintered near the Fort Hall Bottoms close to the modern city of Pocatello. This is documented by the common artifact styles, primarily the Wahmuza Lanceolate point bases shown in the upper row of the artifact photo (the notches were cut in the sides of the points to test an experimental dating technique known as obsidian hydration); and all of the obsidian used to make the points originated on the edges of the Snake River Plain.
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