Marmes Rock Shelter
Marmes Rock Shelter is named after the ranching family that owned and farmed the canyon at the mouth of the Palouse River, a main tributary of the Lower Snake River. Archaeologists found and began to excavate this Rock shelter in the 1960s. Roald Fryxell and Richard Daugherty were the principal investigators at this rock shelter and they began excavating the site seriously in 1965. To their surprise, the rock shelter proved to have been inhabited by native people starting as early 11,000 years before present (BP). The shelter was found to have held some 38 graves of ancient people. Because of this, Marmes Rock shelter became nationally known and nationally significant to our understanding ancient people in North America. The National Park Service declared the site a National Landmark. Sadly, the waters behind Lower Monumental Dam inundated this amazing archaeological site in 1969 and have sealed its mysteries until future generations might see it re-exposed. Were this to happen, the site might once again share its mysteries with the American public and the scientific community.
