The Great Basin region geographically comprises present-day Nevada, Utah and part of Wyoming. The northern border, called the Plateau, is more forested and has more rainfall than regions farther south. The Great Basin, as with the broader American West in 8000 BCE, had more rainfall than it does now, and the people fished, hunted game, and collected vegetables and nuts.

 

A warming trend began about 4000 BCE, leaving a much dryer environment and a land with a much lower population, which remained low for nearly two thousand years. Small populations lived at higher and cooler elevations, where mountain sheep were a primary food source. Archaeological evidence indicates that an Archaic cultural pattern of hunting and gathering persisted until into the nineteenth century, even though Spanish contact occurred in 1776. People lived in small, scattered groups. They hunted small game, since few large game animals were available, and they harvested seeds, nuts, and other plant foods. Variations in animal and plant resources in the region reflected climate changes, including few reliable water sources. The Great Basin peoples utilized baskets as major tools for food gathering and preparation.

To early European explorers, the cultures of the Great Basin seemed primitive and not as “advanced” as those of the Great Plains. Actually the small family groups lived in scattered settlements, using windbreaks or wiki-ups for shelter. In some areas they cultivated small corn patches along with beans and squash.