An Overview of the Pre-Contact Archaeology of the Lochsa River, North Central Idaho

The Lochsa River, a tributary of the Clearwater River, is an important feature to the understanding of Pacific Northwest prehistory. Many journals and reports were made from the contact period to the 1970s; they detailed specific sites, but combining the data from these would provide a better comprehension of what the river means to the people that inhabited the region. Utilizing survey methodologies, studying past ethnographic accounts, and reanalyzing previous archaeological reports, this project focused on locating places occupied prior to the contact period. The latest fieldwork, conducted across the river, found 10 new archaeological sites. Further research consisted of an interview with the Nez Perce tribe in order to identify known uses of the area with the newly recorded sites. With this data, this paper attempts to identify the condition of archaeological sites and discuss where the research is now and where we should direct it in the future.Thesis (M.A., Anthropology) -- University of Idaho, 201