The Great Plains I: Bison Hunters of the Western Plains

1
The Great Plains IBison Hunters of the Western
Plains

• Lecture 16
• North American Archaeology
• Winter 2007
• UCSC

2
Cultural Stereotype

• Tipi-dwelling, horse nomads
• Bison hunters
• Male emphasis on militarism and individual status
• Snap-shot of culture that existed briefly in
  mid-nineteenth century

3
Impact of European Contact

• Horse and Gun
• Disease and demographic collapse
• Trade (hides)
• Warfare

4
The Great American Desert

• Lewis Henry Morgan vs. Waldo Wedel
• Not the horse, but bison that made living on High
  Plains possible

5
The Great Plains

• Vast, flat grasslands
• Over 1 billion square miles
• Cut by E-W rivers
• Unpredictable climate
• Agriculture risky
• Bison herd size varied across space and through
  time

6
Valleys and Canyons
Palo Duro Canyon, TX

• Rich, diverse biotic zones
• Deer, small mammals, birds, fish, waterfowl,
  reptiles
• Soft, tillable soils

7
Uplands

• Short grass--West (High Plains)
• Tall Grass--East
• Large Game--Bison and Antelope

Texas Panhandle, looking west to Llano Estacado
8
Western Plains

• West of 100th meridian
• Always dominated by bison-hunting nomads
• Apache, Blackfoot, Piegan
• Sequence reflected at Head-Smashed-In, Alberta

Mobility, opportunism, portability of
possessions, and primary reliance on bison
Seggesar Hide Painting, 18thc., So. High Plains
9
Eastern Plains

• Tall grass and mixed grass prairies
• Mixed H-G and farmers
• Maize, bean, squash, sunflower
• Semi-permanent, fixed villages
• Strong ties to East
• Plains Woodland and Plains Village Traditions

10
Cultural Sequence(West)PaleoIndian Period

• Clovis/Llano
• 11,500-10,900 BC
• Mammoth hunters
• Large fluted points
• Folsom and Plano
• 10,900 BC-5000BC
• Bison hunters
• Communal drives
• Fluted and unfluted points
• Olsen-Chubbock (6000 BC)

11
Early Plains Archaic

• 5000-2900 BC
• Altithermal (Middle Holocene)--droughts
• Bison herds retreated to Plains margins
• Sparsely populated
• Diversified subsistence

12
Mummy Cave, Wyoming

• Western margin of Great Plains
• Long sequence
• 5600 BC--transition
• Atlatl and dart
• Diverse subsistence
• But..evidence of communal bison drives continuing
  throughout Middle Holocene
• Head-Smashed-In--Mummy Cave Phase (3700 BC)

13
Middle and Late Plains Archaic

• 2900-1000 BC/1000 BC-500 AD
• Late Holocene climate
• Increased seasonal occupation of High Plains
• Scheduling
• Base camps w/ more emphasis on plant processing
  (grinding stones, roasting pits)

14

• More sophisticated, communal drives
• More group cooperation
• Jumps, corrals, drive lines
• High risk/high yield strategies
• Example Head-Smashed-In (Pelican Lake Phase)
• Ceremonialism
• Ruby Site (Besant Culture) (AD 200)

15
Late Prehistoric, AD 500-1750

• Avonlea Complex, So. Canada
• Local development or Migration of Athapaskans?
• Intro of bow and arrow
• Hide-tent, dog transport
• Complex ritualized bison drives
• Very efficient hunters--surplus--for trade
• Hides more important--skinning knives, scrapers

16

• Garnsey Site (John Speth)
• A.D. 1550
• More emphasis on storage and processing
• Fat--important energy source
• Hunters very selective in choice of animals to
  kill and butcher

17
Trade with Agriculturalists
Specialized bison-hunting NOT a self-sufficient
strategy on the High Plains