Preliminary Report on a Buried Yuma Site in Wyoming

Abstract

A new and interesting archaeological site was discovered in the Wyoming Basin, just west of the Continental Divide, by Mr. O. M. Finley of Eden, Wyoming, in 1940. It represents a Yuma camp site associated with bison bones.In the spring of 1940, Mr. Finley discovered seven stone points or fragments on the surface among sand dunes, ahout four miles southeast of Eden. They were concentrated in an area about five by twenty meters at the base of a dune, and the presence of decalcified bone led Mr. Finley to the conclusion that they had weathered out of a Yuma site nearby. A slight amount of excavation produced additional points, in place, along with decalcified bison bone fragments. A Folsom point with the tip gone had been picked up by Mr. Finley in a blow-out about six hundred and fifty meters to the north, which added interest to the site.

Paleoindian geoarchaeology and paleoenvironments of the western Killpecker Dunes, Wyoming, U.S.A.

“…He considered the upper portion of the Middle sand to be a buried soil. The cultural material, recovered primarily from the Middle sand, was apparently associated with the buried soil (Howard et al, 1941;Hack, 1943;Howard, 1943;Satterthwaite, 1951Satterthwaite, , 1957Miller, 1987), which Eckerle (1989Eckerle ( , 1997 refers to as the "Finley soil." Moss (1951) used the glacial sequence established by Bryan and Ray (1940) to determine Frison (1978).…”

“…Most of the Cody Complex material (9000 -8500 14 C yr B.P.) at the Finley site was apparently recovered from the upper portion of this unit and was associated with the Finley soil (Howard et al, 1941;Howard, 1943;Satterthwaite, 1951Satterthwaite, , 1957Miller, 1987). Thus, deposition of stratum 2 was underway by at least 8500 14 C yr B.P., and probably much earlier (see discussion below).…”

“…The Finley soil is classified as a Calciargid, an Aridisol with argillic and calcic horizons (after Soil Survey Staff, 1999). The Cody Complex artifacts recovered at Finley apparently were concentrated in the upper portion of the Finley soil (Howard et al, 1941;Howard 1943;Satterthwaite, 1951Satterthwaite, , 1957Miller, 1987).…”

“…The discovery of the Finley site in 1939, and subsequent excavations during the 1940 -1941 seasons by the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, marked the initial documentation of a Paleoindian presence in the dune field (Howard et al, 1941;Howard, 1943). At Finley, Scottsbluff projectile points and a previously unrecognized type of projectile point were found in association with the remains of extinct bison (Bison antiquus).…”

“…Shaded area of inset indicates the location of mapped area within the Wyoming Basin Physiographic Province (after Fenneman, 1931). were considered variants of the "Yuma" type (Howard et al, 1941;Howard, 1943) that Renaud (1931Renaud ( , 1932 assigned to unfluted points discovered in Yuma County, Colorado. In addition to Scottsbluff and Eden points, Folsom points were found in blowouts in the western Killpecker Dunes (Howard et al, 1941;Howard, 1943). At the time, however, the relationship between the fluted Folsom type and unfluted Yuma type was poorly understood, and Finley was considered a site that could potentially illuminate the "Folsom-'Yuma' problem" (Moss, 1951:10 -12).…”