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Bonfire Shelter: a Zooarchaeological BONFIRE SHELTER: A ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL REEVALUATION OF BONE BED 2 by James O. Ramsey, B.A. A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a Major in Anthropology August 2020 Committee Members: James David Kilby, Chair Stephen L. Black Jodi A. Jacobson Copyright By James O. Ramsey 2020 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, James O. Ramsey, refuse permission to copy in excess of the “Fair Use” exemption without my written permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people whose contributions and assistance made this thesis possible. To thank all of them would require a second thesis worth of space, but this thesis would not be complete without recognizing a few of them. Firstly, I would like to thank my parents, Nathan and Susan Ramsey, for their constant support and for instilling in me a love for history and the natural world. Secondly, I would like to thank Dr. Kilby for offering me the opportunity to work at Bonfire Shelter and be a part of the long history of research carried out at such an incredible site. I would also like to thank the other members of my thesis committee: Dr. Black for sharing with me his years of experience and insight and Dr. Jacobson for her willingness to teach me zooarchaeology and her patience with me along the way. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude towards my undergraduate professor, Dr. Ashley Lemke, for introducing me to the wonders of archaeology and for continuously going out of her way to help me on my academic journey. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1 II. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ...........................................................5 Material Culture ...........................................................................................5 Social Organization ......................................................................................7 Environment .................................................................................................9 Bison Physiology .......................................................................................10 Bison Behavior...........................................................................................11 Bison Hunting ...........................................................................................12 Bison Hunting Strategies ...............................................................14 III. BONFIRE SHELTER ......................................................................................18 History of Investigations ............................................................................21 Discovery: 1958 .............................................................................21 The University of Texas at Austin: 1963-1964..............................22 Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology: 1978 ...............................................26 The University of Texas at Austin: 1983-1984..............................26 Southern Methodist University/Quest: 2005 .................................29 Texas State University/ASWT: 2017-Present ...............................31 Interpretations ............................................................................................33 Implications of Bone Bed 2 as a Bison Jump ............................................35 Lithic Material ...........................................................................................37 Stratigraphy ................................................................................................38 IV. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS .....................................42 Number of Events? ....................................................................................42 v Kill/Primary Processing or Secondary Processing? ...................................43 Does Bone Bed 2 Represent a Jump Drive? ..............................................45 V. ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL METHODS .........................................................47 Specimen Identification .............................................................................47 Bone Modification .....................................................................................48 Burning ..........................................................................................48 Subaerial Weathering and Root Etching ........................................49 Orientation and Inclination ............................................................50 Bone Breakage ...........................................................................................51 Carnivore Activity .........................................................................52 Marrow Processing ........................................................................52 Trampling .......................................................................................53 Sediment Overburden ....................................................................53 Falling ............................................................................................54 Quantification ............................................................................................55 Number of Identified Specimens (NISP) .......................................55 Minimum Number of Elements (MNE) .........................................55 Minimum Number of Animal Units (MAU) .................................56 Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) .......................................56 Intrasite Distribution ..................................................................................56 Sex and Age Determination .......................................................................57 Sex Determination .........................................................................57 Age Determination .........................................................................57 Utility .........................................................................................................58 (S)MAVGTP ..................................................................................59 (S)AVGPRO ..................................................................................59 (S)AVGMAR .................................................................................59 Prior Research ............................................................................................60 VI. RESULTS ........................................................................................................61 Taxonomy ..................................................................................................61 Skeletal Element Abundance .....................................................................62 Density-Mediated Attrition ........................................................................67 Orientation and Inclination ........................................................................68 Settling Velocity ........................................................................................73 Weathering .................................................................................................74 Rodent and Carnivore Modification ..........................................................81 Sex and Age Composition .........................................................................81 vi Sex Composition ............................................................................82 Age Composition ...........................................................................82 Season of Death .............................................................................83 Articulated Segments .................................................................................88 Bison Carcass Utility .................................................................................93 Intrasite Distribution ..................................................................................99 Stratigraphic Boundaries ..........................................................................108 Modification .............................................................................................109 Evidence for Butchery .................................................................110 Bone Breakage .............................................................................110 Burning ........................................................................................113 VII. SUMMARY .................................................................................................117 VIII. DISCUSSION .............................................................................................125
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