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Evidence of Early Paleoindian Bone Modification and Use at the Sheriden Cave Site (33WY252), Wyandot County, Ohio

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Brian G. Redmond  and
Kenneth B. Tankersley
Brian G. Redmond
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive, University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-1767 (bredmond@cmnh.org)
Kenneth B. Tankersley
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Kentucky University, Nunn Drive, Highland Heights, KY 41099 (tankerslyk@nku.edu)
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Abstract

The analysis of osseous (bone, antler, or ivory) beveled shafts or “rods” has become an important focus in the study of early Paleoindian tool technology. Since 1995 two carved and beveled bone rods have been recovered from Sheriden Cave in northwest Ohio in depositional strata that are radiocarbon dated to between 11,060 and 10,400 radiocarbon years B.P. These strata also contained a small, reworked, Gainey-style fluted point; cut and burned animal bone; and the remains of flat-headed peccary, caribou, giant beaver, and other taxa. The tapered tips and overall morphology of the bone rods demonstrate that they served as projectile points as opposed to other functional types such as foreshafts. Microscopic and radiographic examinations of the bone points reveal that they were manufactured from split sections of mega-mammal bone. These artifacts resemble bone and ivory points found at early Paleoindian sites in western North America and northern Florida but also bear significant morphological similarities to bone sagaie or javelin tips known from Upper Paleolithic sites in Europe. The close spatial and temporal associations between the Sheriden Cave artifacts suggest that they represent the remains of an early Paleoindian tool cache within a small resource extraction campsite.

Résumé

Résumé

La recuperación y análisis de cañas o “varillas” biseladas hechas de materiales óseos (hueso, cornamenta o marfil) ya constituten un enfoque importante del estudio de la tecnología del herramitas del Paleoindio Temprano. Desde 1995, se han recuperado un total de dos varillas de hueso tallado y biselado de las capas que datan al Pleistoceno Tardío en la cueva Sheriden Cave, del noroeste de Ohio (EE.UU.). Los artefactos de hueso se recuperaron de estratos que datan entre 11,060 y 10,400 años 14C a. P. Estos estratos contenían también una pequeña y retocada punta acanalada de estilo Gainey, huesos de animal modificados culturalmente (cortados o quemados) y los restos desarticulados de jabalí (Platygonus compressus), caribú (Rangifer tarandus), castor gigante (Castoroides ohioensis) y otras taxas. Tanto la terminaciòn cónica como la morfología total de las varillas de hueso demuestran que servían de puntas de proyectil, es decir, que no formaban parte de la caña misma. Estudios microscópicos y radiográficos de las puntas de hueso indican que fueron fabricados de secciones de hueso quebrado de mega-mamífero, posiblemente derivados de bisonte, buey almizclero, perezozo terrestre, mamut o mastodonte. En general, estos artefactos se parecen a las puntas de hueso y marfil que se encuentran en los sitios Paleoindios del oeste de Norte América y de Florida septentrional; pero también comparten bastantes similitudes morfológicas con una clase de sagaie, o puntas de jabalina, de hueso y cornamenta que se conocen de sitios europeos del Paleolítico Superior. Al mismo tiempo, su morfología indica que las puntas de hueso de Sheriden Cave podrían derivarse de varillas más largas y doble biselados o de lanzas unibiseladas. Por último, las estrechas asociaciones espaciales y temporales entre las puntas de hueso de Sheriden Cave, las puntas acanaladas y posiblemente el raspador de lasca grande también recuperado allá, sugieren que estos artefactos representan los restos de un contexto de herramientas del período Paleoindio Temprano depositadas en un pequeño campamento, instalado para la extracción de recursos.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 70 , Issue 3 , July 2005 , pp. 503 - 526
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2005

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