Olsen-Chubbuck Bison Kill Site
Encyclopedia
The Olsen-Chubbuck Bison kill site is located 16 miles (25.7 km) southeast of Kit Carson, Colorado
. The Paleo-Indian site dates back to an estimated 8000-6500 B.C. and provides evidence for bison hunting long before the use of the bow and arrow or horses. The site was named Olsen-Chubbuck after the amateur archaeologists
who discovered the bone bed, Sigurd Olsen and Gerald Chubbuck. The Olsen-Chubbuck site was excavated 1958 and 1960 by Joe Ben Wheat
, an anthropologist
employed through the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
. The site contains a bone-bed of almost 200 bison that were killed and processed by Paleo-Indian hunters.
Following the extinction of megafauna
such as mammoth
in the late Pleistocene
, Bison
became the most important game for native Paleo-Indians for food and many other uses, including use of hides for clothing and shelter. Bison, relying on their sense of smell, traveled in search of food in herds of 50 to 300. Their poor eye sight allowed hunters to get close to the herd, scare them and cause them to stampede
into bison jumps or arroyo
traps.
s and five separate piles of bones at the northernmost area of the Arkansas River
valley. He notified the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
of his discovery and performed an initial excavation.
, the excavation dig was in an irregularly shaped area up to 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, 200 feet (61 m) long and 7 feet (2.1 m) deep. Nearly 200 Bison occidentalis
were found in a section 170 feet (51.8 m) long.
Chubbuck and Olsen
With Sigurd Olsen, another amateur archaeologist, Chubbuck excavated the bones of about 50 bison in 1/3rd of the site in 1957.
Joe Ben Wheat, University of Colorado Museum
By the spring of 1958, the University of Colorado Museum was granted permission to excavate by the owner of the land, Paul Forward, and Chubbuck and Olsen. The excavations were led by Joe Ben Wheat
between 1958 and 1960. Wheat and his team uncovered 143 more skeletal remains. The total number of bison found included 16 calves, 27 immature bulls, 38 immature cows, 46 adult bulls, and 63 adult cows. Wheat's careful and detailed descriptions of the arroyo drive, kill site, butchering process, and consumption estimates set a standard for excavation of Paleo-Indian sites and won national attention.
From the positioning of the 190 Bison occidentalis skeleton bones, it was found that they were stampeded by the hunters into the arroyo. The animals that plunged first were killed from the fall and their remains were contorted, with twisted spines, and covered by following bison from the stampede. The bison were theorized to have run in a north-south direction with the hunters upwind of the southerly wind. The presence of 16 nearly newborn calves means the kill was likely in late May or early July. The arroyo drive to cause the mass killing would have required significant "cooperative planning."
. Positioning the Bison occidentalis bones for butchering would have required a great deal of manual effort. The Olsen-Chubbuck hunters ate the tongues of the bison as they worked, given the isolated occurrences of tongue bone in the piles. It would have likely taken 1/2 a day for 100 people to butcher the bison.
Meat was likely dried for presevation, with 20 pounds of dried meat yielded from 100 pounds of fresh meat. It is thought Paleo-Indians may have preserved butchered neck meat into pemmican
, dried meat pounded into a powder, like later Plains Indians who found bison neck meat tough to eat.
lanceolate points and Milnesand points.
Other artifacts were also found at the Olsen-Chubbuck kill site, including:
site, a Plano culture
that existed 9,000 to 7,000 years ago in the Plains
. Many of the artifacts were similar to the set of tools used by the Clovis culture
and Folsom tradition
, such as knives, stone scrapers
and bone ornaments and needles
. The Scottsbluff and Eden points, dated about 6,500 B.C. are of the Cody culture.
Kit Carson, Colorado
The historic Town of Kit Carson is a Statutory Town in Cheyenne County, Colorado, United States. The population was 253 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Kit Carson is located at ....
. The Paleo-Indian site dates back to an estimated 8000-6500 B.C. and provides evidence for bison hunting long before the use of the bow and arrow or horses. The site was named Olsen-Chubbuck after the amateur archaeologists
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
who discovered the bone bed, Sigurd Olsen and Gerald Chubbuck. The Olsen-Chubbuck site was excavated 1958 and 1960 by Joe Ben Wheat
Joe Ben Wheat
Dr. Joe Ben Wheat was an archaeologist, curator, teacher, and author known for his expertise on blanket weavings and textiles of the Navajo and other Indians in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. His research focused on Mogollon, Anasazi, Great Plains Paleo-Indian, and African Paleolithic...
, an anthropologist
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
employed through the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
The University of Colorado Museum of Natural History is a museum of natural history in Boulder, Colorado. With more than four million artifacts and specimens in the areas of anthropology, botany, entomology, paleontology and zoology, the museum houses one of the most extensive and respected...
. The site contains a bone-bed of almost 200 bison that were killed and processed by Paleo-Indian hunters.
Bison
Following the extinction of megafauna
Megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
such as mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
in the late Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
, Bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
became the most important game for native Paleo-Indians for food and many other uses, including use of hides for clothing and shelter. Bison, relying on their sense of smell, traveled in search of food in herds of 50 to 300. Their poor eye sight allowed hunters to get close to the herd, scare them and cause them to stampede
Stampede
A stampede is an act of mass impulse among herd animals or a crowd of people in which the herd collectively begins running with no clear direction or purpose....
into bison jumps or arroyo
Arroyo (creek)
An arroyo , a Spanish word translated as brook, and also called a wash is usually a dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Wadi is a similar term in Africa. In Spain, a rambla has a similar meaning to arroyo.-Types and processes:Arroyos...
traps.
Discovery
The Olsen-Chubbuck was first discovered by Gerald Chubbuck, a young archaeologist, in 1957 when he came across several Scottsbluff projectile pointProjectile point
In archaeological terms, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a projectile, such as a spear, dart, or arrow, or perhaps used as a knife....
s and five separate piles of bones at the northernmost area of the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
valley. He notified the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
The University of Colorado Museum of Natural History is a museum of natural history in Boulder, Colorado. With more than four million artifacts and specimens in the areas of anthropology, botany, entomology, paleontology and zoology, the museum houses one of the most extensive and respected...
of his discovery and performed an initial excavation.
Excavation
Located in a dry gulch, or arroyoArroyo (creek)
An arroyo , a Spanish word translated as brook, and also called a wash is usually a dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Wadi is a similar term in Africa. In Spain, a rambla has a similar meaning to arroyo.-Types and processes:Arroyos...
, the excavation dig was in an irregularly shaped area up to 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, 200 feet (61 m) long and 7 feet (2.1 m) deep. Nearly 200 Bison occidentalis
Bison occidentalis
Bison occidentalis is an extinct species of bison that lived in North America during the Pleistocene. It probably evolved from Bison priscus. B. occidentalis was smaller and smaller horned than the steppe bison. Unlike any bison before it, its horns pointed upward, parallel to the plane of its face...
were found in a section 170 feet (51.8 m) long.
Chubbuck and Olsen
With Sigurd Olsen, another amateur archaeologist, Chubbuck excavated the bones of about 50 bison in 1/3rd of the site in 1957.
Joe Ben Wheat, University of Colorado Museum
By the spring of 1958, the University of Colorado Museum was granted permission to excavate by the owner of the land, Paul Forward, and Chubbuck and Olsen. The excavations were led by Joe Ben Wheat
Joe Ben Wheat
Dr. Joe Ben Wheat was an archaeologist, curator, teacher, and author known for his expertise on blanket weavings and textiles of the Navajo and other Indians in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. His research focused on Mogollon, Anasazi, Great Plains Paleo-Indian, and African Paleolithic...
between 1958 and 1960. Wheat and his team uncovered 143 more skeletal remains. The total number of bison found included 16 calves, 27 immature bulls, 38 immature cows, 46 adult bulls, and 63 adult cows. Wheat's careful and detailed descriptions of the arroyo drive, kill site, butchering process, and consumption estimates set a standard for excavation of Paleo-Indian sites and won national attention.
Theory about the stampede
From the positioning of the 190 Bison occidentalis skeleton bones, it was found that they were stampeded by the hunters into the arroyo. The animals that plunged first were killed from the fall and their remains were contorted, with twisted spines, and covered by following bison from the stampede. The bison were theorized to have run in a north-south direction with the hunters upwind of the southerly wind. The presence of 16 nearly newborn calves means the kill was likely in late May or early July. The arroyo drive to cause the mass killing would have required significant "cooperative planning."
Butchering
The site contained 3 distinct layers of bison remains: 1) the bottom layer held skeletons of 13 untouched bison, 2) the middle contained nearly complete, or only partially butchered, skeletal remains and 3) the top layer had butchered single bones and articulated bison skeletal segments. The top layer illustrated that as the Paleo-Indians methodically removed the meat from the bones they placed them in separate piles or units that contained the skeletal remains from a number of animals. The butchering process was similar, but much more methodical, to that of modern Plains IndiansPlains Indians
The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...
. Positioning the Bison occidentalis bones for butchering would have required a great deal of manual effort. The Olsen-Chubbuck hunters ate the tongues of the bison as they worked, given the isolated occurrences of tongue bone in the piles. It would have likely taken 1/2 a day for 100 people to butcher the bison.
Consumption
The amount of edible meat for each bison is: 50 pounds for a young calf, 165 for an immature male, 110 pounds for an immature female, 550 pounds for an adult male, and 400 for an adult female. Based on the number of skeletal remains, it is estimated that the hunters obtained 56,640 pounds of meat, and a significant amount of edible mass in the form of fat and internal organs from the bison. Knowing that fresh meat is only good for about a month and assuming that 1/3 of the meat was dried, the archaeologists estimated that the band would need to have about 150 adults and children to consume the remaining 2/3 of fresh meat from this kill in that time.Meat was likely dried for presevation, with 20 pounds of dried meat yielded from 100 pounds of fresh meat. It is thought Paleo-Indians may have preserved butchered neck meat into pemmican
Pemmican
Pemmican is a concentrated mixture of fat and protein used as a nutritious food. The word comes from the Cree word pimîhkân, which itself is derived from the word pimî, "fat, grease". It was invented by the native peoples of North America...
, dried meat pounded into a powder, like later Plains Indians who found bison neck meat tough to eat.
Artifacts
27 projectile points were found at the site, 21 of which were complete or almost whole. The points included Scottsbluff and EdenEden point
Eden Points are a form of chipped stone projectile points associated with a sub-group of the larger Plano culture. Sometimes also called Yuma points, the first Eden points were discovered in washouts in Yuma County, Colorado. They were first discovered in situ at an ancient buffalo kill site...
lanceolate points and Milnesand points.
Other artifacts were also found at the Olsen-Chubbuck kill site, including:
- 1 bifacialBifaceIn archaeology, a biface is a two-sided stone tool and is used as a multi purposes knife, manufactured through a process of lithic reduction, that displays flake scars on both sides. A profile view of the final product tends to exhibit a lenticular shape...
flaked knife and 1 Alibates knife - 1 side-scraper and 3 end-scrapersScraper (archaeology)In archaeology, scrapers are unifacial tools that were used either for hideworking or woodworking purposes. Whereas this term is often used for any unifacially flaked stone tool that defies classification, most lithic analysts maintain that the only true scrapers are defined on the base of...
- 2 utilized flakesFlake toolIn archaeology a flake tool is a type of stone tool created by striking a flake from a prepared stone core.The flake could be sharpened by retouch to create scrapers or burins.-References:...
and 3 resharpening flakes - 1 hammer/anvil stone
- 3 small stones, 1 limoniteLimoniteLimonite is an ore consisting in a mixture of hydrated iron oxide-hydroxide of varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO·nH2O, although this is not entirely accurate as limonite often contains a varying amount of oxide compared to hydroxide.Together with hematite, it has...
pebble, and 4 cut, notched or polished bones.
Cody complex
The Olsen-Chubbock site is a Cody complexCody complex
The Cody complex is a Paleo-Indian culture group first identified at a bison antiquus kill site near Cody, Wyoming in 1951.The tradition is generally attributed to the North American, primarily in the High Plains portion of the American Great Plains. The discovery of the Cody complex broadened the...
site, a Plano culture
Plano cultures
The Plano cultures is a name given by archaeologists to a group of disparate hunter-gatherer communities that occupied the Great Plains area of North America during the Paleo-Indian period in the United States and the Paleo-Indian or Archaic period in Canada....
that existed 9,000 to 7,000 years ago in the Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
. Many of the artifacts were similar to the set of tools used by the Clovis culture
Clovis culture
The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...
and 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...
, such as knives, stone scrapers
Scraper (archaeology)
In archaeology, scrapers are unifacial tools that were used either for hideworking or woodworking purposes. Whereas this term is often used for any unifacially flaked stone tool that defies classification, most lithic analysts maintain that the only true scrapers are defined on the base of...
and bone ornaments and needles
Stitching awl
A stitching awl is a simple tool with which holes can be punctured in a variety of materials, or existing holes can be enlarged. It is also used for sewing heavy materials, such as leather or canvas. It is a thin, tapered metal shaft, coming to a sharp point, either straight or slightly bent....
. The Scottsbluff and Eden points, dated about 6,500 B.C. are of the Cody culture.
See also
- List of prehistoric sites in Colorado
- Outline of Colorado prehistoryOutline of Colorado prehistoryThe following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the prehistoric people of Colorado, which covers the period of when humans were first thought to have roamed Colorado until Anglo-European settlement in the 19th century...
- Prehistory of ColoradoPrehistory of ColoradoPrehistory of Colorado provides an overview of the activities that occurred prior to Colorado's recorded history. Colorado experienced cataclysmic geological events over billions of years. The way the events occurred in Colorado, though, shaped our land and ecosystems...