What: The Archeology of Little Bighorn and Custer’s Last StandElsie & Elizabeth

WHO?

Lt. Col George Armstrong Custer

Captain Frederick Benteen

Major Marcus Reno

Sioux and Cheyenne (Indians) (and Sitting Bull)

WHEN AND WHERE

June 25, 1876

in the Wolf Mountains, near the hill called the Crow's Nest

WHY?

Why?

•Indians wanted the White people out!•Europeans wanted to keep exploring and expanding

HOW?

Part 1: Detectors• A metal detector inventory of the battlefield.

Volunteers walked with metal detectors about 5 meters apart, when their machine beeped they would mark it with a small flag.

Part 2: Recovery Crew• People who would go to each of the small flags and dig

carefully until they found what made the beep

• When they found the object they would leave it there for the next team to find.

Part 3: Survey Crew• Using a transit (or theodolite), they set up a predetermined

datum point and determined the angle and distance of the surrounding artifacts from that point.

• They would then take notes on the artifact’s placement and it would be collected.

Transit

Artifacts

Iron arrowheads, some were commerciallymade, and others were hand-made.

Artifacts A group of soldiers' cartridge cases as they were found at the Reno-Benteen defense site.

A sample of the many bullet types found at the Little Bighorn.

Artifacts

Some of the soldiers' clothing buttons foundin the marker excavations.