Danny N. Walker

Studies on Amerindian dogs, 3: Prehistoric wolf/dog hybrids from the northwestern plains

Abstract Discriminant function analysis is an invaluable statistical tool for the taxonomic identification of hybrids between various extant species of Canis in the eastern United States. This technique has recently been applied to the taxonomic identification of canid skulls from several Wyoming archaeological sites. Analysis indicates most canid remains, originally identified as wolf ( Canis lupus ), to be wolf/dog hybrids exhibiting constant and continual backbreeding to the local wolf populations. The spatial and temporal extent of the form is discussed.

Paleo-Indian procurement of Camelops on the northwestern plains

Abstract Camelops have been recorded in a number of Paleo-Indian sites that lack evidence of past procurement methods. Recently, two occurrences of Camelops remains have been recorded in Paleo-Indian animal kills in Wyoming. One kill situation was in a Hell Gap cultural context that produced remains of a single Camelops taken along with about 100 bison in a parabolic sand dune trap. The other Camelops was in a Clovis cultural context and deals with a single animal believed to have been taken in an arroyo trap that was used to take bison at several Paleo-Indian time periods. Identification of geomorphic features involved in these kill sites offers a basis for beginning to interpret Paleo-Indian camel procurement methods.

Pleistocene and Holocene records of Antilocapra Americana; A review of the FAUNMAP data

Abstract FAUNMAP is an electronic database documenting the late Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene) distribution of mammal species in the United States, developed at the Illinois State Museum with support from the National Science Foundation. The primary purpose of the database is to investigate evolution of mammalian communities, although individual species distributions are readily examined. With a Geographic Information System (GIS), changes in the distributions of individual species and their effects upon mammal community composition can be documented for the late Quaternary. As of 1994, it included data from 2919 sites in the contiguous 48 states covering the last 40,000 years. The database is highly incomplete and does not represent the entire locality distribution of species, primarily because only a select few cultural resource management reports were included. The FAUN MAP database was queried for Antilocapra americana, the sole living representative of a once-extensive family of pecoran artiodactyls. GIS maps were generated showing the distribution of Antilocapra americana from the Wisconsinan through the Holocene and the modern extant range. These maps reveal Antilocapra americana has been consistently present throughout what early twentieth century mammalogists consider the species’ historic range, with only an occasional locality outside those boundaries. These latter localities can be correlated with short-term shifts in the distribution of the short-grass prairie eastern border or slight changes in the western limits of the species range.

Multi-component Paleoindian surface sites in the Great Divide Basin of Wyoming

Abstract The Wyoming Basin contains several smaller depressions one of which is the Great Divide Basin formed by the Continental Divide that splits, resulting in internal drainage area of nearly 11,000 km2. The lowest elevation of the Great Divide Basin is at the Chain Lakes Flat and is the location of numerous playas. In this 140 km2 are four surface concentrations of Paleoindian materials beginning with Folsom and ending with Late Paleoindian. Based on typology, human occupation ended with Late Paleoindian and began again in Middle Archaic an estimated 2,500–3,000 years later. This is an unusual concentration of Paleoindian artifacts and a strong contender for further research and testing for subsurface deposits.

FURTHER INSIGHTS INTO PALEOINDIAN USE OF THE POWARS II RED OCHER QUARRY (48PL330), WYOMING

We report major new insights from recent research at the Powars II Paleoindian red ocher quarry (48PL330). We salvaged more than 7,000 artifacts from Powars II between 2014 and 2016 by screening redeposited sediment from the talus slope below the intact portion of the site. Clovis artifacts dominate the diagnostic artifact assemblage, including 53 Clovis points, 33 preforms, and artifacts associated with a previously unrecognized blade core industry. We report the first radiocarbon dates from the site, determined from dating bone tools, which indicate Cody-aged use (ca. >10,000 cal BP). Further, salvage efforts discovered a previously unknown toolstone source from which many of the Clovis artifacts were produced. The Powars II Clovis points most resemble early Paleoindian points from the far Northern Plains and were likely both produced and discarded in the red ocher quarry after hunting, as evidenced by preform production and the presence of impact fractures on many used points. Given these production and discard patterns, Powars II holds some of the best evidence archaeologists currently have for Paleoindian ritualism related to hunting. Presentamos nuevas perspectivas importantes derivadas de investigaciones recientes en la cantera de ocre rojo Paleoindia Powars II (48PL330), ubicada en la parte oriental del estado de Wyoming. Recuperamos más de 7,000 artefactos en Powars II entre 2014 y 2016 mediante el tamizado de sedimentos redepositados en el talud abajo de la parte intacta del sitio. Los artefactos Clovis predominan en el ensamblaje de artefactos diagnósticos, incluyendo 53 puntas Clovis, 33 preformas y artefactos asociados con una industria de núcleo de hojas no identificada previamente. Presentamos las primeras fechas de radiocarbono procedentes del sitio, determinadas a través del fechado de herramientas de hueso, que indican uso durante el complejo Cody (ca. 10.000 cal aP). Además, las investigaciones descubrieron una cantera previamente desconocida de la cual se extrajo el material para producir muchos de los artefactos Clovis. Las puntas Clovis de Powars II tienen el mayor parecido con las primeras puntas Paleoindias del extremo norte de las Planicies norteamericanas y probablemente fueron producidas y desechadas en la cantera de ocre rojo después de cazar, como lo demuestra la producción de preformas y la presencia de fracturas por impacto en muchas puntas. Powars II proporciona algunas de las mejores evidencias encontradas hasta la fecha para el ritualismo Paleoindio relacionado con la caza.