An Early Industry

The sign's prehistoric men and nomads were Native people, and their quarry taught archaeology more than the sign lets on. A complex of sites on Midvale Hill was found in the early 1960s, and salvage excavations at the basalt quarry led the archaeologists Warren, Wilkinson and Pavesic to define the Midvale Complex in 1971, a distinctive set of tools. At the time only the Stockoff Quarry near La Grande, Oregon, was known to share it; the same assemblage has since been documented at sites across eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho.

What the plaque says

An Early Industry At the top of this hill 3 to 5000 years ago, prehistoric men had a rock quarry where they made a variety of stone tools. Projectiles, knives, and scrapers were among the tools made by these early people who camped at the foot of the hill. These nomads hunted deer and other game, collected plant foods, and fished in the river here. They had spears and spear throwers for hunting and fishing, and mortars and pestles for grinding roots and berries. Archaeologists have not yet determined when this industry shut down. 293 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Weiser — 16 mi
  Every June the fiddlers come to a farm town on the Snake, and the campground plays all night.

More markers nearby

• 11,000 Years of Indian Occupation — 15 mi
• Mesa Orchards — 22 mi
• Farewell Bend — 23 mi
• Old Railroads — 26 mi