How long have people lived in what is now Montana? When did they arrive, and where did they come from? For over a century, archaeologists have worked alongside Montana's Indigenous peoples to answer these questions. While much has been learned about the origins of the first people to inhabit this region, the exact routes they took and the timing of their arrival remain unclear.

Explore the deep history of Montana, highlighting key archaeological sites and the methods used to date and trace the origin of the artifacts discovered. This engaging and informative work sheds light on how archaeologists have approached the major questions surrounding the peopling of Big Sky Country.

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Doug MacDonald is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Montana, Missoula. He received his graduate degrees from Washington State University in the 1990s. Since 2006, his archaeological research has focused on the Native American archaeology of Montana, Wyoming, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. He is particularly interested in the earliest migrations of Native Americans to North America. Previously-published books include Montana Before History (2012) and Before Yellowstone: Native American Archaeology in the National Park (2018). Before Yellowstoneprovides an overview of the last 11,000 years of Native American use of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. MacDonald’s Yellowstone archaeology project has provided research for the completion of more than 20 graduate student projects, as well as more than 30 published articles and book chapters, many of which appear in the two-volume book series entitled Yellowstone Archaeology.