Pictograph Cave Field Trip - Photo Archive


Social Studies Photographs on Things Discovered in the Field Trip, by Station: \|1\| \|2\| \|3\| \|4\| \|5\| \|6\| \|7\| Use the links to view photographs.
SOCIAL STUDIES	Welcome to the 1st Station : The Mystery of Pictograph Cave 01trail: The trail that leads to Pictograph, Middle and Ghost Caves. What is Pictograph Cave State Park? 01view1: An aerial view of Pictograph, Middle and Ghost Caves, before the park was developed. 01empty: A drawing of Empty Gulch, in which Pictograph, Middle and Ghost Caves are found. 01view2: Looking across Empty Gulch, from the mouth of Ghost Cave. 01cave: The mouth of Pictograph Cave (present), in winter. 01blngs1: Billings, Montana, today. 01cliff1: Sandstone cliffs (rims) in the area surrounding Billings. What makes this park special? 01picto1: Photograph of cave wall with pictographs. 01picto2: Photograph of the "Red Deer" Pictograph 01reddeer: Photograph of the "Red Deer" Pictograph - close-up. 0120s: The interior of Pictograph Cave in the 1920's (before excavation). 01ex01: The mouth of Pictograph Cave, before excavation. 01ex02: The 1938 excavation. 01ex03: The 1938 excavation, showing sifter. Who lived here long after the ancient people left? 01hmstr: A homesteader. 01stage: The Coburn stage near Pictograph Cave. Why is Bitter Creek bitter? 01creek: Bitter Creek flood What animals live in the area of the caves? 01marmot: The yellow-bellied marmot, or rockchuck. 01deer: Mule deer have large, furry ears, which look somewhat like those of a mule. 01fox: Red fox 01bis: Cow bison with twin calves. 01chip: Chipmunk 01rac: The raccoon is a furry animal that has a bushy ringed-tail and a band of black hair around its eyes. This black hair looks like a mask. 01coyote: Coyote.

	Welcome to the 2nd Station : Formation of Caves Sorry, no additioal social studies information is available for this station right now. If you are interested in contributing information, including documents and photographs, please contact the Field Trip Director.

	Welcome to the 3rd Station : Pictograph Cave What are pictographs? Drawings of the Pictographs: 03dr01: Human figure 03dr03: Human figure 03dr04: Human figure 03dr05: Human figure 03dr06: Human figure 03dr07: Human figure 03dr08: Human figure 03dr09: Animal representation 03dr10: Animal representation 03dr11: Animal representation 03dr12: Animal representation 03dr20: Animal representation 03dr13: Bird 03dr14: Turtle 03dr15: Bird 03dr16: Bird 03dr17: Bird 03dr18: Rifles 03dr19: Misclellaneous Why is it hard to see some of the pictographs today? Sorry, no additional social studies information on this question right now. Why is some rock falling off the walls? Sorry, no additional social studies information on this question right now. What animals live in the area of the caves? Sorry, no additional social studies information on this question right now.

	Welcome to the 4th Station : Middle Cave Why do birds like Middle Cave more than humans do? Sorry, no additional social studies information on this question right now. Why do people call the park active? Sorry, no additional social studies information on this question right now. What do dinosaurs have to do with the caves? Sorry, no additional social studies information on this question right now. Why were trees important to Native Americans? Sorry, no additional social studies information on this question right now. Why did Native Americans follow the huge buffalo herds? 04buf1:The plains and valleys were filled with great herds of buffalo.

	Welcome to the 5th Station : Ghost Cave Are there ghosts in Ghost Cave? 05ghost: 05ghost02: 05ghost03: What is a concretion? Sorry, no photos on this question right now. Who lived here and why? 05ystone: The Yellowstone River in autumn. 05duck: A female mallard duck. 05elk: A bull and cow elk. 05prong: Pronghorn antelope. How did Native Americans use the plants they found around the caves? 05choke: Chokecherry in bloom. 05cactus: Prickly Pear cacti in bloom 05yucca: Yucca

	Welcome to the 6th Station : Archeological Excavation What does it mean to excavate? Sorry, no photos on this question right now. Why didn't they dig up everything? Sorry, no photos on this question right now. Where are all of the artifacts today? 06museum:The museum at the cave site after it was burned by vandals. Why was digging in Pictograph Cave important to all scientists? Sorry, no photos on this question right now. What other dwellings did workers find? 06lodge: An artist's interpretation of how the ancient lodge might have looked.

	Welcome to the 7th Station : Preserving the Past: A Visit with Claire Dean What is vandalism? 07trash01: 07vandal1: This is a shot of the back wall probably from the 1960's or 1970's. The pictograph in the upper right is the group of rifles and "tally" marks. The black dotted line is historic as it was put there by Mulloy and his excavation crew in the 1930's to mark the position of the cave floor before they started to excavate. 07vandal2: Taken some time after 07vanda1 and shows a later act of vandalism. The area of the rifles is included in 07vandal2 - above the black dotted line between the end of the red spray paint and the corner of the boulder in the lower right of the shot - but the big black spray paint visible in 07vandal1 is not. This suggests that the black stuff had been cleaned off and then later "BEEVER", "JOHN", and "KEN" came along and informed us of their visit. Why are pictographs not considered graffiti? Sorry, no photos on this question right now. What can we all do to save the caves? Sorry, no photos on this question right now. What does an archeological conservator do? 07claire: J. Claire Dean on site at Pictograph Cave. 07claire01: Some of the members of the conservation team examining and talking about an area of the wall were a cleaning test had been carried out. 07claire02: Two samples of rock collected from the floor of the cave and used to carry out some intial testing of potential cleaning solutions before trying them out on the actuall wall. 07claire03: Frank Preusser (Conservation Scientist) examining the wall using a magnifying lens. (Looks like his nose has been accidentally glued to the wall and he is stuck there!) 07claire05: A bottle containing a quantity of one of the tested cleaning solutions. 07sn: A conservator examining the condition of the cave wall. 07scaffold: Claire Dean installs a pair of crack monitors across a major fracture in the cave ceiling to assess whether or not the fracture is moving. Would you like to be an archeologist? Sorry, no photos on this question right now.