Plains Indian Studies - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

200 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY
ever, is contained the partial remains of at least
seven mammoths. Evidence indicates that two
concentrations of mammoth bone resulted from
human activity, although there is no way to
determine the actual method of animal procurement.
One bone pile (Prison, 1976) in the center
consists of an articulated left front quarter of a
nearly mature mammoth. Stacked around this
are long bones and other skeletal elements of at
least two juvenile mammoths; directly on top of
the pile is the skull of a young mammoth. One
Clovis projectile point was recovered at the base
of the pile and one and probably two bone tools
were associated. One side of the pile had been
partially collapsed by runoff water. Half of a
mammoth pelvis was moved several meters down
the arroyo until its forward progress was stopped
at a narrow constriction. In the bottom of the
arroyo at the base of the bone pile was a split
granite boulder probably used in butchering or
processing of the animals.
This stacked pile of bones is thought to be a
frozen meat cache. If so, it is one that was never
opened. The front quarter of a mammoth, weighing
several hundred pounds, was placed on a
small rise in the arroyo bottom. The other large
bones and the skull formed a protective fence
around it (Prison, 1978:95-102). The meat evidently
spoiled as warm weather arrived.
A short distance (30m) up the arroyo is another
pile of mammoth bones containing parts of at
least three more animals with one skull included.
However, this pile was disturbed and no articulated
units were present (Prison, 1978:95). The
interpretation here is that this also represented a
meat cache but one that had been opened and
the meat products retrieved. The concept of frozen
meat caches appears to fit the data here
better than other explanations.
Discussion and Conclusions
The processing areas associated with the typical
buffalo jumps of the late prehistoric and early
historic periods on the High Plains are manifested
by several readily identifiable features and artifacts.
These include stone-heating pits, stone boiling
pits, and piles of bone reduced to varying
sizes for boiling out the bone grease. Anvil stones
and hammerstones were used extensively in the
bone crushing and breaking processes. These features
and artifacts were clearly portrayed at two
sites: Piney Creek and Big Goose Creek at the
base of the eastern slopes of the Bighorn Mountains
in north-central Wyoming. Cultural affiliations
of the two sites are believed to be with the
Crow Indians after they had moved to the High
Plains as buffalo hunters (Prison, 1967:37-39;
Prison, Wilson, and Walker, 1978:1-2).
The bison at these two sites were killed in the
early fall by jumping the animals over low bluffs.
Processing areas were close to the kill areas. Large
numbers of broken bones along with anvil stones,
hammer stones, fire pits, stone boiling pits, and
fire-cracked boulders strongly suggest the recovery
of bone grease in large quantities. The time
of year of the kill (early fall) argues against the
possibility of freezing the meat so drying was
probably being done on a large scale. There is no
secure archeological evidence at these sites for
meat drying, but ethnographic evidence for this
practice during the historic period is abundant.
During the early fall, the bison are in the prime
condition that provides the thick layer of back fat
used in pemmican manufacture. Both dried meat
and pemmican provided the necessary surpluses
to insure winter survival.
Attempts to apply the same model to Paleo-
Indian bison kills have not been successful. The
time of year of animal procurement is different.
The features and artifacts common to the late
prehistoric sites have not been identified. However,
when a model of winter killing and freezing
of bison meat in large butchered units is used, the
data do begin to fit. Further support for this
concept comes from sites such as Agate Basin,
Horner, and Carter-Kerr/McGee where the locations
are in preferred winter bison habitats and
the procurement events covered long periods of
time.
Winter killing of bison, along with the frozen