What do the hottest temperature ever recorded on earth, the lowest elevation in North America, and archaeology have in common? The answer is they all occur inside of Death Valley National Park. Death Valley National Park has over 2,000 archaeological sites that cover 10,000 years of human history. Archaeological sites include house circles, habitation areas, complex sites, rock shelters, campsites, and workshops. Other sites include quarries and lithic scatters, hunting blinds, and plant food processing stations. Storage pits, cemetery and burial areas, rock art, rock alignments, and rock traps or caches were also found. For more information about Death Valley National Park, visit its website. For more information about archaeology inside of Death Valley National Park, check out page 38 of the Death Valley general management plan.
