Before Plains Indians acquired horses in the 18th century, hunting buffalo on foot with bows and arrows was difficult and dangerous, so as winter approached tribes often joined in communal hunts to secure meat and hides by driving herds over a cliff or into a trap where the animals were killed, butchered, and processed in large numbers. Between 1500 A.D. and 1800 A.D., tribes from across the northern Plains used the natural sinkhole now called the Vore Buffalo Jump to trap bison. Located between the open buffalo pastures of the plains and the shelter of the Black Hills, the site drew many groups seeking the area during a time of rapid and unprecedented cultural change partly caused by the arrival of European goods and people. The sinkhole's bowl shape held huge volumes of bone and artifacts, which were quickly covered by sediments and preserved in distinct, precisely datable layers, allowing archaeological study to reveal important evidence about the period and its people. After the site's discovery during construction of I-90 in the early 1970s, University of Wyoming archaeologists documented its exceptional quality and importance in two summers of excavation, and the family of Woodrow and Doris Vore donated the property to the non-profit Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation for continued research, education, cultural programs, and a planned visitor center.