New exhibit explores lithic sources of Native American stone artifacts

Just in time for Native American Heritage Month, a new exhibit at the Greybull Museum examines the connection between early Native American stone artifacts from the eastern Big Horn Basin and their geologic lithic sources.
The “Early Native Americans: Wyoming’s First Geologists” exhibit was developed by Dan Close, a rock enthusiast who taught school in Greybull for 25 years and spent another 18 years as a geologist for M-I SWACO, a local bentonite company.
“The Native Americans were incredible geologists — they knew where to go, in some cases, within a certain geologic rock formation to find the right kind of stuff,” said Close. “They would pass that information via word of mouth. It was a major expedition of theirs annually to procure those lithics.