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Few human remains from the distant past have achieved the public visibility and notoriety of Kennewick Man (the Ancient One). Since his discovery in July 1996 in the state of [...]

A study was conducted to propose a hypothesized extraterrestrial impact in North America at ~12,099 calendar years BP (12.9 ka) as the cause of Younger Dryas climate changes and terminal Pleistocene mammalian extinctions. It is concluded that an extraterrestrial impact is a pointless solution for a non-existent archaeological problem.

In Byerly et al. (2005) we explored the hypothesis that the Paleoindian component at Bonfire Shelter was the result of a jump kill Our efforts involved extensive mapping and GIS analysis, a re-examination of the Paleoindian-age bison assemblage, and consideration of the geomorphic history of the canyon in which the site is located. We concluded that the preponderance of evidence indicated the Paleoindian-age bison remains at Bonfire Shelter marked a processing site as Binford (1978) suggested, rather than a primary kill locality as originally interpreted (Dibble 1968). Bement (this issue) raises several concerns about our analysis and discussion, including that we omit pertinent information relevant to the interpretation of the site. His comments, however, result from a misreading of our discussion anda misconstrual of the data set, as we explain in this response. En Byerly et al. (2005) exploramos la hipotesis que el componente paleoindio de Bonfire Shelter fuese el resultado de una matanza de salto. Nuestros esfuerzos incluyeron la preparacion de extensivos mapas y un analisis SGI (GIS), una reexaminacion de la asamblea bisonte de fecha paloeoindia y la evaluacion de la historia geomorfologica del canon en que se encuentra el sitio. Concluimos que la mayor parte de la evidencia indica que los restos bisontes de fecha paleoindia en Bonfire Shelter demuestran que fue un sitio de procesamiento tal como sugirio Binford (1978), en vez de ser una localidad de una matanza primaria tal como originalmente se propuso (Dibble 1968). Bement (this issue) plantea varios problemas sobre nuestro analisis, entre otras cosas que omitimos la informacion pertinente que tiene que ver con la interpretacion del sitio. Sin embargo, su comentario es el resultado de una mala interpretacion de nuestra discusion y los datos, tal como explicamos en esta respuesta., Byerly et al. (2005) explored whether the Paleoindian-age bison bone assemblage at Bonfire Shelter (41VV218) was the result of a jump kill at that spot, as originally interpreted (Dibble and [...]

The Hot Tubb site, located in the Monahans Dunes just off the southern High Plains of west Texas, has yielded Folsom and Midland projectile points, as well as badly fragmented and occasionally burned remains of Bison antiquus. Because these materials occur primarily on the surface of a deflation basin within an active sand dune, which also contains artifacts of later age, the Paleoindian component cannot be easily isolated, nor have attempts to determine its radiocarbon age been successful. Nonetheless, the distribution and density of the bone and diagnostic Folsom material indicate there is spatial and possibly stratigraphic integrity to this component, which makes it possible to discern where and what Paleoindian activity may have occurred on site. We infer this was a small Folsom-age bison kill and processing locality of an estimated six animals. The lithic assemblage is marked by intensive reworking and even refluting of projectile points, suggesting that the supply of stone, originally acquired at sources at least 150 Ion distant, was low by the time of this occupation. That dearth of stone, the presence of Midland points, as well as a possible Midland point preform, may also shed some light on the longstanding 'Folsom-Midland Problem.' Keywords: Paleoindian, Folsom, Midland, bison, sand dune archaeology

Several major turning points in the study of human prehistory have occured at almost precisely 70 year intervals:from the initial establishment of a deep human antiquity in Europe in the late 1850s (at Brixham Cave and in the Somme River Valley) to the demonstration in the late 1920s at Folsom that American prehistory reached into the Pleistocene (albeit not very far) to the realization in the late 1990s, based on evidence from Monte Verde, that there was a still-earlier, pre-Clovis presence in the Americas. It is unlikely that the cyclical nature of these episodes is anything more than an odd coincidence. Still, there are patterns to those cycles of controversy and resolution beyond their timing that tell us a great deal about the evolution of and revolution in scientific knowledge. Moreover, in comparing these episodes, and the differences that emerge from that comparison, we can see clearly how much (and how little) archaeology has changed over the past two centuries.

Bradley and Stanford (2004) have raised now, in several instances, the claim that European Upper Paleolithic Solutrean peoples colonized North America, and gave rise to the archaeological complex known as Clovis. They do so in the face of some obvious challenges--notably the several thousand miles of ocean and the 5000 radiocarbon years that separate the two. And yet they argue in their recent paper that the archaeological evidence in support of a historical connection is 'overwhelming'. We are profoundly skeptical of this claim; we believe that the many differences between Solutrean and Clovis are far more significant than the few similarities, the latter being readily explained by the well-known phenomenon of technological convergence or parallelism. The origin and arrival time of the first Americans remain uncertain, but not so uncertain that we need to look elsewhere other than north-east Asia. Keywords Clovis; pre-Clovis; Solutrean; colonization of Americas; Paleoindian; marine adaptation; lithic technology.

The Plainview/Folsom-aged bison Bonebed 2 at Bonfire Shelter, originally excavated in the 1960s, is argued to be the earliest North American bison jump (Dibble 1970; Dibble and Lorrain 1968). Yet, it is far older than all other known jumps, and well south of where the great majority of these sites are found. Dibble (1970) reasonably argued that its age and location was not compelling evidence against it being a bison jump. However, Binford (1978) observed that the skeletal composition of Bonebed 2 did not resemble a kill. To assess whether Bonfire Shelter could have been utilized as a jump and whether it was, we explore two lines of evidence bearing on the issue, a GIS analysis of the site and upland topography, and zooarchaeological analysis of the recovered bison remains. Although our GIS analysis indicates that Bonfire Shelter meets many of the criteria of a jump locality, our reanalysis of the faunal remains suggests this was not the primary kill locus, but instead a processing area to which high-utility portions of at least 24 bison were transported and butchered. Where the bison were killed, and how, is not known. Se ha planteado que el Nivel de Huesos 2 del sitio de Bonfire Shelter, que es de la epoca de Plainview/Folsom, es el sitio norteamericano rods antiguo donde se llevo a cabo el metodo de caida para la matanza de bisontes (Dibble 1970, Dibble y Lorrain 1968). Sin embargo, es mucho mas antiguo que todos los otros sitios de caida que se conocen hasta la fecha, y esta ubicado muy al sur de donde se encuentra la gran mayoria de tales sitios. Dibble (1970) planted razonablemente que su antiguedad y ubicacion no forman evidencia convincente de que no fuera una calda de bisontes. A pesar de esto, Binford (1978) observo que la composicion esqueletica del Nivel de Huesos 2 no parece ser de una matanza. Para investigar si Bonfire Shelter pudo haberse usado como sitio de caida, exploramos en el presente informe dos tipos de evidencia que tienen que vet con el problema: un analisis GIS del sitio y la topografia de terreno elevado, y un analisis zooarqueologico de los restos recuperados de los bisontes. A pesar de que nuestro analisis abarca muchos de los criterios para una localidad de caida, nuestro reanalisis de los restos de la fauna sugiere que esta no fue la localidad primaria de la matanza, sino que fue una area de procesamiento a la cual se trasladaron y destazaron las porciones de alta utilidad de los 24 bisontes. No se sabe donde y como se mataron los bisontes., Bonfire Shelter (41VV218) is a multicomponent archaeological and paleontological site near Langtry, Texas (Figure 1), located at the base of a roughly 26 m high cliff. Excavation in the shelter [...]

Excavations at Mustang Springs, Texas, a key freshwater source on the Southern High Plains, have produced archaeological components of various ages, dating back to Paleoindian times. This report details a Historic fauna from the site that contains both native wild (bison, coyote) and domesticated (cattle, horse, sheep) species. Radiocarbon dates on the fauna fall into three age groups. modern, 100 B.P., and 280 B.P The assemblage is resting on a stratigraphic unconformity and shows evidence of postdepositional fluvial re-working and animal trampling, but was buried rapidly enough that the bone otherwise displays little evidence of surface weathering or carnivore action. The assemblage appears to represent an autochthonous fauna that accumulated gradually around the edge of a water hole, primarily by means of natural attrition. However, human action in the form of domestic management of cattle and sheep, and perhaps bison hunting, is also evidenced. Whether these bison were among the last of the Southern Plains bison herd killed by commercial hide hunters--as is known to have occurred near this locality--cannot be determined from the available evidence. Keywords: bison, Southern High Plains, Historic period, faunal remains

Research on the Folsom Paleoindian type sire, involving renewed field investigations and an analysis of extant collections from the 1920s excavations, was undertaken between 1997 and 2000. The preliminary results [...]

Methodological and theoretical advances have vastly expanded knowledge of North American prehistory over the past 50 years of archaeological research. Significant developments include discovery of important sites such as Ozette on the Pacific Coast of Washington, Olsen-Chubbuck on the Colorado Plains, and the Old Crow River in Canada; research on the shift from foraging to agriculture; a regional rather than site-specific focus at Chaco; work on the contact period; and passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

The potential importance of the Monte Verde site for the peopling of the New World prompted a detailed examination of the collections from that locality as well as a site visit in January 1997 by a group of Paleoindian specialists. It is the consensus of that group that the MV-II occupation at the site is both archaeological and 12,500 years old, as T. Dillehay has argued. The status of the potentially even older material at the site (MV-I, [approximately]33,000 B.P) remains unresolved., The Monte Verde site, excavated by Tom Dillehay beginning in 1977, is widely recognized as one of the most viable of the possible pre-Clovis sites in the Americas. This locale [...]

The controversy surrounding the antiquity of the first Americans has to be solved for a complete understanding of the adaptive radiation of Homo sapiens into the New World to emerge. Humans are presumed to have been in the Americas at least 11,200 years ago, in Clovis times. Others who ascribe Homo sapiens to earlier periods, on the basis of mtDNA and archaeological evidence. This contradiction can be resolved by the new models from evolutionary ecology and probable changes in the Clovis chronology. The most possible pre-Clovis candidate is the Monte Verde site in Chile.

W. Roger Powers, R. Dale Guthrie & John F. Hoffecker (edited by Ted Goebel). Dry Creek: archaeology and paleoecology of a Late Pleistocene Alaskan hunting camp. 2017. 330 pages, numerous [...]

The Folsom site (New Mexico, USA) is justly famous as the place where in 1927 four decades of sometimes bitter controversy came to an end, when it was finally demonstrated [...]

The question of how and when the Americas were first settled remains unsettled. The Clovis site in New Mexico had been accepted as the earliest prehistoric site, suggesting that the first Americans crossed the Bering Land Bridge around 12,000-11,000 BP. However, some sites that may predate Clovis have subsequently been found, such as Monte Verde, Chile. A Pacific Coast route has also been suggested, and there may have been a number of migratory pulses.

DENNIS J. STANFORD and JANE S. DAY, editors. Denver Museum of Natural History and University of Colorado Press, Niwot, 1992. xii + 378 pp., figures, tables, photographs, references, index. $39.95 [...]