The Beaucoup Site: A Bison Kill in Northeastern Montana

Summary

Communal bison kills are among the most visible archaeological sites in the northwestern plains. They can originate from a variety of hunting practices, including jumps, pounds, corrals, traps, etc. Because of the group nature of the activities, these sites can be rich in archaeologically interpretable materials and behaviors. The Beaucoup site (24PH188/189) is a large Late Prehistoric site on the Milk River in northeastern Montana consisting of a kill, drive lines, cairns, and tipi rings. First recorded in the 1970s, it was interpreted as a "jump" based on the location of the bone bed in a coulee bottom; however, recent test excavations suggest an alternative explanation. Of particular concern regarding the original interpretation, is the absence of a suitable gathering area and the discontinuity between the drive lines and the bone bed. This paper synthesizes bison behavior and ethnographic accounts in concert with a recent geomorphological investigation to hypothesize that the Beaucoup site bison were moved up into the coulee from the Milk River rather than down from above.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Solving Archaeological Research Problems in Rocky Mountain and Plains Prehistory

Keywords

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