Tightening Chronology of Paleoindian Bison Kill Sites on the Northern and Southern Plains

Abstract

Researchers on the Great Plains of North America have come to terms with a need to better understand the chronological sequence of the Paleoindian period. Dating this period has been problematic; however, current improved methods are now available to reevaluate this chronology. To evaluate change through time of hunting strategies and land use practices we need to step back and clarify chronology. This article looks at six Paleoindian bison kill sites, three from the northern and three from the southern Plains, and revaluates the dates from each.

Keywords:

• Paleoindian
• Folsom
• Goshen
• bison hunting
• radiocarbon dating

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Brooke Morgan and Brian Andrews for organizing the symposium and inviting us to participate as well as their editorial suggestions. Additional thanks to both Tom Jennings and an anonymous reviewer whose comments greatly improved the structure and organization of this article. Support for this project came from a number of entities including National Science Foundation grant BCS-1419245 to Kristen Carlson, a generous contribution from Courson Oil and Gas, and the University of Oklahoma Anthropology Department and the Oklahoma Archeological Survey.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kristen A. Carlson

Author Biographies

Kristen Carlson earned her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma in 2015, and she currently serves as Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Augstana University. Her principal research interests include the study of Paleoindian environmental reconstruction and communal hunting development.

Brendan J. Culleton

Brendan J. Culleton is Research Associate with the Department of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, where he manages the Human Paleoecology and Isotope Geochemistry Lab. He earned his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Oregon in 2012, investigating human ecology and agricultural intensification in southern Belize.

Douglas J. Kennett

Douglas J. Kennett is Professor of Environmental Archaeology and Director of the Human Paleoecology and Isotope Geochemistry Lab at Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on humans abrupt climate and environmental change, economic intensification, and the emergence of social hierarchies, primarily in coastal and island settings (e.g. Mesoamerica, Oceania, Polynesia, and California).

Leland C. Bement

Leland C. Bement received his PhD from the University of Texas in 1991, before joining the Research Faculty of the Oklahoma Archeological Survey at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. He is also an affiliated Senior Researcher in the Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma. His main research interests include North American hunter–gatherer technology, organization, and subsistence.