Not in warfare alone: Conical timber lodges in the Central Rocky Mountains and Northwestern Plains

Abstract

Conical timber lodges are a well known but little investigated archaeological feature of the Central Rocky Mountains and Northwestern Plains. These perishable wood structures are commonly regarded as war lodges or short-term shelters built by Plains Indian groups during the Protohistoric and Historic periods. Archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic data show that this interpretation is too narrow. Conical timber lodges served a diversity of purposes as temporary shelters, special activity sites, and domiciles.