Bashing Bones – Experimental Archaeology and its Application to the Carter/Kerr-McGee Site

Summary

Thirty years ago, the Paleoindian bison bonebed at Carter/Kerr-McGee, located in northwest Wyoming, was interpreted as a winter kill-butchery locale with possible frozen meat storage. The recent complete analysis of these 9,000 year-old bones, originating from about 50 Bison antiquus, and comparisons of the bone fragmentation patterns at this site with those of experimentally broken bones, supports this initial assessment. Preliminary results confirm the presence of 15 regular spiral (fresh) breaks and two irregular spiral (non-fresh) breaks on longbones. Irregular spiral breaks, indicated by either a curvy or angled fragmentation line that follows the normal spiral or helical path around a longbone, is the primary exhibited pattern in bones that were experimentally hammerstone-cracked while frozen or thawed. The presence of this diagnostic feature on bones in the Carter/Kerr-McGee assemblage may indicate the practice of freezing longbones for delayed consumption of marrow as well as meat. This research has implications for interpreting winter subsistence activities of Paleoindians on the North American Plains as well as contributes significant data to our understanding of Quaternary bison morphology and evolution.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

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