Utah SHPO Collection 2026

Collection Description
Six items were given to High Desert Heritage and Research by the Utah State Historic Preservation Office (Utah SHPO) with the objective to find appropriate permanent storage for them. Over the years, the Utah SHPO became a de facto repository for some items, as members of the public and even several past staff members dropped off artifacts at the office, often with no information about where the items were discovered.

We have no way of knowing where most of these artifacts came from, which complicates our job of finding responsible, permanent places for them to go. It also complicates knowing which Tribes may identify these items as their own. Work is on-going to solve these, and other mysteries around this collection.

Item 1: Large detached rock imagery panel

Description: This is a large, flat piece of quartzite containing petroglyphs. Some areas appear to have been sandblasted by the wind suggesting that maybe this panel was originally on the ground or only a few feet off of the ground in a sandy area.
The petroglyph extends nearly the entire length of the panel indicating that the creator used natural lines as boundaries for their design. Stylistically, this petroglyph is consistent with Great Basin Curvilinear Style: its abstract design uses mostly curved lines and was executed in a solid- and stipple-pecking technique. The repatination on the petroglyphs appears relatively light in most areas.
Finding the provenance of this item proved difficult. A call went out to members of the Utah Rock Art Research Association (URARA) on May 15, 1026 asking if either the rock type or petroglyph design was familiar to anyone. Several people responded suggesting that this could have come from the west side of Stansbury Island. However, an investigation of the USGS surface geology maps failed to find a match between this material local geological formations in areas of known rock imagery (local exposed stone includes limestones of the Stansbury, Humbug, and Deseret formations). The nearby quartzites (Caddy Canyon and Prospect Mountain quartzites) are higher in elevation and do not have recorded rock imagery locations in the URARA database. Great Basin Curvilinear Style is broadly distributed across the Great Basin, although this panel is suspected to come from Utah because it was turned in to the Utah SHPO.

Associated Archaeological Cultures: Late Archaic

Associated Dates: 500 B.C. to A.D. 500

Modern Descendant Tribes: Pending


Item 2: Detached rock imagery boulder
Description: This is a roughly cuboid piece of detached sandstone. There is rock writing/imagery on only one face, though all six sides of this boulder have developed a patina suggesting that this was a detached boulder. The surface with the petroglyph has a dark patina and the petroglyph exhibits a medium amount of repatination by contrast. The petroglyph itself is of a human figure lacking any distinguishing regalia or other attributes, but with three fingers on each hand.
This figure could have been made by people across much of the eastern Great Basin and northern Colorado Plateau, and could be associated with Late Archaic, Fremont, and Late Prehistoric peoples. The ubiquity of both the sandstone and the human figure make placing this in time and space difficult and thus this artifact has a more broad date and geographic range than is typical for many other artifacts.

Associated Archaeological Cultures: Late Archaic, Formative, Late Prehistoric

Associated Dates: 2,000 B.C. - A.D. 1850

Modern Descendant Tribes: Pending


Item 3: Trough Metate
Description: This is a sandstone trough metate that has been roughly chiseled and ground into its current shape. The use surface covers most of the top of this stone, and exhibits polish and striations that parallel the long axis. There is evidence of resharpening/repecking of the use surface, particularly near its center.
Determining geographic provenance and cultural affiliation is difficult due to the ubiquity of sandstone and groundstone technology, however a tentative determination of Basketmaker, Ancestral Puebloan, and/or Fremont eras and cultures has been made on the basis of its likely area of collection (Utah) and the relatively high degree of investment in shaping this tool.
This metate is whole and intact with minimal scarring from modern activities. Modern corn was ground into some areas, though cleaning has removed most of it. On the bottom of the metate is written “Antiquities Teaching Collection” in permanent marker. Attempted removal with diluted acetone has decreased the visual impact of the ink, but was unable to completely remove it.


Associated Archaeological Cultures: Basketmaker, Ancestral Puebloan, and/or Fremont

Associated Dates: 1,500 B.C. - 1300 A.D

Modern Descendant Tribes: Pending


Item 4: Utah-type metate
Description: This is a Utah-type metate made of vesicular basalt. The metate is ovoid in shape and appears to have been chipped and ground on all sides to create a smooth exterior. This high degree of investment suggests the tool’s creator(s) lived a sedentary lifestyle. The distinctive Utah-type metate is characterized by two use surfaces, one large and deep, the other smaller and shallower. The larger use surface has a high degree of polish and striations parallel to the length of the metate, with some evidence of repecking/resharpening near the center and bottom of the use surface. The smaller use surface shows some polish but no striations, and a smaller number of chips indicating lesser refurbishment of the use surface.
This style of metate was favored by Fremont people living in the Formative Period along the eastern Great Basin and northern Colorado Plateau. The material, vesicular basalt, suggests this metate was likely created and used in a village or activity site in a volcanic area, like the Black Rock Desert near Fillmore, Utah. The exact geographic area cannot be determined without trace element testing (e.g. P-XRF or ICP-MS).

Associated Archaeological Cultures: Fremont

Associated Dates: A.D. 200 - 1300

Modern Descendant Tribes: Pending

Item 5: Utah-type metate
Description: This is a Utah type metate made of vesicular basalt. The metate is ovoid in shape and appears to have been chipped and ground on all sides to create a smooth exterior outside of the use surface. This high degree of investment suggests the tool’s creator(s) lived a sedentary lifestyle. The larger use area exhibits significant wear (polish) particularly on its margins and shows repecking/re-sharpening marks near the bottom of the basin. Striations parallel to the length of the metate are also observed. The smaller use area exhibits areas of polish and minimal repecking. The ridge between the two areas of the stone is highly polished, suggesting that users pushed ground material between the basins with a mano during use. This metate had a significant amount of modern corn in its vesicles, most of this has since been cleaned out with a dry brush.
This style of metate was favored by Fremont people living in the Formative Period along the eastern Great Basin and northern Colorado Plateau. The material, vesicular basalt, suggests this metate was likely created and used in a village or activity site in a volcanic area, like the Black Rock Desert near Fillmore, Utah. The exact geographic area cannot be determined without trace element testing (e.g. P-XRF or ICP-MS).

Associated Archaeological Cultures: Fremont

Associated Dates: A.D. 200 - 1300

Modern Descendant Tribes: Pending


Item 6: Trough metate
This is a sandstone trough metate that has been roughly chiseled and ground into its current shape. The use surface covers most of the top of this stone, and there are polish and striations paralleling the long axis. There is evidence of resharpening/repecking of the use surface, particularly near the center of the use surface.
There exists modern corn ground into the use surface. There are no cracks or breaks and the piece appears stable. On the bottom is written archaeological provenience information from an excavation at site 42SA8545.
This metate was removed from the right-of-way of U.S. 163 in 1980 during a rerouting of that highway. TDetermination of archaeological cultures and time periods was based on associated potsherds listed on the 1979 site record.

Associated Archaeological Cultures: Basketmaker III - Pueblo I

Associated Dates: A.D. 500 - 900

Curation Information: This metate was discovered to be a part of a previously accessioned collection at the Natural History Museum of Utah, and has returned to the museum and been added to the appropriate collection.