Five Finger Ridge is a Fremont-period site located in the eastern Great Basin. The site was excavated in 1984 since Interstate 70 would have destroyed nearly the entire site. Five Finger Ridge is the largest and most completely excavated Fremont site, making it an ideal location for testing the predictions for costly signaling hunting and sharing behaviors.

The Fremont lived in the eastern Great Basin and northern Colorado Plateau between ca. AD 400 and 1300. They are in many ways a blending of the contemporary cultures that surrounded them in the Great Basin, Plains, and Southwest. Some of their defining features include grayware ceramics, distinctive basketry techniques, hobnailed moccasins, metates with deep troughs and platform, and distinctive rock art and figurines. The Fremont are also intriguing in that there is considerable variation in the amount individuals depended on maize horticulture across time and space. This likely has much to do with local climate and the availability of wild resources.

Five Finger Ridge is a relatively large village site, with occupation divided into four periods: Period 1 (pre- AD 1200), Period 2A (AD 1200-1250), Period 2B (AD 1250-1300), and Period 3 (post- AD 1300). A large number of structures and activity areas were excavated that represent residential spaces, storage areas, and other activities.

Pollen records from Sheep Shelter and Cave of 100 Hands, both located within two miles of Five Finger Ridge, provides local paleoclimatic data for the site. During the occupation of Five Finger Ridge, the pollen record from the Cave of 100 Hands indicate that there was a decrease in grasses and pine over sagebrush beginning shortly before AD 1100, indicating increased winter precipitation. Subsequently, grasses and pine become increasingly more dominant on the landscape, peaking by the end of Period 2A, signifying a shift towards greater summer precipitation. The ratio of sagebrush to grass pollen increases slightly during Periods 2B and 3, while the ratio of pine to sagebrush decreases more radically during this time. This may indicate cooler spring temperatures and increases in the amount of winter precipitation.