Hunting Blinds & Drive Lines

Promoting Generational Knowledge

Archaeologists and cultural resource managers play an important role in documenting and interpreting the physical evidence of past human activity and the foundational knowledge embedded therein. To generate interest in cultural resource careers, the Montana Historical Society partnered with the Montana Discovery Foundation and Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest to engage area high school students in hands-on archaeological work. The Youth Archaeological Survey Program (YASP) pairs students with professionals to perform archaeological surveys and cultural resource documentation.

Jessica Bush photo, 2023

Near Helena, Lewis and Clark County

During the summer of 2023, high school students worked alongside professional archaeologists to record a unique set of precontact stone drive lines and hunting blinds near Helena.

The use of landscape modifications like rock alignments, stone circles, and cairns is encoded in the traditional ecological knowledge of many Indigenous groups. These landscape engineering practices, devised to aid in navigation and hunting, are historically grounded in understanding animal ranges and migratory routes—knowledge that has application to modern livestock, wildlife, and natural resource management.

In cultivating a new generation of archaeologists and cultural resource managers, we perpetuate the preservation of foundational knowledge for making informed decisions for the future.

Learn more about this card and others in the Celebrate Montana Preservation series: https://mhs.mt.gov/Shpo/celebrate-preservation