Amargosa Valley
| Amargosa Valley | |
| Valley | |
 Course of the Amargosa River, depicting where it flows through the Amargosa Valley before entering the Amargosa Canyon
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| Name origin: Amargosa River | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Nevada |
| Coordinates | 36°38′N 116°24′W / 36.633°N 116.400°WCoordinates: 36°38′N 116°24′W / 36.633°N 116.400°W |
| Area | 900 sq mi (2,331 km2) |
The Amargosa Valley is the valley through which the Amargosa River flows south, in Nye County, southwestern Nevada and Inyo County in the state of California. The south end is alternately called the "Amargosa River Valley'" or the "Tecopa Valley." Its northernmost point is around Beatty, Nevada and southernmost is Tecopa, California, where the Amargosa River enters into the Amargosa Canyon.
The Amargosa Valley ("the Valley") is located within the Basin and Range Province ("the Province") which is characterized by abrupt changes in elevation, alternating between narrow faulted mountain chains and flat arid valleys or basins. As is typical of the Province, the Valley is long from north to south and narrow from east to west. It lies to the east of Death Valley, separated from it by the Amargosa Range and Funeral Mountains.
The Valley lies within the Mohave Desert region of the Province. The more narrowly bounded Amargosa Desert forms the eastern portion of the Valley.
It is not known when the first humans settled in the Amargosa Desert. Ancient campsites have been found that date back at least 10,000 years, to the end of the last ice age. Recent examination of archaeological remains in the valley implies more extensive use by aboriginal peoples than had been previously estimated. Pottery and other artifacts have been found that date back from approximately 1000 A.D. to even earlier times. During the nineteenth century, two groups of Native Americans occupied the Amargosa Valley: the Southern Paiute and the Western Shoshone. Both were extremely adept at extracting a living from their marginal environment, subsisting on wild plant foods and supplemented by wild game.
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