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Deep Time Perspectives on Nez Perce Culture from the Cooper's Ferry/Nipéhe Site, Idaho
Dr. Loren G. Davis

Archaeological excavations conducted at the Cooper's Ferry/Nipéhe site in Western Idaho's lower Salmon River canyon revealed a long record of repeated human occupation beginning by ~16,000 years ago. This record greatly extends our knowledge of Nez Perce heritage in the southern Columbia River Plateau region and reveals the deep roots of regional cultural patterns. In this presentation, we discuss how the archaeological record at the Cooper's Ferry/Nipéhe site tells us about the early ancestors of the Nez Perce peoples and describe an emerging pattern of peoples in the Americas thousands of years before the Clovis Paleoindian Tradition.

Dr. Loren G. Davis is a professor of anthropology at Oregon State University and is the Executive Director of the Keystone Archaeological Research Fund. He received his PhD from the University of Alberta in 2001 and joined the faculty at Oregon State University in 2004. His research focuses on the Pleistocene archaeology and geoarchaeology of western North America related to the early peopling of the Americas. He is currently pursuing archaeological projects above and below sea level in Idaho, Oregon, and Baja California. He directed archaeological research at the Cooper’s Ferry site in western Idaho in 1997, and from 2009-2018. This work produced evidence of early human presence in North America beginning by at least 16,000 years ago.

Presented to the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society (PCAS) on January 11, 2024.

For additional information on the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society, see the PCAS website at www.pcas.org