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  • fauna

    • Artifact ID #: 1169
    • Excavation Unit: 2N 18W
    • Level: 20-40cmbs
    • Identification: Jaw and teeth from a fish, likely a sheephead species. A native of the Pacific Ocean, the sheephead fish is found along both the West Coast of the United States including California and Oregon. Feeding on sea urchins, mollusks, lobsters, and crabs, the sheephead is found commonly in kelp forests and rocky reefs. The sheephead was a commonly eaten fish during the 19th and early 20th century, and its numbers are low today due to overfishing. Archaeologists at German Gulch discovered many different examples of sheephead fish, but it is unclear how the Chinese acquired them. The most likely way is that they were shipped to Montana by the railroad up from Utah, and the long distance and time involved in their transport must mean that they were dried, smoked, or pickled.


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