Ancient history under South Temple

It is said that Utah is a “pretty great state” to live in; this is true even thousands of years ago. The Salt Lake valley was a great place for prehistoric people to live; they had access to great water through the multiple mountain streams, great plants and animals that used the marshes and the mountains, and higher than average rainfall due to lake effect and the high mountains certainly helped farming. All together, the Fremont subsisted on agricultural products such as corn, as well as fish, birds, wild plants, and game animals.

Unfortunately, not much is known about the prehistoric people of Salt Lake because of the vast amount of modern construction and buildings that have obscured the prehistory. One glimpse into the past came in 1998, during construction of TRAX light rail on South Temple between 200 and 300 West when construction workers found a Fremont Indian archaeological site.

The Fremont period dates between 700 to 1300 AD and are roughly contemporary with the Anasazi period of the American Southwest. The South Temple archaeological site was radiocarbon dated to 1000 AD with another occupation occurring in the 1200s AD.

Among the various features and artifacts located at the site were three semi-subterranean house structures, known as a pithouses. These shallow houses measured approximately four square feet and contained several artifacts including a ceramic bowl and a grinding stone. In addition to the multitude of broken ceramics, flaked stone tools such as knives and arrow points were found as well as the waste flakes from tool manufacture. A short distance away, at the intersection of South Temple and 300 West, two shallow features were found which the archaeologists have interpreted to be rarmadas for use as covered outdoor work areas.

Unfortunately due to previous construction activities, such as pipelines under the street, much of the archaeological site had been extensively damaged. As much of downtown Salt Lake is privately owned, federal and state archaeological protection laws do not apply, unless human remains are uncovered. In this case, a human burial was discovered during the TRAX construction and this is what initiated the excavation by archaeologists from the Utah Division of State History.

Other small glimpses under the streets of downtown Salt Lake suggest that prehistoric people built and occupied a large Fremont village site in the downtown area and also used much of the Great Salt Lake marshes and the Wasatch Mountains and canyons for hunting and gather activities.

Source: Kevin Jones, "TRAX Plaques Mark Fremont Site in SLC" Currents, News of the Utah State Historical Society Vol. L1.

External Link: Utah Division of State History