Kill site? camp?

[coloradocav1]

So, last fall at work, I was checking heavy erosion from flooding in a creek that runs through my open space. The bank wall is about 9 foot verticle and there are no rocks bigger than pea size, mostly clay and soil. I noticed a horn core sticking out of the clay bottom and pulled it up. I pulled out what appeared to be a bison skull, it soon came apart at the seam down the center. soon found another horn core fragment and vertibrate just down stream along with an upper jaw fragment with teeth. over the past few months I have found what I think are deer jaws and for sure two bison molars. All of them are very mineralized. The coolest part is every so often I'm finding stone artifacts, 2 spear points, broken grinding or hammerstones, many flakes and chunks of agate,petrified wood and some jasper. all in this same small section of eroded creek bank. Just last week i found a small jaw fragment which looks different than the deer and more agate chips. Sure glad my boss never checks on me out in the field hehe. New old news, seems some fossil folks brought something to my attention, they believe the two jaws in the middle are young bison jaws. I should have known that, growing up on a bison ranch and all! I was just more focused on the skull and stone points. the small jaw on the side is prob a deer. Thanks Thanks for lookin!

 

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[chase2]

What is the spread of the horns. Looks like as far as it being a Bison occidentalis would put the points in that time frame of Archaic. But it is all about context so it would only be an assumption.
Great find!

 

[quito]

Sounds like a regularly occupied site with that kind of variety.

 

[unclemac]

i want your job, how deep were the horns and bone in the bank? Does it seem to you that the sediment is deposited over time by periodic flooding of the creek?

 

[coloradocav1]

everything is about eight foot deep, a large section of the bank caved in and washed the soil away leaving the goods. Most of the stuff seems to come out of a clay layer 7 to 8 feet along the wall.

 

[Jon Stewart]

Great finds. Some times those tall walls on dry creek beds will expose fire pits. They will be a longer dark stripe of dirt we call eyebrows in the bank. I have checked them out and found a mano or two and a lot of cracked rock and worked rock by them. If most of the dirt is lighter the dark firepit stripes stick out pretty good and easy to see.

 

[monsterrack]

I agree with quito, but with it being in a creek it is hard to put context to it. The stuff could have washed there a long time ago from up stream. You would have to do as Jon was saying and check the banks for other items, but with the item's being that deep in the soil, I think it is just going to be washed up by the creek and covered with mud. Keep us posted and you can save the bone items by soaking them in a mixture of Elmer's glue and water, at the thickness of light milk, if they are dryed out real good.

 

[coloradocav1]

I have soaked the bones in the solution, and they look good. would like to repair the skull though.

 

[coloradocav1]

The spread of the horn cores is 2 ft right on the mark. The points are archaic too

 

[dr-quest]

Great stuff, really interested in what else you come across, great thread

 

[11KBP]

Nice dark coloration on the bison bison skull. Have any idea what the stemmed point on the far right is?

 

[coloradocav1]

I believe it's an archaic stemmed .

 

[old digger]

Looks like you have a very promising search area. That item in the first and last photo's, in the lower center looks similar to two examples that I found at Larson 1951's Mandan site. Can not tell, but does it have a waxy, rubbed plastic look to it? The black piece next to it has a similar looking base in which it may have been fastened in some way. Cool Finds! Hope you find more nice finds.