Bison Economies on the Late Prehistoric North American High Plains

Abstract

This paper explores variability in Late Prehistoric bison faunal assemblages from sites in western I(ansas) NE Colorado) and central Nebraska (A.D. 1000-1350). Relationships among occupants of these sites have been a topic of debate for decades) and archaeologists have typically relied on ceramic typologies as a means of separating people)places) and phases. The resulting segregation of sitesfrom different river drainages) however; makes it difficult to assessLate Prehistoric economic variability among related groups who exploited a range of natural environments. As we move away from classificatory and descriptive discus- sions of artifact assemblages and into considerations ofpast lived experiences) we may reexamine economic variability in the context offood choice)animal habitat) and shifting migrations of Plains farmers. This study ispart of a lar;gerproject to establish baseline patterns of bison consumption and use through time among Late Prehistoric and Historical occupants of the North American High Plains. Zooarchaeological methods employed by archaeologistsfocused on farming communities often differ from methods employed by archaeologists trained on hunter-gatherer bonebeds. In order tofacilitate comparisons and to speak to a wider audience about the interactions between hunter-gatherers and farmersand the intersections between hunting and gathering and farming) I ar;guefor broader methodological researchprotocols that transcend the Plains and are applicable for studying animal use among a variety of middle-range societies.

Origin Stories, Archaeological Evidence, and Postclovis Paleoindian Bison Hunting on the Great Plains

“…However, Vehik (2002) argues that forager-farmer mutualism does not explain what is known about the distribution of bison products on the Southern Plains after horticultural ways of life developed in that area; she attributes regional trade patterns more to social and political factors than to subsistence needs. Although very recent groups (including both the Apache and the Comanche) traded meat and hides into Pueblo communities in New Mexico, horticultural groups on the west-Central and Southern Plains (including both Puebloan and Plains groups) clearly hunted bison on their own (i.e., Scheiber 2007;Speth 1983Speth , 2004. Ecological conditions on the Southern Plains were less suited to large-scale bison hunting than in the north (Bamforth 1988), and this may have combined with other factors to produce a greater reliance on smaller-scale hunting in the south.…”

“…However, such butchery was not universal, and bone grease production is well-documented throughout this period (Brosowske 2005: 326;DeMarcay 1986;Logan 1998;Quigg 1997Quigg ,1998. Excavations document reuse of fairly specific localities for small-scale hunting (that is, for kills ranging in size from a single animal to perhaps half a dozen animals) by Plains Village groups in northeastern Colorado and north-central Kansas (Ritterbush and Logan 2009; Scheiber 2007), Puebloan groups in eastern New Mexico (Speth 1983), and Plains hunter-gatherers in northwestern Texas (Johnson 1987;Johnson et al 1977), this last at a location that Paleoindian groups used regularly for the same purpose. Many of these sites also show evidence of marrow extraction and bone grease production.…”

Smaller fragment size facilitates energy-efficient bone grease production

“…Brooks and Flynn, 1988;Lintz, 1991;Logan, 1998;Reeves, 1978;Savage, 1995;Scheiber, 2007;Vehik, 1977). Such activities are also indicated by stable isotope analysis of residues in ceramics (in addition to the abundance of typical smashed bone fragments) from the Rush Site in Texas, Quigg (1997).…”