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NUMBER 30 199
1977-78 caused the arroyo walls to collapse and
significantly reduced its value as a trap without
the addition of some sort of restraining structure.
However, in 1979, the debris from the 1978 event
was removed by runoff during a heavy thunderstorm
and it regained the proper configuration
for a large animal trap.
The uppermost level (Cody-Alberta) is the only
one containing sufficient bison remains to allow
for a time of year determination. Aging of the
animals based on tooth eruption indicated a winter
kill. Included in the bone bed are large, articulated
units along with larger numbers of disarticulated
individual bones similar to the situation
at Horner site that suggests a large meat cache.
The incomplete nature of the site, however, made
it impossible to determine the complete range of
site activities occurring there. The cultural levels
below Cody-Alberta were too incomplete to allow
aging of the animals. However, the investigators
suggest that the older components reflect large
animal procurement. The Polsom component at
the Carter-Kerr/McGee site is highly reminiscent
of the Polsom component at Agate Basin and
perhaps both reflect similar cultural activities.
The seasonality of other Paleo-Indian bison
kills in and near the Northwestern Plains was also
late fall and winter. These include the Casper site
during Hell Gap times and Jones-Miller (Reher,
1974:113-124) also of Hell Gap age (Stanford,
pers. comm.). The Hudson-Meng site of the Alberta
cultural complex was determined to be a
late October or November kill (Agenbroad,
1978:30-31). In contrast the Olsen-Chubbuck bison
kill (Wheat, 1972) was probably a summer
kill (Prison, 1978:291-292), which makes it somewhat
of an anomaly among other Paleo-Indian
bison kills.
The Hawken Site
Altithermal conditions and their effects on bison
still remain largely hypothetical and conjectural.
However, we can document the pattern of
winter and early spring bison killing at the Hawken
site (Prison, Wilson, and Wilson, 1976) in the
Black Hills area of Wyoming and South Dakota.
At 6,500 to 6,000 years ago, these arroyo bison
kills of the Altithermal or early Plains Archaic
period appear to be late continuations of the
Paleo-Indian pattern. Bison of a size intermediate
between those of the Paleo-Indian period and
those of the present day were trapped toward the
heads of steep-sided arroyos leading away from a
large, flat gathering area. The camp area for the
Hawken site was not located at the kill since the
arroyo bottom was not suitable for a camp. It was
probably nearby, however, since the immediate
site area presents many favorable camp locations,
but is highly eroded due to sandy soils.
The Hawken site is highly reminiscent of the
bison procurement situation at the Carter-Kerr/
McGee site. Stratified deposits of bison bones at
the Hawken site itself and at single component
situations in other arroyos nearby suggest a recurring
pattern over a long period of time. Radiocarbon
dates, 6470±140 B.P. (RL 185);
6270±170B.P. (RL437);6010±170B.P. (RL484),
further support this contention (Prison, 1978:41).
Large samples of ageable bison dentitions provide
seasonal determinations.
Possible Clovis Meat Caches on the High
Plains
The Colby site in the Big Horn Basin of northcentral
Wyoming (Prison, 1976, 1978) provides
evidence suggesting meat caching during Clovis
times. Evidence of site activity was preserved in
the bottom of a wide, deep, steep-sided arroyo as
the result of aggradation subsequent to the event.
As at the Agate Basin site, the arroyo at the Colby
site filled with alluvium during late Paleo-Indian
times.
At present the site area appears much different
from that of Clovis times. Instead of the deep
arroyo, the present one is shallow with gentle
slopes; lateral tributaries have formed a small,
dendritic drainage pattern (Albanese, 1978:381-
383). Downcutting has removed all of the Clovis
occupation surface except for a small amount in
the bottom of the old arroyo. Within this, how-