Bison Heights: A Late Holocene Bison Kill Site on Idaho's Snake River Plain

Abstract

Recent excavations at a narrow draw in close proximity to Tomcat Cave, one of Idaho's cold storage caves, exposed a concentration of charred mammal bones and a rock lined hearth in association with an elaborate series of rock alignments. Much of the long bone falls within the bovid size range (bison) and appears to be the byproduct of stone boiling or bone soup making. Radiocarbon dates from the hearth, and the presence of Intermountain ware ceramics, Rose Spring and Desert Side-notched points indicate use of the site during the very late Holocene. Analogous artifacts recovered from the mouth of Tomcat Cave indicate that hunting activities at Bison Heights and use of the cave likely coincided. The rock features at the site and those documented elsewhere within the region indicate that narrow topographic features were used as procurement locales for big game. However, limited amount of bone recovered near these features indicates that only a small number of animals were acquired during single hunting events. 333 Ó 2005, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.This hypothesis is supported by the recent discovery of an elaborate series of hunting blinds and associated artifact assemblage on the eastern Snake River Plain north of Kimama, Idaho. Although the blinds at Bison Heights (10LN636) were specifically constructed at a distinctive topographic feature to maximize the number of large game acquired, test excavations indicate that only a limited number of bison were likely procured at the site.

Holocene bison diminution on the Snake River Plain, Idaho, USA

“…While bison are common components of SRP archaeofaunas, NISP is typically low and MNIs usually indicate no more than one individual (Gruhn, 1961;Henrikson, 1996;Henrikson et al, 2006;Holmer and Ringe, 1986;McDonald, 2006;Murphey and Crutchfield, 1985;Pavesic and Meatte, 1980;Plew, 1981;Rudolph, 1995). Consequently, archaeologists have argued that the SRP did not support bison populations large enough to allow for prehistoric mass kill events like those documented on the Great Plains (Henrikson, 2003(Henrikson, , 2004(Henrikson, , 2005; see also Daubenmire, 1985;Mack and Thompson, 1982). Unfortunately, these low numbers also make understanding trends in bison morphology difficult.…”