George A. Agogino

The Human Revolution [and Comments and Reply]

Except for an introductory discussion of methodology, this paper is an effort at a narrative account of the evolution of our ancestors from proto-hominoid times to the earliest fully human stage.

Hell Gap: Paleoindian Occupation On the High Plains

AbstractA resume of archaeological investigations in the Hell Gap Valley of southeastern Wyoming is presented. This research produced a detailed sequence of Plains PaleoIndian occupation of this se...

Prehistoric Springs and the Geochronology of the Clovis Site, New Mexico

Geologic investigation and radiocarbon dating of a newly exposed stratigraphic section at the famous Early Man site of Blackwater No. 1 (Clovis) in eastern New Mexico show the Brown Sand Wedge to be in part a contemporaneous facies of the Diatomaceous Earth (10,000 to 11,000 years old) and in part older (11,000 to 11,500 years old). The Gray Sand is probably more than 12,000 years old. Artifacts contained therein are concentrated in the upper 6 in. and are believed to have intruded the sand via the tramplings of the surface by man and animals. The discovery of ancient spring-feeder conduits confirms the springhead origin for the Brown Sand Wedge and the Gray Sand suggested by Sellards and Evans (1960). In addition to well-sorted, nearly spherical, graded, quartz grains the conduits contained Clovis, Folsom, and Agate Basin artifacts bearing an extremely high polish. Some Agate Basin points appear to have been coeval with Folsom points; others are younger. Deposition of the Carbonaceous Silt containing Scottsbluff points, Frederick points, and points of the Portales complex began as early as 9,800 years ago, and possibly continued as late as 7,000 years ago. DURING the 1962-64 archaeological excavations at the Clovis site (Blackwater No. 1 locality), which is now a gravel mine operated by Mr. Sam Sanders and is near Portales, New Mexico (Fig. 1), geological features were uncovered that shed new light on the origin and geochronology of sediments at this now classic Early Man site. In 1962 the senior author, in collaboration with archaeologist James J. Hester, then with the Museum of New Mexico, conducted extensive geological investigations throughout 10 mi. of Blackwater Draw between the site and Anderson Basin (Haynes 1966a). After this work, gravel-mining operations, which have been responsible for all of the major discoveries at the site, including the initial discovery in 1933 (Howard 1935), uncovered more mammoth bones in the northwestern part of the gravel pit. Subsequent scientific excavations by James J. Hester of the Museum of New Mexico, James Warnica of the El Llano Archaeological Society, F. E. Green of the Texas Technological College, and George A. Agogino of the PaleoIndian Institute of Eastern New Mexico University, exposed the skeletal remains of four mammoths with associated artifacts and the sequence of artifact-bearing sediments to be described here. The continuing scientific excavations at the site are under the direction of the junior author, and preliminary results of the 1964 excavations are included in this report. The familiar artifact-bearing sediments of the site (Fig. 2) consist of the basal Gray Sand disconformably overlain by the Brown Sand Wedge, the Diatomaceous Earth, the Carbonaceous Silt, the Jointed Sand, and the Tan Aeolian Sand (Sellards 1952; Sellards and Evans 1960) and occupy a relatively steep-sided depression in calichefied Pleistocene sands overlying commercial gravel of possible Pliocene age. The caliche forms a resistant shelf around the depression but was apparently eroded out before deposition of the artifact-bearing sediments. The sediments exposed by the 1962-64 excavations (Fig. 3) lie against the caliche shelf and are somewhat different from the familiar sequence. The location of the north-wall excavation is shown in Fig. 1, and the detailed stratigraphy is described below and shown in Figs. 4 and 5. DESCRIPTION OF SEDIMENTARY UNITS, NORTH-WALL EXCAVATIONS, CLOVIS SITE, NEW MEXICO Unit F. Sand reddish-brown to brown, massive, subrounded to subangular quartz sand with moderate, coarse prismatic structure. Sharp erosional lower contact. The Jointed Sand of Sellards (1952). Maximum observed

THE SISTER'S HILL SITE: A HELL GAP SITE IN NORTH-CENTRAL WYOMING

The cultural horizon at the Sisters Hill Site has produced typical Hell Gap points and a small group of associated artifacts. The radiocarbon date of 9650 + 250 B. C. is in agreement with late Agate Basin or early post Agate Basin sites in the High Plains. On the basis of the current data, Hell Gap points appear to have developed from Agate Ba sin style s and seem to be developmental to Alberta, Scottsbluff and Eden types.

A New Point Type from Hell Gap Valley, Eastern Wyoming

The Hell Gap point, excavated from a cultural level dated by radiocarbon at 8890 B.C. (10,850+550 B.P.), is described by H. M. Wormington. It represents the oldest known cultural level at Hell Gap, an extensive multicomponent quarry site occupied by paleo-Indian groups over a considerable period of time. IN THE HELL GAP valley of east central Wyoming, some 13 miles north of the town of Guernsey, a series of sites or stations containing paleo-Indian assemblages are being excavated by a crew of University of Wyoming students under my direction and with the support of the American Philosophical Society. At the Kimball station (SE1/4, SE1/4, SE/4, Sec. 10, T28N, R65W), an Agate Basin horizon has been found overlying a cultural zone radiocarbon dated at 8890 B.C. (10,850 ? 550 B.P., Isotopes Inc.). This early deposit contains a type of projectile point for which the name Hell Gap is proposed (Fig. 1). H. M. Wormington, who has given valuable technical aid throughout the project, describes the point type as: a lanceolate form, reminiscent of the Agate Basin type, yet different enough to be regarded as a separate point type. Of the six whole and fragmentary points recovered, three have so marked a basal constriction that they may be considered as essentially stemmed. Bases are straight or slightly convex. Cross sections range from relatively thin ovals to almost diamond-shaped. Flaking was by carefully controlled percussion. Pronounced basal grinding is present along the constricted portion. Size range of whole points is from 60 to 88 mm. For purposes of comparison, plastic casts of a Hell Gap point may be obtained from the Denver Museum of Natural History. The Warrick station (NW1/4, SEY4, SE4, Sec. 10,, T28N, R65W) lies within the same valley but several hundred yards southeast from the Kimball excavations. At the Warrick site there is a highly productive Agate is point, for example, B.P. (1948), B.P. (1961), if they sist in this habit. ere are already enough problems with radioc rb n e figures without adding more. In fact, s the years ss, there will be reason to reg t that m ny of the ted age figures wer not published toge her with the Basin horizon but no well-defined Hell Gap level. In a lower cultural horizon which appears to correlate with the Hell Gap stratum at the Kimball site was found a fragmentary point which has the general outline, thin cross section, and fine flaking of a Folsom point, but whic is unfluted. The radiocarbon date of 8820 B.C. (10,780 B.P.+375) for Folsom at the Lindenmeier site (Haynes and Agogino 1960) and the Hell Gap date are essentially compatible. Geological investigations of the Hell Gap area are being conducted by Vance Haynes. Preliminary work reveals that a loess sequence containing paleosols and disc nformities overlies gravels and silts that presumably rest on bedrock. A marked erosional unconformity and paleosol within the loess sequence is interpreted as representing Two Creeks time. This is supported by the radiocarbon date of 8890 B.C. from the Hell Gap occupation level which rests on the unconformity. Other pertinent Pleistocene and Recent climatic events are believed to be represented in the stratigraphy and geomorphology of the Hell Gap area. Points of the Hell Gap type, although not previously defined, have been noted as occurring as isolated finds in Canada and various parts of the United States. They are a minor component in the Russell A. Johnston collection, gathered near Cereal in southern Alberta from blowouts which also yielded Agate Basin points, artifacts of the Cody Complex, and Alberta points. The latter resemble Scottsbluff, but are wider and longer with more pronounced stems and rounded bases. Few Hell Gap points have been recorded from Montana and Idaho, but such points are relatively common in eastern sections of Wyoming and Colorado and can be occasionally found in the central and western parts of these states as well. Hell Gap points were noted in the surface collections of Merrill Potter, Earl White, and James Duguid of Wyoming, and among the artifacts collected by Bert Mountain and the late Perry Andersen of Colorado. In New Mexico, points typologically similar to Hell Gap are referred to as J-points by local collectors. Jpoints differ from Hell Gap points by having greater body to stem width (although there is considerable overlap) and a tendency to unground lateral edges. Fred Wendorf and Tully H. Thomas (1951: 108-9) report finding a point of Hell Gap type in an erosional blowout that also produced Folsom material near Concho, Arizona (Wendorf and Thomas 1951, Fig. 47). Since Folsom-Hell Gap material can only be found in this region in blowouts that cut into pre-altithermal strata, Wendorf (Wendorf and Thomas 1951: 109) suggests that this paleo-Indian occupation probably preceded the erosional cycle which is attributed to the post-glacial optimum. This Altithermal erosional cycle is believed to have commenced about 5000 B.C. giving a minimum date for Folsom-Hell Gap material in the region. Lake Mohave points from southern California are generally cruder but are reminiscent in outline of Hell Gap material. Lake Mohave points are found in mixed izo but no wel -defined Hell Gap level. In a l ral horizon which ap ears to cor elate with ll a stratu at the Kimball site was found a a point which has the general outline, thin io , and fine flaking of a Folsom point, but 558 [ VOL. 26, No. 4, 1961 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.52 on Mon, 24 Oct 2016 04:10:54 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

A Paleo-Indian Bison-Kill in Northwestern Iowa

The lowest levels of the Simonsen site produced projectile points, scrapers, and knives in association with Bison occidentalis. The level is dated by radiocarbon at 6471 B.C. ± 520 years. The triangular, side-notched, and concave-based Simonsen point resembles points from the Turin and Hill sites in Iowa and the Logan Creek site in Nebraska. The close resemblances between the collections from the Simonsen site and the Logan Creek site, which is also radiocarbon dated, provide a basis for dating the essentially similar preceramic material from the Turin and Hill sites.

The Wapanucket No. 8 Site: A Clovis-Archaic Site in Massachusetts

This site, which is on a low bluff overlooking Lake Assawompsett in southeastern Massachusetts, has yielded both fluted and Archaic projectile points, as well as other artifacts. The stratigraphy is complex, and a mixture of Paleo-Indian and Archaic artifacts is indicated. Two charcoal samples have been radiocarbon-dated at 1948 B.C. ± 100 years and 2758 ± 140 years B.C. These dates agree with the age of similar Archaic sites in the area.

Reply to F. E. Green's Comments on the Clovis Site

F. E. Green has corrected errors regarding the provenience and prior determination of the artifactual nature of the ivory semifabricate reported by Saunders et al. (1990) and has brought forth new information regarding the spring deposits of the north bank of the gravel pit at the Clovis site. This statement addresses the contemporaneity of Clovis occupation with deposition of the gray sand and the relation of the gray sand to spring deposits. We offer it in expectation that a better understanding of north-bank stratigraphy and geochronology might result regardless of which of two views of the archaeology of the gray sand eventually prevails.

Horned Owl Cave, Wyoming

Horned Owl Cave in the northern Laramie Mountains of Wyoming has provided a wide array of normally perishable artifacts in association with pictographs. Material objects recovered from the cave include fragments of atlatls, darts, shaft feathers, arrowshafts, blunt arrows, bark, weaving, bone tools, pottery, and lithic objects. The disturbed condition of the fill of the cave prevented a controlled stratigraphy, but typologically the material falls within the Late Middle culture and the Late Prehistoric culture phases of the northern Great Plains. The pictographs have been divided into three styles: an early red-figure style, a shield-figure style, and a final and probably late series of black-figure drawings. It is suggested that the red-figure drawings were a product of the last phases of the Late Middle culture, or perhaps the early phase of the Late Prehistoric culture. The shield style and the black-figure style would seem to belong to the Late Prehistoric period. HORNED OWL CAVE is a funnel-shaped limestone cave in the south wall of a small canyon in the west flank of the Laramie Mountains (T 18 N; R 72 W) 19 miles north-northwest of Laramie, Wyoming. The entrance, approximately 300 feet above the valley floor, is nearly round and about 15 feet in diameter (Fig. 1). The cave, which consists of an outer and an inner chamber, gradually narrows until it ends 45 feet from the mouth. The floor of the first 20 feet of this cave is relatively flat, but the floor of the inner chamber dips down at an angle of about 20?. At the base of a steep talus slope below the cave entrance is a spring-fed stream which flows the year round. From the cave entrance a wide view is gained of much of the northern part of the Laramie Basin. Within Horned Owl Cave a number of pictographs were found, as well as a variety of perishable artifacts whose typologies indicate occupation from the late Middle Culture period of the northern Great Plains down to the Late Prehistoric period. The chronology and cultural affiliations must be determined by typology because the artifacts were found unstratified, occurring either in pack-rat nests or in the loose, unconsolidated dry deposit that forms the upper 18 inches of the cave fill. * Funds for the excavation of Horned Owl Cave were provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. The artifacts from this site are on display at the Rawhide Museum, Orin, Wyoming. Beneath this loose upper fill was a thin calcium-carbonate level, apparently formed during the Altithermal, and under this was a moist, compact, yellowish tan, claylike silt, extending downward some 10 feet to the rock floor of the cave. Numerous small-animal bone fragments w re dispersed throughout this lower silt deposit, and several larger bone fragments (identified by Paul McGrew of the University of Wyoming) of horse, bison, and pronghorn were excavated from its upper 3 feet. Toward its top the silt deposit became increasingly drier and harder, and the upper 18 inches was white or chalky in appearance. This upper zone in the silt was jointed, and there were cracks extending from its surface downward for several feet. These joints were filled with brown to black silt, apparently derived from the overlying loose, younger fill. The upper zone of the older fill also contained dispersed fragments of stalactites and dripstones. The largest stalactite fragments were as much as 1 inch in diameter and 6 inches in length. No stalactites or dripstones are being formed in the cave today. This lower and older silt fill was overlaid by some 2 feet of loose cave debris composed of unconsolidated dust, dung, vegetable fibers, twigs, bones, rock fragments, and artifacts. The contact with the older fill was very sharp. The presence and manner of occurrence of the bone and rock fragments in the older fill preclude a phreatic or alluvial origin for the clayey silt. It has the appearance of loess impregnated by carbonate-laden cave drip. It seems to be the result of deposition of windblown dust either continuously or intermittently during periods of active cave drip. During this period the cave was occupied by small mammals, probably rodents, and these mammals may have been responsible for bringing in fragments of larger animal bones. There is no evidence of human occupation during the period of the older fill accumulation. Toward the end of deposition of the older fill, cave drip subsided, stalactites and dripstone crusts fell from the cave walls and roof, and the upper zone contracted and cracked with increasing desiccation. The top of the older fill then became the living floor during human occupation of the cave. The younger fill is obviously

Simonsen Site: Report For the Summer of 1959

AbstractIsolated surface finds of probable Archaic and Paleo-Indian sites have been made in western Iowa for the past decade. Recently 3 sites have been found in this area, along tributaries of the...