A collection of 2,185 bird bones recovered from twelve sites was analyzed to determine how the Fremont people
made use of birds and their remains. Although bird bones are present at many of the Fremont sites that have been
excavated in the last few decades, bird remains are rarely studied by archaeologists. The relative abundance of bird
taxa and the contexts of bird bones suggest how some bird families were used by the Fremont people. We combine
data from our bird-bone assemblage with data provided by Parmalee (1980) to determine which bird families are
most commonly found as dietary remains or as raw materials for manufacturing artifacts. GIS data suggest that
waterfowl were hunted primarily at wetland sites, while the Fremont people at open desert sites focused their bird
hunting efforts on grouse. We found that the Fremont people used birds for a variety of purposes, including as food
sources and as raw materials for tools and artifacts involving bones and feathers. Contextual data for bird bones
recovered from Wolf Village and Baker Village suggest that some bird species were used at possible ceremonial and
communal structures.