At the Bonfire Shelter archaeological site in West Texas, people were butchering bison more than ... more At the Bonfire Shelter archaeological site in West Texas, people were butchering bison more than 11,000 years ago. Today, Texas State students and faculty uncover and preserve clues about ancient life. - Joshua Matthews, Video Producer.
Bonfire Shelter is located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas and contains deep de... more Bonfire Shelter is located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas and contains deep deposits reaching back into the last Ice Age. The site is compelling for two primary reasons. First, it may preserve evidence of the oldest and southernmost “bison jump” in North America; however, there is disagreement as to whether a 12,000-year-old layer of bones represents one or as many as three hunting events, and whether or not they truly represent bison jumps. If they do, it is an unprecedented adaptive strategy for North American Paleoindians. Second, a lower layer includes remains of mammoth and other Pleistocene megafauna of ambiguous origin. Previous researchers have argued that these 14,600 year old remains also reflect human activity, but this has never been verified. In an effort to generate more definitive answers to the uncertainties surrounding the interpretation of Bonfire Shelter, the Ancient Southwest Texas Project (ASWT) at Texas State University initiated new fieldwork at the site in 2017.
At the Bonfire Shelter archaeological site in West Texas, people were butchering bison more than ... more At the Bonfire Shelter archaeological site in West Texas, people were butchering bison more than 11,000 years ago. Today, Texas State students and faculty uncover and preserve clues about ancient life. - Joshua Matthews, Video Producer.
Bonfire Shelter is located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas and contains deep de... more Bonfire Shelter is located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas and contains deep deposits reaching back into the last Ice Age. The site is compelling for two primary reasons. First, it may preserve evidence of the oldest and southernmost “bison jump” in North America; however, there is disagreement as to whether a 12,000-year-old layer of bones represents one or as many as three hunting events, and whether or not they truly represent bison jumps. If they do, it is an unprecedented adaptive strategy for North American Paleoindians. Second, a lower layer includes remains of mammoth and other Pleistocene megafauna of ambiguous origin. Previous researchers have argued that these 14,600 year old remains also reflect human activity, but this has never been verified. In an effort to generate more definitive answers to the uncertainties surrounding the interpretation of Bonfire Shelter, the Ancient Southwest Texas Project (ASWT) at Texas State University initiated new fieldwork at the site in 2017.
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