Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site
Encyclopedia
The Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site, located in northeast Colorado, was a Paleo-Indian site where Bison antiquus
were killed and butchered. Hell Gap complex
bones and tools artifacts at the site are carbon dated
from about ca. 8000-8050 BC
.
, 10 miles from the town of Laird
in the Republican River
basin. The grassland site is located at a 18 inches (45.7 cm) deep draw
that drains into a Arikaree River
tributary.
, prehistoric time periods are traditionally identified as: Paleo-Indian, Archaic and Ceramic (Woodland) periods. The Denver basin is a geological definition of a portion of the Colorado Piedmont
from Colorado Springs
to Wyoming
and west to Kansas
and Nebraska
. The Palmer Divide
, with elevations from 6,000 to 7,500, is a subsection of that area that separates the South Platte River
watershed from that of the Arkansas River
. It runs perpendicular to the Rocky Mountains
and divides the Denver
metropolitan area from the southern Pikes Peak area.
The period immediately preceding the first humans coming into Colorado was the Ice Age
Summer of about 16,000 years ago. Large mammals, such as the mastodon
, mammoth
, camelops
, giant sloths, cheetah
, bison antiquus
and horses roamed the land. There were a few Paleo-Indian cultures, distinctive by the size of the tools they used and the animals they hunted. People in the first Paleo-Indian period, the Clovis complex period, had large tools to hunt the megafauna
animals.
By 11,000 years ago (9,000 BC), the climate warmed and lakes and savannas receded. The land became drier, food became less abundant, and as a result of the giant animals
became extinct. Receding and melting glaciers created the Plum and Monument Creeks, created the Castle Rock mesas and unburied the Rocky Mountains
. People adapted by hunting smaller mammals and gathering wild plants to supplement their diet. A new cultural complex was born, the Folsom tradition, with smaller projectile points to hunt smaller animals. Aside from hunting smaller mammals, people adapted by gathering wild plants to supplement their diet.
The Lindenmeier Site
, the largest known Paleo-Indian Folsom site, contained artifacts of the Paleo-Indians who lived and hunted in the present Fort Collins area approximately 11,000 years ago. Some of the artifacts are identified from people of the Folsom tradition
, named for the Folsom Site
in New Mexico
, and identified as such by the Folsom point
s used for hunting the large, now extinct Bison antiquus
. They likely also gathered food in the area, such as seeds, nuts and seasonal fruits. They were nomad
ic people, following the bison herds, and camping many places each year.
s near his home in 1972. Jack Miller, a local anthropologist, performed a test site excavation and found bones and Paleo-Indian artifacts. Dennis Stanford, an archaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution, was contacted and a full-scale excavation of the Jones Miller site was performed between 1973 and 1978 of what is primarily a bison kill site. Waldo Rudolph Wendel said in 1986 that it was the "most carefully studied bison kill" site.
Archaeologists learned how early native people may have hunted large prey from the artifacts at the 98 by Jones-Miller site. Remains of 300 bison were found in a arroyo
, or draw
, above the Arikaree River
basin. It was believed that the bison were strategically driven into an area difficult for the bison to traverse and easier to kill on three occasions. Because many of the animals were nursing calves, it is estimated that the kills occurred in late fall or winter. The bones from the bison kill were piled into many stacks, indicating that there were several butcher sites.
Artifacts found at the site include Hell Gap complex
projectile point
s and flakes, knives, scrapers and tools made of bone. While there is little evidence to determine the extent to which Paleo-Indians practiced religion, artifacts grouped together at the Jones-Miller site are like that of historic northern Plains people's medicine post ceremony where, among the bison bones were placed a projectile point, dog remains and an antler flute. The practice is similar to that of the Cree
and Assiniboine people. The site is dated at 10,020 +/- 320 years before present, or about 8000 BC. It is the only Hell Gap (Wyoming) site in Colorado.
's excavation in the 1970s was donated to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
in 1997. The collection, called the "Jones-Miller Hell Gap Bison Kill Site Collection," contains bison bones, projectile points and stone tools.
Bison antiquus
Bison antiquus, sometimes called the ancient bison, was the most common large herbivore of the North American continent for over ten thousand years, and is a direct ancestor of the living American bison....
were killed and butchered. Hell Gap complex
Hell Gap complex
Hell Gap complex is a Plano culture from 10,060 to 9,600 before present that is named after the archaeological site in Hell Gap, Wyoming. Hell Gap points are long stemmed, convex blades....
bones and tools artifacts at the site are carbon dated
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
from about ca. 8000-8050 BC
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
.
Geography
The Jones-Miller site is located in Yuma County, ColoradoYuma County, Colorado
Yuma County is the 14th most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 9,841 at U.S. Census 2000...
, 10 miles from the town of Laird
Laird, Colorado
Laird is a census-designated place in Yuma County, Colorado, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 47.The U.S. Post Office at Wray now serves Laird postal addresses....
in the Republican River
Republican River
The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, flowing through the U.S. states of Nebraska and Kansas.-Geography:...
basin. The grassland site is located at a 18 inches (45.7 cm) deep draw
Draw (terrain)
A draw a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them. The area of low ground itself is the draw, and it is defined by the spurs surrounding it...
that drains into a Arikaree River
Arikaree River
The Arikaree River is a tributary of the Republican River that starts near Limon in Lincoln County, Colorado. The river flows east into Kansas, crossing the extreme northwestern corner of that state before entering Nebraska...
tributary.
Background
Within the Denver BasinDenver Basin
The Denver Basin, sometimes also called the Julesburg Basin, Denver-Julesburg Basin , or the D-J Basin, is a geologic structural basin centered in eastern Colorado in the United States, but extending into southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska, and western Kansas...
, prehistoric time periods are traditionally identified as: Paleo-Indian, Archaic and Ceramic (Woodland) periods. The Denver basin is a geological definition of a portion of the Colorado Piedmont
Colorado Piedmont
The Colorado Piedmont is the geologic term for an area along the base of the foothills of the Front Range in north central Colorado in the United States...
from Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
to Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
and west to Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. The Palmer Divide
Palmer Divide
The Palmer Divide is a ridge in central Colorado that separates the Arkansas River basin from the Missouri River basin. It extends from the Front Range of the Rockies in central Colorado, eastward toward the town of Limon....
, with elevations from 6,000 to 7,500, is a subsection of that area that separates the South Platte River
South Platte River
The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River and itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/Mountain West, located in the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska...
watershed from that of the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
. It runs perpendicular to the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and divides the Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
metropolitan area from the southern Pikes Peak area.
The period immediately preceding the first humans coming into Colorado was the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
Summer of about 16,000 years ago. Large mammals, such as the mastodon
Mastodon
Mastodons were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago. The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group...
, mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
, camelops
Camelops
Camelops is an extinct genus of camels that once roamed western North America, where it disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene about 10,000 years ago. Its name is derived from the Greek κάμελος + , thus "camel-face."-Background:...
, giant sloths, cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
, bison antiquus
Bison antiquus
Bison antiquus, sometimes called the ancient bison, was the most common large herbivore of the North American continent for over ten thousand years, and is a direct ancestor of the living American bison....
and horses roamed the land. There were a few Paleo-Indian cultures, distinctive by the size of the tools they used and the animals they hunted. People in the first Paleo-Indian period, the Clovis complex period, had large tools to hunt the megafauna
Megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
animals.
By 11,000 years ago (9,000 BC), the climate warmed and lakes and savannas receded. The land became drier, food became less abundant, and as a result of the giant animals
Megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
became extinct. Receding and melting glaciers created the Plum and Monument Creeks, created the Castle Rock mesas and unburied the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
. People adapted by hunting smaller mammals and gathering wild plants to supplement their diet. A new cultural complex was born, the Folsom tradition, with smaller projectile points to hunt smaller animals. Aside from hunting smaller mammals, people adapted by gathering wild plants to supplement their diet.
The Lindenmeier Site
Lindenmeier Site
The Lindenmeier Site is a stratified multi-component archaeological site most famous for its Folsom component. It is located on the former Lindenmeier Ranch, now the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, in northeastern Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The site contains the most extensive...
, the largest known Paleo-Indian Folsom site, contained artifacts of the Paleo-Indians who lived and hunted in the present Fort Collins area approximately 11,000 years ago. Some of the artifacts are identified from people of the Folsom tradition
Folsom tradition
The Folsom Complex is a name given by archaeologists to a specific Paleo-Indian archaeological culture that occupied much of central North America...
, named for the Folsom Site
Folsom Site
Folsom Site , in Folsom, New Mexico, is the archaeological site that is the type site for the Folsom tradition, a Paleo-Indian cultural sequence dating to between 9000 BC and 8000 BC...
in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, and identified as such by the Folsom point
Folsom point
Folsom points are a distinct form of chipped stone projectile points associated with the Folsom Tradition of North America. The style of toolmaking was named after Folsom, New Mexico where the first sample was found within the bone structure of a bison in 1927....
s used for hunting the large, now extinct Bison antiquus
Bison antiquus
Bison antiquus, sometimes called the ancient bison, was the most common large herbivore of the North American continent for over ten thousand years, and is a direct ancestor of the living American bison....
. They likely also gathered food in the area, such as seeds, nuts and seasonal fruits. They were nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic people, following the bison herds, and camping many places each year.
Paleo-Indian Folsom site
Robert Jones, Jr., a rancher in the Wray, Colorado area, found bones and projectile pointProjectile point
In archaeological terms, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a projectile, such as a spear, dart, or arrow, or perhaps used as a knife....
s near his home in 1972. Jack Miller, a local anthropologist, performed a test site excavation and found bones and Paleo-Indian artifacts. Dennis Stanford, an archaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution, was contacted and a full-scale excavation of the Jones Miller site was performed between 1973 and 1978 of what is primarily a bison kill site. Waldo Rudolph Wendel said in 1986 that it was the "most carefully studied bison kill" site.
Archaeologists learned how early native people may have hunted large prey from the artifacts at the 98 by Jones-Miller site. Remains of 300 bison were found in a arroyo
Arroyo (creek)
An arroyo , a Spanish word translated as brook, and also called a wash is usually a dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Wadi is a similar term in Africa. In Spain, a rambla has a similar meaning to arroyo.-Types and processes:Arroyos...
, or draw
Draw (terrain)
A draw a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them. The area of low ground itself is the draw, and it is defined by the spurs surrounding it...
, above the Arikaree River
Arikaree River
The Arikaree River is a tributary of the Republican River that starts near Limon in Lincoln County, Colorado. The river flows east into Kansas, crossing the extreme northwestern corner of that state before entering Nebraska...
basin. It was believed that the bison were strategically driven into an area difficult for the bison to traverse and easier to kill on three occasions. Because many of the animals were nursing calves, it is estimated that the kills occurred in late fall or winter. The bones from the bison kill were piled into many stacks, indicating that there were several butcher sites.
Artifacts found at the site include Hell Gap complex
Hell Gap complex
Hell Gap complex is a Plano culture from 10,060 to 9,600 before present that is named after the archaeological site in Hell Gap, Wyoming. Hell Gap points are long stemmed, convex blades....
projectile point
Projectile point
In archaeological terms, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a projectile, such as a spear, dart, or arrow, or perhaps used as a knife....
s and flakes, knives, scrapers and tools made of bone. While there is little evidence to determine the extent to which Paleo-Indians practiced religion, artifacts grouped together at the Jones-Miller site are like that of historic northern Plains people's medicine post ceremony where, among the bison bones were placed a projectile point, dog remains and an antler flute. The practice is similar to that of the Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
and Assiniboine people. The site is dated at 10,020 +/- 320 years before present, or about 8000 BC. It is the only Hell Gap (Wyoming) site in Colorado.
Collection
The collection of artifacts from the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
's excavation in the 1970s was donated to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help museum visitors learn about the natural history of...
in 1997. The collection, called the "Jones-Miller Hell Gap Bison Kill Site Collection," contains bison bones, projectile points and stone tools.
Further reading
- Davis, L.; Wilson, M. (editors). (1978) Bison Procurement and Utilization: A Symposium. Memoir no. 14. Lincoln: Plains Anthropologist.
- Frison, G.C. (1971). The Buffalo Pound in Northwestern Plains Prehistory: Cite 48CA302. American Antiquity. 36:77-91.
- Frison, G.C. (1991). Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains. 2nd. edition. San Diego: Academic Press.
- Stanford, D.J. (1974). Preliminary Report on the Excavation of the Jones-Miller Hell Gap Site, Yuma, Colorado. Southwestern Lore. 40(3-4):29-36.
- Stanford, D.J. (1978). The Jones-Miller Site: An Example of Hell Gap Bison Procurement Strategy. In Bison Procurement and Utilization: A Symposium, edited by L. Davis and M. Wilson, pp. 90-97. Memoir no. 14. Lincoln: Plains Anthropologist.