Lawrence C. Todd

Spatial and temporal variations in the isotopic composition of bison tooth enamel from the Early Holocene Hudson-Meng Bone Bed, Nebraska

The Hudson‐Meng bone bed in northwestern Nebraska is an early Holocene deposit of hundreds of bison of diVering ages that were killed in a catastrophic event of unknown origin. The M 1 ,M 2 , and M 3 molars of individuals, ranging from ca. 1 to 7 years of age at the time of their death, were examined to determine inter- and intra-tooth isotopic variability, and to link this variability to time in order to better understand the environments that existed prior to the mass death event. The d13C value of molar structural carbonate increases by 2‐3‰ from the M 1 to M 3 molars, reflecting increasing direct forage signals, and decreasing maternal influences. The d18O value of molar structural carbonate in a given individual shows no consistent trend with time from birth, indicating a fairly direct linkage to ‘dietary water’ regardless of tooth ontogeny. Detailed ‘down-tooth’ isotopic measurements indicate a small seasonal signal in the d13C value of forage/maternal milk, which appeared to have been largely dominated by C 4 flora. In contrast, there was almost a 10‰ range in the isotopic composition of dietary water, a range that is within present-day summer versus winter precipitation in the region. The d18O value of bulk tooth enamel, arranged by approximate time prior to the death event, indicate a consistent increase in the d18O value of body water (2‐3‰), suggesting a long-term decrease in winter/spring precipitation and/or drought. The d18O trend with time, coupled with the high C 4 grass abundance, suggest environmental stresses on the herd preceding the catastrophic death event.

Oligocene mammals from Ethiopia and faunal exchange between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia

Afro-Arabian mammalian communities underwent a marked transition near the Oligocene/Miocene boundary at approximately 24 million years (Myr) ago. Although it is well documented that the endemic paenungulate taxa were replaced by migrants from the Northern Hemisphere, the timing and evolutionary dynamics of this transition have long been a mystery because faunas from about 32 to 24 Myr ago are largely unknown. Here we report a late Oligocene fossil assemblage from Ethiopia, which constrains the migration to postdate 27 Myr ago, and yields new insight into the indigenous faunal dynamics that preceded this event. The fauna is composed of large paenungulate herbivores and reveals not only which earlier taxa persisted into the late Oligocene epoch but also demonstrates that one group, the Proboscidea, underwent a marked diversification. When Eurasian immigrants entered Afro-Arabia, a pattern of winners and losers among the endemics emerged: less diverse taxa such as arsinoitheres became extinct, moderately species-rich groups such as hyracoids continued into the Miocene with reduced diversity, whereas the proboscideans successfully carried their adaptive radiation out of Afro-Arabia and across the world.

Seasonality of the Scottsbluff and Lipscomb Bison Bonebeds: Implications for Modeling Paleoindian Subsistence

Central Andes of Peru. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Simms, S. R. 1988 The Archaeological Structure of A Bedouin Camp. Journal of Archaeological Science 15:197-211. 1989 The Structure of the Bustos Wickiup Site, Eastern Nevada. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 11:2-34. 1990 Fremont Transitions. Utah Archaeology 3, in press. Yellen, J. E. 1977 Archaeological Approaches to the Present: Models For Reconstructing the Past. Academic Press, New York. Zeier, C. D. 1986 Site Structure. In The Archaeology of the Vista Site 26 WA3017, edited by C. D. Zeier and R. G. Elston, pp. 341-356. Intermountain Research. Submitted to Nevada Department of Transportation, Contract No. P51-84-013. Copies available from Nevada Department of Transportation, Carson City.

The folsom (paleoindian) type site: Past investigations, current studies

Research on the Folsom Paleoindian type site, involving renewed field investigations and an analysis of extant collections from the 1920s excavations, was undertaken between 1997 and 2000. The preliminary results of that research show that all excavations to date have been in the kill area, which took place in a small and relatively shallow tributary to the Pleistocene paleovalley of Wild Horse Arroyo as well as in the paleovalley itself. Preliminary butchering of ∼32 Bison antiquus took place near where the animals were dropped. The kill area is dominated by low-utility bone elements and broken projectile points; high-utility bones and tools for processing meat and hides are rare or absent, and either occur in another, as-yet undiscovered area of the site, or altogether off-site. Faunal remains are generally in excellent condition. Those in the tributary are mostly in primary context, and underwent rapid burial beneath fine-grained (dominantly aeolian) sediments, which in turn were subsequently armored by a shingle shale; those in the paleovalley experienced postdepositional transport and redeposition. The small lithic assemblage is dominated by projectile points and comprised of material mostly from two sources in the Texas panhandle, several hundred kilometers southeast of the site. It also includes stone obtained from sources at comparable distances north and northwest of the site. A series of radiocarbon ages is available for the stratigraphic units, nearly all from charcoal of non-cultural origins; radiocarbon dates on bison bone put the age of the kill at 10,500 B.P.

Identification of Central Texas Edwards Chert at the Folsom and Lindenmeier Sites

AbstractStudy of artifacts from the Folsom and Lindenmeier sites in the Denver Museum collection has documented the occurrence of Edwards chert from central Texas in both assemblages. The specimens...

Perimortem fractures in Lucy suggest mortality from fall out of tall tree

The Pliocene fossil ‘Lucy’ (Australopithecus afarensis) was discovered in the Afar region of Ethiopia in 1974 and is among the oldest and most complete fossil hominin skeletons discovered. Here we propose, on the basis of close study of her skeleton, that her cause of death was a vertical deceleration event or impact following a fall from considerable height that produced compressive and hinge (greenstick) fractures in multiple skeletal elements. Impacts that are so severe as to cause concomitant fractures usually also damage internal organs; together, these injuries are hypothesized to have caused her death. Lucy has been at the centre of a vigorous debate about the role, if any, of arboreal locomotion in early human evolution. It is therefore ironic that her death can be attributed to injuries resulting from a fall, probably out of a tall tree, thus offering unusual evidence for the presence of arborealism in this species.

Late Archaic bison hunters in northern Colorado : 1997-1999 excavations at the Kaplan-Hoover bison bonebed (5LR3953)

Abstract Limited excavations at a Late Plains Archaic arroyo trap along the Cache la Poudre River near Windsor in northern Colorado have exposed the remains of an estimated 200 bison. The bonebed was uncovered during construction activities, which removed an estimated 4 m vf sediment from above tlie upper surface of the bone bed. Partial excavation of an 18.5 m2 cross-sectional portion of the arroyo has produced an assemblage of over 4000 bison bones. An AMS date on wood charcoal and a standard radiometric age from bone collagen provided statistically similar dates and yield an averaged uncalibrated radiocarbon age of2724±35 RCYBP. The number of stone tools recovered is low, with only nine comer-notched projectile points and point fragments, several scrapers and flake tools, and over 120 resharpening flakes. Patterns of mandibular molar eruption and wear indicate a single early fall kill. Human utilization of many of the carcasses was limited, with very few of the marrow bones fractured or removed from the kill site. Based on skeletal element counts, the carcass segments most frequently taken from the kill were rib slabs, thoracic vertebrae, scapulae, femora, and lumbar-sacral units. Cutmark frequencies support this interpretation. The most common locations for butchering marks are on the thoracic spines, rib blades, and mandibular symphyses. After humans abandoned the site, carnivores extensively modified the remaining carcass segments. Subsequent burial of the bonebed included fluvial transport and re-orientation of many of the bones within the old arroyo. The project has emphasized incorporating public interaction and education into the research program.

Multi-Scale and Nested-Intensity Sampling Techniques for Archaeological Survey

Abstract This paper discusses sampling techniques for archaeological survey that are directed toward evaluating the properties of surface artifact distributions. The sampling techniques we experimented with consist of a multi-scale sampling plot developed in plant ecology and the use of a nested-intensity survey design. We present results from the initial application of these methods. The sampling technique we borrowed from plant ecology is the Modified-Whittaker multiscale sampling plot, which gathers observations at the spatial scales of 1 sq m, 10 sq m, 100 sq m, and 1000 sq m. Nested-intensity surveys gather observations on the same sample units at multiple resolutions. We compare the results of a closely-spaced walking survey, a crawling survey, and a test excavation to a depth of 10 cm. These techniques were applied to ten 20 × 50 m survey plots distributed over an area of 418 ha near the Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed in NW Nebraska. These approaches can significantly improve the accuracy of survey data. Our results show that high-resolution coverage techniques overlook more material than archaeologists have suspected. The combined approaches of multi-scale and nested-intensity sampling provide new tools to improve our ability to investigate the properties of surface records.

Reinvestigation of the Perry Ranch Plainview bison bonebed, southwestern Oklahoma

Reinvestigation of the Perry Ranch site (34JK81) in Jackson County, Oklahoma was conducted during the summers of 1989 and 1990. The goals were to relocate the site, place a permanent datum, evaluate the possibility of additional deposits, and to collect bone samples for chemical analysis and possible dating. In addition, the bone assemblage from the 1974 excavation was restudied to facilitate taphonomic analysis, a season of death estimate, and detailed comparison with other bison bonebed assemblages. Bone chemistry indicates that the original radiocarbon date on bone is not a reliable measure of the age of the Perry Ranch deposit. The problem of whether Plainview or Golandrina points are represented is reconsidered and the original assessment-that the points compare most favorably with those from the Plainview type site-is supported. The MNI and season of death have also been reassessed. The animals died in winter, perhaps mid-january, based on tooth eruption and wear comparison with modern bison. A minimum of two animals was identified. The formational history of the deposit based on bone condition and element representation is reviewed. The possibility remains that there are additional significant deposits at the Perry Ranch site.