Abstract Large-scale communal bison hunting via jumping is a renowned tactic best known from the northern Plains. In contrast, evidence for jumps in the southern Plains is sparse and controversial. The paucity of bison jumps in the southern Plains has been attributed by some to a lack of suitable precipices. Yet the eastern Caprock Escarpment of the Llano Estacado (in the Southern High Plains) presents numerous scarps suitable for bison jumping. Recent investigations at the Nighthawk site in Caprock Canyons State Park in the Texas Panhandle have revealed an exceptional record of at least seven discrete kill events spanning 3,000 years from the Late Archaic to Protohistoric periods. We present the results of 27 direct radiocarbon measurements on bone collagen and charcoal, reconstruct site formation processes, and describe the skeletal composition of each kill and lithic evidence from this long-term hunting facility. These new data challenge many long-held assumptions about the nature of bison jump hunting techniques in time and space.
Abstract The movement of peoples, goods, and ideas across the North American Great Plains may be inferred by sourcing raw materials and documenting the spatiotemporal distribution of artifact types. One such form of artifact is the corner-tang knife, a notched biface with a tang opposite the cutting edge. Based on more than a century of investigations, corner-tang knives are understood to have originated in central Texas, from where the technology quickly spread. However, few specimens derive from dated, undisturbed contexts from either the United States or Canada. Here, we report on a corner-tang knife from the Middle to Late prehistoric site of DjOn-8 (∼3600–250 BP) in the Cypress Hills, Alberta (Canada) along with its archaeological context and obsidian sourcing results. The knife in question is a diagonal variant manufactured from local chalcedony. Use-wear analysis indicates that it was hafted and used for cutting, whereas protein antigen precipitates suggest that the knife was used to process large ungulates. Obsidian artifacts recovered from DjOn-8 are sourced to Bear Gulch (Idaho) and Obsidian Cliff (Wyoming), more than 500 km away. Our findings shed light on the nature and complexity of trade and interaction networks across the Great Plains and underscore the potential for consulting archaeologists to contribute meaningfully to archaeological discourse.
Los cient & iacute;ficos de la Tierra y otros cient & iacute;ficos naturales suelen describir el cambio ambiental global de origen humano como un fen & oacute;meno reciente; una perspectiva ejemplificada por la propuesta de formalizar una & eacute;poca humana en la Escala de Tiempo Geol & oacute;gico -el Antropoceno- con inicio en 1952. Sin embargo, la ciencia de la arqueolog & iacute;a ofrece abundante evidencia de cambios planetarios de origen antropog & eacute;nico a lo largo de miles de a & ntilde;os: desde el desmonte de tierras mediante el uso del fuego hasta las primeras emisiones de metano derivadas de la agricultura, la contaminaci & oacute;n por plomo en la era preindustrial y pr & aacute;cticas ind & iacute;genas sostenidas a largo plazo que contin & uacute;an modelando los ecosistemas y la biodiversidad. A pesar de que la arqueolog & iacute;a es la & uacute;nica ciencia dedicada a investigar el cambio social y ambiental humano desde sus primeros albores hasta la actualidad, su evidencia emp & iacute;rica y sus marcos te & oacute;ricos est & aacute;n, en gran medida, ausentes de los conjuntos de datos, modelos y teor & iacute;as sobre el cambio ambiental global. Sostenemos que esta situaci & oacute;n representa, simult & aacute;neamente, una oportunidad perdida para el descubrimiento cient & iacute;fico y una oportunidad excepcional para los arque & oacute;logos. La arqueolog & iacute;a puede -y debe- desempe & ntilde;ar un papel central en la ciencia del cambio ambiental global. Al movilizar e integrar conjuntos de datos regionales a escala global, estandarizar los metadatos y alinearlos con los marcos de datos y modelos del sistema terrestre, los arque & oacute;logos podr & iacute;an revolucionar la ciencia del cambio ambiental global, aportando perspectivas emp & iacute;ricamente fundamentadas y culturalmente contextualizadas sobre la historia profunda de la transformaci & oacute;n planetaria impulsada por las sociedades humanas.
Phytoliths have been used by archaeologists worldwide as aids to building agricultural crop histories. Analyses of phytoliths recovered from charred cooking residues adhering to interior pottery walls has resulted in a substantial revision in maize and squash histories in Michigan, New York, the northern and central Plains, and Qu & eacute;bec. Here we provide the results of the first analysis of phytoliths from directly dated charred cooking residues in Connecticut and Rhode Island (southern New England). AMS dates on maize macrobotanical remains from this region all fall after AD 1000, and there are no direct dates on squash macrobotanical remains. Results of our analysis indicate that both crops were being cooked in pots before AD 1000 and commonly so thereafter. These results point to the need for additional analyses to build comprehensive crop histories throughout New England. Les phytolithes sont utilis & eacute;s par les arch & eacute;ologues du monde entier pour aider & agrave; retracer l'histoire des cultures agricoles. L'analyse des phytolithes extraits de r & eacute;sidus de cuisson carbonis & eacute;s adh & eacute;rant aux parois internes de poteries a conduit & agrave; une r & eacute;vision en profondeur de l'histoire du ma & iuml;s et de la courge dans le Michigan, l'& Eacute;tat de New York, dans le nord et le centre des Plaines, ainsi qu'au Qu & eacute;bec. Nous pr & eacute;sentons ici les r & eacute;sultats de la premi & egrave;re analyse de phytolithes provenant de r & eacute;sidus de cuisson carbonis & eacute;s directement dat & eacute;s, trouv & eacute;s au Connecticut au Rhode Island (sud de la Nouvelle-Angleterre). Les datations AMS des restes macrobotaniques de ma & iuml;s provenant de cette r & eacute;gion se situent toutes apr & egrave;s l'an 1000 de notre & egrave;re, et il n'existe aucune datation directe des restes macrobotaniques de courges. Les r & eacute;sultats de notre analyse indiquent que ces deux plantes & eacute;taient cuites dans des pots avant l'an 1000 de notre & egrave;re et qu'elles l'& eacute;taient encore plus couramment par la suite. Ces r & eacute;sultats soulignent la n & eacute;cessit & eacute; de mener des analyses suppl & eacute;mentaires afin de retracer l'histoire compl & egrave;te des cultig & egrave;nes dans toute la Nouvelle-Angleterre.
