Folsom Site - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Folsom, New Mexico

Folsom is a village in Union County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 75 at the 2000 census. The town was named after Frances Folsom, the fiancee of President Grover Cleveland.-Geography:Folsom is located at ....

, is the archaeological site

Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...

that is the type site

Type site

In archaeology a type site is a site that is considered the model of a particular archaeological culture...

for the Folsom tradition

Folsom tradition

The Folsom Complex is a name given by archaeologists to a specific Paleo-Indian archaeological culture that occupied much of central North America...

, a Paleo-Indian cultural sequence dating to between 9000 BC and 8000 BC. The Folsom Site was excavated in 1926 and found to have been a marsh-side kill site or camp where 23 bison

Bison

Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...

had been killed using distinctive tools, known as Folsom point

Folsom point

Folsom points are a distinct form of chipped stone projectile points associated with the Folsom Tradition of North America. The style of toolmaking was named after Folsom, New Mexico where the first sample was found within the bone structure of a bison in 1927....

s.

The site was found in 1908 by George McJunkin

George McJunkin

George McJunkin was the African American cowboy in New Mexico who discovered the Folsom Site in 1908.The son of slaves who was born in Midway, Texas, McJunkin was about 14 years old when the Civil War ended. He worked as an oxen driver, working on freighters. He reportedly learned how to read from...

, an ex-slave cowboy who had lived in Texas as a child. While riding across the countryside, he noticed a pile of bones that were larger than those of modern-day bison. He reported the site, and, in 1926, archaeologist Jesse Figgins from the Denver Museum of Natural History (now the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help museum visitors learn about the natural history of...

) arrived at the site to begin excavations. Figgins discovered a light, fluted projectile point buried between two of the bison's ribs, thus establishing a clear association of the point with the species of bison that had been extinct for approximately 10,000 years. Instead of extracting the projectile point from the bones, he instead cut around the bones and the embedded projectile point, removing the entire sample without disturbing the associated point.

Figgins returned to the Denver Museum of Natural History with the point and bones for further study. The original Folsom point, still embedded in the matrix between the two bison ribs, can be seen on display at the very end of the Prehistoric Journey exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

in 1961.

See also