South Fork Shelter holds an important position in the history of Great Basin archaeology for the chronological and dietary information it provided early in the regional research (Heizer et al. 1968). During the second field season at South Fork Shelter, a test trench was also placed in Upper Shelter, located only 200 feet away, further upslope from the South Fork river bed (Fig. 1). Although Upper Shelter demonstrated a greater propensity for offering perishable artifacts than lower South Fork Shelter, the lower density of artifact yield—in particular projectile points and the "startling lack of chippage and shell"—caused the University of California field party to dismiss the shelter as unworthy of further work. Upper Shelter was described as possibly representing a cache cave or a catchment for population overflow from the lower shelter, particularly in later times (Heizer et al. 1968:34).
Upper Shelter appeared to remain intact from that time until the fall of 1984 when the site was severely vandalized. During the spring of 1985, test excavations were undertaken by BLM archaeologists with the aid of volunteers. The testing program was designed to assess the effects of vandalism as well as determine the character and integrity of the remaining deposit. The project was initiated and funded through the Nevada BLM Cultural Resource Program. Results of this testing indicate that Upper Shelter offers far more to the prehistorian than was concluded by the earlier investigators. In fact, Upper Shelter likely surpasses South Fork Shelter in terras of both variety of artifactual materials preserved and length of occupational record.