13
Of
Prehistoric
Bison
Hunting
and Lesser
Patterns
Mammals:
in the Wyoming
Basin
PatrickM. Lubinski
At the margins of the Great Basin and Great Plains in
the western Wyoming Basin, there appears to have been
neither a Plains-like bison-focal economy, nor a Desert
Archaic-Iike subsistence system, based on an analysis of
93 radiocarbon dated faunal assemblages from Paleoindian to protohistoric periods. The predominant resources throughout prehistory were bison, rabbits, rodents, and pronghorn in terms of ubiquity, proportion
of NISp, and NISP rank order. Other large game, particularly elk and bighorn sheep, are very rare in the
sample, which is derived primarily from lower basin
compliance excavations. Although rabbits and rodents
are the most common taxa in regional archaeofaunas,
the role of bison cannot be overemphasized during most
periods, given their size, ubiquity, and dominance of aggregate NISP. Pronghorn occur commonly as a minor
assemblage constituent, but dominate few assemblages,
most in the final I ,500 years B.P.An initial test of climate
change as an explanation for the pattern of bison and
pronghorn ubiquity indicates that, while there is good
correspondence with expectations for some periods, the
archaeofaunal pattern is unlikely to be explained solely
as a function of climate change.
INTRODUCTION
The Wyoming Basin, a seriesof intermontane basins in the
middle Rocky Mountains, can be thought of as a transition
zone between the Great Plains and Great Basin. Just as it
shares characteristics with the bordering shortgrass prairie
and desert shrublands, the basin sharessome characteristics
with both areas in terms of cultural developments. For example, the Eastern Shoshone of the mid 18ooswere noted
both for Plains-oriented bison hunts and the use of rodents
and insects (Shimkin 1986) more typical of Great Basin
peoples. Prehistorically, might a Plains-like bison-focal
model or a Basin-Iike "Desert Archaic" (Jennings 1957,
1964) model better characterize this transition area, were
there shifts from one to the other, or were Wyoming Basin
subsistencestrategies distinctly different from either? In order to address this question and begin to understand
Wyoming Basin subsistence at the regional level, I completed a comprehensive synthesis of archaeofaunal taxonomic proportions data for the study area.
The study area (Figure 13,1)is the western portion of the
[176]
AP 122
Wyoming Basin physiographic province (Fenneman 1931),
defined here as the Green River and Great Divide hydrographic basins in southwestern Wyoming, south to the Litde Snake River hydrographic basin in northwestern Colorado. This area, referred to here as the Green River Basin,
is characterized by relatively flat basins punctuated by steep
escarpments, with occasional dune fields and badland
topography, and surrounded by mountains in the Wyoming, Gros Ventre, Wind River, Sierra Madre, and Uinta
ranges. Vegetation consists of desert shrublands at the lowest elevations, with sagebrush steppe, foothill woodlands
(juniper, aspen), montane forest (conifers), and alpine tundra zones at increasing elevation (Knight 1994).Elevation
ranges from about 6,000 ft in Flaming Gorge to 13,804ft on
Gannett Peak in the Wind River Range. The prehistory of
this area is characterized almost exclusively by huntergatherer adaptations. This is not, of course, to imply that
there was a static economic foundation. For example, it has
been suggested that there were a variety of significant
changes from the Archaic to Late Prehistoric periods, including a significant increase in the use of weedy annual
plants (C. Smith 1988)and a switch from forager-Iike to collector-Iike subsistence-settIement strategies (Sanders et al.
1982).The present study was undertaken to document patterns of prehistoric prey selection through a study of archaeological faunal assemblages.
METHODS
Included in this study were all faunal assemblagesthat I
could find reported for the study area, with at least 10 specimens identified to the genus level or better, and at least one
radiocarbon assay.Ten was chosen as the minimum sample
size becausethe use of a larger minimum value was thought
potentially to eliminate many of the regional archaeofaunas, which tend to be small. (If the study were limited to assemblages with 50 or more NISp' the aggregate NISP
would not be significantly reduced, but the number of assemblageswould be cut nearly in half, alld the reduction of
assemblagesize bias would be offset by a corresponding loss
of security about the "representativeness" of the included
assemblages.)The study included only radiocarbon-dated
assemblagesin order to allow for the placement of assemblages into various chronological divisions (millennia, archaeological periods, climatic intervals, etc.), to allow for re-
Figure 13.1. The Green River Basin study area in Wyoming,
Colorado, and Utah. Study area is indicated by thick line.
Stippled areas are over 9,000 ft in elevation. The study area is
drained by the Green River and its tributaries, except for the
Great Divide Basin, which has no outlet. Base map from U.S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey (1956),and hydrographic basins
primarily from Roberts (1989).
duction to single-point mean ages,and to avoid the difficult
and contentious processof assigning age ranges to artifacts.
For each assemblage,the following were recorded as possible: NISp' MNI, site type, radiocarbon age(s), season,
screen size, exca\'ated volume, location, elevation, and vegetation. This information was entered into a computer
databaseprogram for analysis. In most cases,the analytical
units (components, occupations, etc.), dates,and faunal tabulations presented by the investigators were used in my
analysis with no modification. However, in some cases,the
original tabulations were modified for entry into the data
ba&,e,First, analytical units with overlapping 4C age ranges
were combined when individual units were too small
(48SU354, 48SW6324). Secondly, an analytical unit not
mentioned in the original report was defined on the suggestion of the original investigator in one case(48LN7I7). Also,
radiocarbon agesnot given in the original report were used
if commonly accepted (48SW5, 48SWIOI). NISP and MNI
information, when not given for a particular analytical unit,
was determined as possible from textual descriptions of the
faunal material.
Several inconsistenciesexist in the databasethat have an
affect on comparability between assemblages.MNI estimates were not reported consistently, and those reported
were calculated with a variety of methods.Taxonomic identifications were occasionally made by assuming unidentified specimens were attributable to previously identified
taxa, while most were rI:ladeon the basis of skeletal charac-
ters alone. Some tabulations included all analyzed specimens, while others omitted unburned elements from burrowing animals, and still others omitted rodents altogether.
Problems like these, as well as variation in recovery
methods, analyst experience and methods, and the coarse
scale of temporal associations, may compromise the comparability of these assemblages,and thus the conclusions of
this study.
All remains identified by the analyst were included in my
tabulations as possible, including those noted as "noncultural." This practice was employed in an attempt to control
for inter-analyst variability in identification of intrusi\'e
bone. While this practice \\~ certainly result in the inclusion of some remains that are not cultural, the fact is that
many ground nesting or burrowing mammals (namely, cottontails,jackrabbits, ground squirrels, and pocket gophers)
were used by aboriginal peoples in t11eIntermountain West
(e.g.,C. Fowler 1986; Shirnkin 1947;Sutton 1994),and it is
often difficult to distinguish between cultural and naturally
deposited remains (Grayson 199IC). In the reports examined for this study, researchers dealt with this problem in a
number of ways. One researcher tabulated all rabbits but
listed all rodents only as "present." This clearly is a biased
approach, as it assumesrabbits are food and rodents are
not, an assumption that the site inhabitants were unlikely to
m akS
e. ome ana1ysts d Ismlsse
..
d " noncu lltura "" or mo d ern "
bone and pro\ided lists only of "cultural" bone. Burning,
low surface weathering, lack of bleaching, element completeness, and context were used to distinguish cultural
from noncultural bone. Although these are all reasonable
criteria, it is unclear whether all large mammal bones were
subject to the same criteria as the small mammal bones before being pronounced cultural. It appears that the system
used by some analysts is unfairly biased towards including
large game as food and dismissing small animals as intruslve.
All radiocarbon ages used are uncalibrated and uncorrected (RCYBP). A mean age was detennined for each assemblage using the provided radiocarbon ages and Long
and Rippeteau's (1974)method of averaging. When placing
assemblagesinto chronological periods, all with one.;signla
age ranges that spanned period boundaries were considered "multiple," and were not included in period tabulations. However, only mean age center points were used
when placing assemblagesinto millennia.
The data were evaluated to deteTmine the relative ubiquity and relative dominance of genera. Ubiquity was measured simply by calculating the percent of samples (assemblages) in which a genus occurred. This is a robust measure
commonly used in palaeoethnobotany (Popper 1988).Relative dominance of different genera was determined using
(1)percent contribution to aggl.egateNISP per period, (2)
percent contribution to aggregate NISP per assemblage,
and (3) the proportion of assemblagesfor which each genus
was rank order #1 in terms of NISp, referred to here as
AP
122
[177]
Table 13.1.
Distribution of Archaeofaunas by Millennium RCYBP
Millennium
Mean Age (RCYBp)
Assemblages
Total
Total MNI
NISP
48
O
23
14
66
23
64
589
131
958
:>
4
3
2
"rank ubiquity." (Note that the first method is very sensitive
to aggregation effects, and tend to over-emphasize larger
assemblagesin the aggregate.) For measuresof rank order,
identical NISP values were counted as ties. MNI estimates
were not consistently recorded for the assemblagesincluded
in this study, so MNI was used only in a limited fashion in
the discussion of taxonomic distribution. All of these measuresare biased by sample size. For example, with many assemblages,larger sampleshave an increased probability for
rare taxa compared to smaller samples (Grayson 1984).
Several different measurements and methods of combining
samples were employed in an attempt to reduce the bias of
sample size in the interpretations.
It should be noted that an attempt was made to record
excavated volume in order to standardize taxonomic abundance values by excavation intensity, as suggestedby Bozell
(1995).However, this data could be obtained in only a small
number of reports (n = 5), and is not used here. In any
event, taxon density values are not a panacea for problems
of comparability between sites, because differences in site
surface stability, occupation duration, function, and disposal patterns affect the density of archaeological deposits.
of the Green River Basin subsistence-settlement system
(Creasman and Thompson 1997;Madsen et al. Chapter 2;
Sanders et al. 1982; Shimkin 1947).As to the chronological
distribution, the majority G4 percent of assemblagesand 65
percent of NISp) have mean agesin the second millennium
before present (Table 13.1).This reflects the preponderance
of excavated and dated sites of that age in the study area.
This uneven distribution must be considered when comparing results by time period.
What do these data indicate about which taxa are most
heavily exploited? Summary data are presented in Table
13.2.A variety of measuresindicate that the dominant genera throughout prehistory were Buon, Antilocapra, SpermophiLu,SyLvilagus,and Lepus (bison, pronghorn, ground
squirrel, cottontail, andjackrabbit, respectively). These five
taxa dominate in terms of (1) ubiquity, (2) aggregate NISP
per period, (3) aggregate MNI per period, and (4) rank
ubiquity (proportion of assemblagesin which the taxon was
ranked first for NISP). The majority of the following discussion will focus on the distribution of these five primary
genera.
The relative importance of the five major genera
RESULTS
100%
Ninety-three assemblagesfrom 58 sites in the study area,
with a combined sum of 21,552NISp, were employed for
this analysis (Appendix 13.1).(Two of these sites are described elsewhere in this publication [Francis and Walker,
Chapter 4; McKibbin, Chapter 11].)The assemblagesare
not evenly distributed in spaceor in time. The vast majority
are located in sagebrush steppe (90 percent of 90 assemblages) at 6,250-7,000 ft elevation (84 percent of 89 assemblages). This distribution reflects the fact that most of the
reported faunal assemblageswere excavated for mineral
development projects, wQi~h tend to be located in lower elevation basins. Due to this bias, the results discussed here
should be considered valid only for the lower elevation
basins, excluding mountains that were almost certainly part
80%
[178] AP 122
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
millennium (RCYBP)
fl] pronghorn.
bison
~ gr. squirrel D cottontail
3
2
1
.jackrabbit
Figure 13.2. Ubiquity of the five major genera, by millennium.
Table 13.2.
Summary of Taxonomic Distribution Regardless of Age
Percent of
all NISP
Percent
Genus
Common Name
Ubiquity
No. of Times
Ranked 1-3
Percent NISP per
High MNI
Assemblage
High
Mean
(when occur)
ARTIODACTYLS:
67
58
[8
49
<[
<[
[
37
39
Antilocapra
Biron
pronghorn
bison
Camelops
Cervus
camel
Odocoileus
deer
22
Ovis
bighorn
12
jackrabbit
pika
cottontail
74
1
72
4
<I
7
55
O
52
beaver
red-backed vole
5
I
32
3
5
I
8
13
5
4
<I
2
O
II
I
3
O
I
3
elk
9
2
8
4
100
100
8
67
67
79
18
261
30
200
8
0
13
I
10
2
12
~
I.AGOMORPHS'
Lepus
Ochotona
Sylvilagus
100
21
<1
<I
98
29
9
RODENTS:
Castor
Cleithriono"!ys
Cyno"!ys
Ert'thkon
Geo"!y?
Glaucomys
Lemmircus
Microtus
Nt'otoma
Ondatra
Onycho"!ys
Perognathus
Pt'TOmyscus
Phenacomys
Reithrodonto"!ys
Spermophilir
Tamias
17wmomys
prairie dog
porcupIne
pocket gopher
flying squirrel
sagebrush vole
small-eared vole
woodrat
muskrat
grasshopper mouse
pocket mouse
deer mouse
heather vole
harvest mouse
ground squirrel
chipmunk
pocket gopher
<I
<I
<I
<I
<I
<I
<I
<I
0
<I
<I
3
6
0
<I
4
I
36
29
30
2
II
36
6
7
13
7
3
6
11
3
4
13
3
2
O
<I
<I
1
70
9
49
<I
15
<1
14
<I
2
0
0
52
2
20
2
3
91
27
21
2
3
27
4
6
O
29
1
23
CARNIVORES:
Canis
Fe/is
dog/coyote
mountain
Lynx
bobcat
Mephitis
Mustela
skunk
Taxidea
Ursus
badger
bear
Mtlpes
fox
lion
weasel
<1
2
<1
<1
3
5
<1
<1
4
O
O
O
O
2
<1
<1
0
<I
o
o
o
0
7
O
4
3
2
24
<I
<I
2
1
1
7
4
2
2
59
1
O
6
<I
<I
BIRDS:
Aguila
Anas
Branta
Buteo
Centrocercus
Pica
Tympanuchus
golden eagle
marsh duck
Canada goose
hawk
sage grouse
magpie
grouse
1
2
<I
<I
3
20
I
3
<I
<I
<I
<I
<I
3
1
O
<1
2
1
2
28
5
3
1
3
O
1
2
4
5
2
AP
122
[179]
Table 13.2.continued
Summary of Taxonomic Distribution Regardless of Age
Percent
Commc
Name
Ubiquity
Percent of
all NISP
No. of Times
Ranked 1-3
Percent NISP per
Assemblage
High
High MNI
Mean
when
occur)
FISHES:
Catostomus
sucker
Gila
chub
Oncorhynchus
cutthroat
Prosopium
mountain
minnow
trout
<I
<I
through time can be evaluated in several ways. Figure 13.2
indicates the ubiquity (percent occurrence) of the major
taxa by millennium. There are severalpatterns apparent in
this graph. Rabbits and rodents are the most common taxa
for most periods. Bison occur in at least half of assemblages
for all but the eighth, seventh, and sixth millennia. Bison are
completely lacking in assemblageswith mean agesin these
millennia, and, in fact, there are no bison remains among
the five assemblagesand 283 bone fragments with onesigma radiocarbon age ranges between 8500 and 5500 B.P.
Pronghorn are equal to or more common than bison
throughout prehistory except for the first and last millennia,
where bison dominate.
Figure 13.3provides the relative contributions of each of
the five major genera in the aggregate NISP for each millennium. Although there are several striking patterns, such
as in bison proportions, these must be viewed with caution
due to biases inherent in aggregate assemblages.The following example will serve as an illustration of this problem:
In the second millennium, bison are the first and pronghorn the second resource in terms of proportion of total
NISP for all assemblages.However, if the four largest assemblagesare removed, bison fall to fifth, and pronghorn to
third. Thus, it appears that the rare sites drive these aggregate patterns. I would argue that this does not mean the aggregate patterns are meaningless, because the occurrence
of rare sitessuch as bison kills in some periods and not others is significant. Events such as bison or pronghorn communal kills are probably uncommon in any given year, but
may contribute significantly to the annual diet, especially if
some of the meat is stored for later use. At the scale of archaeological periods, while the patterns at large, bone-rich
camps or kills will tend to swamp out the patterns of small,
bone-poor camps once they are aggregated, the total relative contribution of a particular taxon should still be some
indicator of its importance in the hunting patterns for that
[180] AP 122
0
whitefish
8
15
4
4
9
o
o
o
period. Mter all, few would argue that the dominance of bison in the Paleoindian period is an "anomaly" due to "unrepresentative" kill sites. Nonetheless, it is prudent to use
additional measures (with different biases) for evaluating
taxonomic importance.
Problems with aggregation are reduced by plotting each
assemblage separately on an XV graph. Figure 13-4 provides a plot of the proportion of total NISP per assemblage
versus the mean age of the assemblagefor pronghorn and
bison. This plot shows that pronghorn commonly constitute less than 20 percent of NISP throughout prehistory,
but after 1500B.P.,four assemblagesare more than 90 percent pronghorn. The pattern for bison is much different.
Bison dominate the early assemblages(although these are
unscreened), then disappear completely until about 5000
B.P.,with a highly variable representation thereafter. Scatter
plots for the other three major genera (not shown) appear
more random than bison and pronghorn.
100%
E
:J
(/)
0..
00
z
c:
o
x
19
1!}
0
80%
60%
40%
20%
~
0%
Figure 13.3. Contribution or each or the five major genera to ag.
gregate millennium NISP;
"
pronghorn.
bison
Figure '3-4. Contributions of pronghorn and bison to total
assemblageNISP. Each assemblageis plotted twice (once for
pronghorn and once for bison), but zero values are not plotted.
Figure 13.5. Rank ubiquity of the five major genera, by millennium. Rank ubiquity is the proportion of assemblagesfor which
each genus was rank ordered first in terms of NISP.
Figure 13.5depicts rank ubiquity (the proportion of assemblagesfor which each genus was ranked first in terms of
NISP). Bison are the dominant taxa in the tenth, fourth,
and first millennia B.P.Ground squirrels are the most common or second most common first ranked resource in
nearly every period, while rabbits rank first fairly uncommonly; Pronghorn are the least likely of these five genera to
be ranked first in any millennium. Since ground squirrels
rank first so commonly, but might be largely intrusive, a second plot was prepared excluding ground squirrels, In this
distribution (not shown) ground squirrels tend to be replaced by other rodent taxa or rabbits; and there is no effect
on artiodactyl patterns.
occur in any assemblage. Of course, these ungulates require more effort and provide more meat than the smaller,
more common taxa.
Because deer, bighorn sheep, and elk are relatively rare,
none have any particularly interesting diachronic trends.
Bison are a different story, as they are quite common and
have a complex pattern of exploitation. Bison occur in at
least half of assemblagesfor all but the Early Archaic period (8000 to 5000 B.P.).This implies that bison were either
fairly common in the study area (presently a closed sagebrush steppe),or bison remains were transported back from
hunting forays to other areas, or bison products from a few
local kills were spread widely over time and space. As expected, bison overwhelmingly dominate the two early
Holocene assemblages,although these are both unscreened
(and many Pine Spring bighorn-sized remains were not
identified to genus). No bison remains have been recovered
from 8500 to 5500 B.P.,and only eight bison specimens (of
672 total NISP) have been recovered from 5500-4000 B.P.
This may indicate significandy reduced resident bison populations in the study area for this period, as might be expected for the purported arid Altithermal clirilatic interval.
In the following millennia, bison importance fluctuates, and
the taxon ranks first to fourth by various measures. However, in the final millennium, bison ranks first in terms of
occurrence, proportion of aggregate NISp' and NISP rank.
Four probable bison communal kill sites occur in the study
area, one in the tenth millennium (Finley [Moss 1951]), and
three near the end of the second millennium: Wardell (Frison 1973),Barnes (McKern 1995),and Inman (Latady et al.
DISCUSSION
Several major themes can be extracted from the preceding
data. First, when the genera are combined into larger taxonomic groups, it is clear that artiodactyls, lagomorphs, and
rodents provide the vast majority of faunal remains
throughout prehistory (seeFigure 13.6).
Artiodactyls dominate in a variety of ways, most strikinglyas a proportion of aggregate NISP and MNI, but also
as a proportion of occurrence and as the first ranked taxon
(Figure 13.6). Of artiodactyls, bison and pronghorn compose the vast majority of bone counts throughout prehistory (Table 13.2).Deer (Odocoileus)
come in a distant third,
occurring in less than half the assemblages,and ranking
first, second, or third less than a quarter as often as pronghorn or bison. Bighorn sheep (Ovis) rank in the top three
and occur about half as often as deer. Bighorn are a significant resource only at the Pine Spring site; disregarding that
site, bighorn make up at most 5 percent of the NISP in any
assemblage.Elk (Cervus)are even more rare, and make up
more than 4 percent of NISP in only two assemblages.No
more than three individuals (MNI) of these three genera
1996).
Pronghorn also occur commonly (66 percent of all assemblages),but are present in low proportions at all but a
few unusual sites. (Pronghorn make up a mean of only 18
percent of NISP when they occur.) The unusual pronghorn-dominated assemblages (> 60 percent of NISP)
AP
122
[181]
rank ubiquity
ubiquity
.artlodactyls
MNI
NISP
fish
fish
birds-
blrdscarnl
carnIvores
rodents~
rodents-
-artlodactyls
lagomorphsartiodactyls
lagomorphs~
Figure 13.6. Taxonomic distribution summary, regardless of age. Ubiquity and rank ubiquity pies show the relative proportion of
assemblagesin which the taxon occurs, or in which it occurs as the largest proportion of NISP. NISP and MNI pies show the relative
proportion of aggregate NISP or MNI. Note that MNI was not calculated for all assemblages,so is not directly comparable to the other
three
appear to be a late phenomenon, as all occur in the last
1,500 years B.P.(Figure 13-4).There are also five possible
masskill sitesdating after 1300B.P.:Austin Wash {Reissand
Walker 1982; SchroedlI985), Firehole Basin (Lubinski and
Metcalf 1996), Eden-Farson {Frison 1971), Gailiun, and
Boar's Tusk (Fisher 1981).The Trapper's Point site (Miller
and Francis 1993),dating to about 5800 B.P.,may be the sole
exception to this late pattern. Although none of these kills
would have provided as much meat as the regional bison
kills, some nonethelessinvolved significant numbers of animals {e.g., 212 MNI at the Eden-Farson site {Frison 1971).
Lagomorphs, includingjackrabbit, cottontail, and a single pika (Ochotona)
bone, are rougWy as common as artiodactyls, but more often rank in the top three taxa. Rabbits
dominate some assemblages{e.g., 128cottontails of 13° total NISP in Component 1,48SW7933).There are also moderate numbers of individuals at some sites{e.g.,9 cottontails
at 48SW5019, Unit B, Component I, and 7 jackrabbits at
48LN 1296,Area E, Component 3). On the basisof MNI estimates, it seemsunlikely that any of these sites represent
communal rabbit drives like those documented in Great
Basin ethnographies {e.g.,Egan 1917;C. Fowler 1986; Steward 1938), but rabbit drives tend to be obscure in the
archaeological record {Shaffer and Gardner 1995). Lagomorphs dominate assemblagesprimarily during the eighthfifth millennia when artiodactyl numbers are low. For
[1821
AP
12-2
example, during the period 8500-5500 B.P., cottontails
comprise 58 percent of 672 NISp, while all artiodactyls
make up only 2 percent.
Rodents are the third major taxonomic group. The vast
majority of rodent bones are ground squirrels. Ground
squirrels occur in 7° percent of assemblagesand dominate
many of them. A few assemblagesare composed almost entirely of ground squirrels (e.g., 1,204 of 1,373 NISP at
48lN717). Another assemblage(48SW4381, Component 2)
has an MNI estimate of 29, although the analyst felt they
were noncultural because none had burning or cutmarks
(Tanner 1982). If these remains are cultural, it is possible
that trap lines were used or there was intentional ground
squirrel hunting rather than opportunistic collection (e.g.,
C. Fowler 1986; Sutton 1994, and references therein).
Among other rodents, pocket gophers (Thomomys)and
prairie dogs (Cynomys)occur in a third to a half of assemblages, but make up low proportions of NISP. Other rodents are rare, and generally consist of trace amounts.
Far lesscommon and significant than these three groups
are carnivorous mammals, birds, and fish. As one might expect, no carnivores except domestic dogs or coyotes (genus
Canis)occur in significant amounts. Dogs/ coyotes make up
a mean of 7 percent of NISP when they occur, and at most
51 percent of NISP per assemblage.Of birds, only grouse
occur in numbers. Sage grouse (Centrocercus)
occur in 21per-
cent of assemblagesas a minor constituent, but all other
identified bird genera combined occur in only 10percent of
assemblageswith a maximum of 7 percent of NISP. Identified fish are quite rare, occurring in only 5 percent of assemblages(two sites),and constituting at most 15percent of
NISP. (For a discussion of one of these two fish-bearing
sites, see McKibbin, Chapter 11). Although fish are undoubtedly uncommon in the study area, they may be underrepresented in part becausethey are not often identified
to the genus level, and in part because fine excavation
screening ( inch) was used systematically for only 14percent
of assemblages.Fish not identified to the genus level are
present at several regional sites, including 48LN317
(McGuire 1977),48LN787 (Sanders et al. 1982),48SUI042
(Hoefer 1991),and 48SW304 (Frison 1971).
It is worth reiterating that jackrabbit, cottontail, and
ground squirrel are the most common animals in Green
River Basin archaeofaunas. They also rank equal to or
higher than bison and pronghorn in terms of NISP (aggregate percent NISp' mean percent NISp' and proportion of
assemblagesranked first) from 8000 to 4000 B.P.Although
some of these specimens undoubtedly are not food remains, it is clear that rabbits and ground squirrels represent
more than an insignificant portion of the aboriginal meat
budget. However, it is probably difficult to overestimate the
importance of bison in the study area, given the fact that bison is a large animal, that it so often makes up significant
portions of archaeofaunas, and that there are four probable
communal kill sites.
INTERPRETATIONS
As should be apparent from an examination of Table 13.1,
the patterns discussed here must be considered tentative.
With the exception of the final two millennia, sample sizes
(number of assemblagesand total NISP) are quite small,
and there may be considerable change brought about by
the inclusion of additional dated assemblages.Several large
faunal assemblageswere being analyzed as this work was in
progress. The most significant is the Trapper's Point site
(Miller and Francis 1993),which will provide important assemblages for the Early Archaic period. An additional
problem is a serious dearth of dated faunal assemblages
from montane locations, which are an important part of all
proposed regional settlement-subsistence models. Despite
these shortcomings, this initial compilation of regional archaeofaunal data provides a comprehensive empirical base
with which to evaluate Green River Basin subsistence.
A variety of patterns are apparent in the archaeofaunal
data, but the significance of these patterns is unclear becausewe do not know which are due merely to stochastic
factors and which are truly representative of changes in human behavior. This problem is apparent at several levels.At
one level is sampling error. Variables such as site season,
function, and location may have a strong influence on hunt-
ing patterns, and systematic bias in these variables, assemblage size, or taphonomy alone may effect changes in taxonomic proportions. Many of thesevariables might be tested
or controlled for in order to expose more fundamental patterns. For pronghorn, sampling was found insufficient to
explain the predominately late appearance of pronghorndominated assemblages and possible communal kill sites
{Lubinski 1997), but this remains to be demonstrated for
other taxa. At another level is the question of whether human hunter-gatherers are essentially flexible with regard to
prey choice, or whether subsistencechoices might be more
conservative and partially controlled by nonsubsistencecultural behavior. In the former case,all subsistencevariability
in the Green River Basin can be explained in terms of environmental fluctuations that affect the relative rankings of
resources, and there are no significant changes in subsistence strategies. In the latter case, some of the observed
patterns could represent fundamental changes in strategy,
such as diversification, specialization, or intensification,
and these strategies might persist even when environmental
conditions make them suboptimal, or even maladaptive.
In terms of fitting a large-scale subsistence model, the
Green River Basin faunal record might be thought of as bison-focal for the earliest part of the record, and possibly for
the final millennium, but clearly not for the period 8500 to
4000 B.P.,when bison constitute less than I percent of 955
NISP. A model based closely on Shimkin's {1947, 1986) description of early Reservation period Wind River Shoshone
subsistencealso would be inadequate, becausethree of the
five documented staples {fish, elk, and beaver) do not occur
in appreciable numbers in any prehistoric period. A flexible
Desert Archaic model appears to fit the middle portion of
the record, and might be made to fit the entire record if periods of bison-focality are viewed as responsesto periodic
bison windfalls. If viewed in this way, the Desert Archaic
model is the most appropriate of the three major models.
However, thinking of the region solely in terms of the
Desert Archaic model is, I think, unhelpful becauseit tends
to subsume any diachronic changes in subsistencemerely as
"situationally appropriate subsistencebehavior" (Bettinger
1993:49).Potentially significant shifts in subsistencestrategy
might be overlooked within such a framework.
Although the extent to which the patterns observed here
can be deemed significant is subject to debate, there are several which appear striking and beg explanations. For exampie, there is a near complete lack of elk, which is in marked
contrast with regional ethnography and archaeofaunas of
the historic period {e.g.,Walker 1983).It is difficult to imagine this resource was ignored, so a likely explanation is simply that it was rarely available in prehistory, although other
explanations have been suggested for nearby regions {e.g.,
Kay 1994). Another possibly significant pattern involves
pronghorn. Pronghorn generally occur only as minor constituents at regional sites, but the pronghorn-dominated
sites and possible kills are nearly exclusively a late phenomAP
122
[183]
enon. The reasonsfor this are unclear, but appear unrelated
to climate, population growth, or technology (Lubinski
1997).A final example is the relative lack of artiodactyls and
dominance of smaller mammals in the period generally
corresponding with the Altithermal climatic interval, which
is likely to be related to declines in artiodactyl populations.
Probably the most basic explanation for diachronic
changes in taxonomic distributions is fluctuations in the
natural abundance of prey species.This might be considered a null hypothesis that needs to be tested before considering more complicated explanations. Although precise
paleodemographic reconstructions of prey species are of
course impossible, some reasonable predictions can be
made about changes in prey populations relative to other
prey populations under different environmental regimes. If
an archaeofaunal pattern is due only to shifting natural
abundance of prey, then it might be expected to correspond
with climatic change. In the following paragraphs, this possibility will be explored as a possible explanation of the observed patterns of bison and pronghorn exploitation in the
Green River Basin.
A TEST
OF CIlMATE
CHANGE
Today the study area is covered primarily by a desert shrub
or sagebrush-grassland community. Paleoenvironmental
proxy data imply that the same communities dominated
throughout the Holocene {e.g., Scott 1988:D.l9). While
mixed grass and sagebrush provide habitat for both bison
and pronghorn, the proportion of grasses to sagebrush
might have a great influence on the relative densities of
thesetwo animals, particularly since dietary studies have indicated bison graze almost exclusively on grasses{Peden et
al. 1974; Wydeven and Dahlgreen 1985), whereas pronghorn browse primarily on more xeric sagebrush {Mitchell
1980; Taylor 1975;Yoakum 1980). In addition, pronghorn
density and fertility have been positively correlated with
sagebrush cover and negatively correlated with grass cover
{Irwin and Cook 1985). Thus, particularly moist periods
could be expected to result in more grassesand relatively
larger available bison to pronghorn population ratios, while
arid phaseswould result in reduced grasses{Tomanek and
Hulett 1970)and relatively smaller bison to pronghorn ratios. If we assumethat, other things being equal, bison will
be preferentially selectedover pronghorn, as could be predicted by the optimal foraging diet breadth model {e.g.,Bettinger 1991b) and the Plains ethnographic literature {e.g.,
Verbicky- Todd 1984),then moist phasesshould correspond
with greater bison use and arid phases with less bison use.
The hypothesis was tested by comparing the archaeofaunal data with climatic periods derived from two paleoclimatic reconstructions (Table 13.3 and Appendix 13.2).
Included assemblageswere all those with one-sigma radiocarbon age ranges that did not span period boundaries. It
was predicted that in moist periods bison should be more
[184] AP 122
common (bison ubiquity > mean, and bison ubiquity >
mean of bison versus pronghorn ubiquity) and bison
should constitute a larger proportion of total assemblage
NISP (bison percent NISP > mean).
There was a mixed correspondence between the predictions and results (Table 13.3). Using Eckerle and Hobey's
(1995b) reconstruction, the predictions were met for the
moist earliest Holocene, arid Altithermal, arid early
Neoglacial, and moist Little Ice Age, but not for the remaining three periods with dated assemblages.For the Altithermal, there was not only a lack of bison, but all ungulates combined constitute only 2 percent of NISP. Although
four periods strongly met test predictions, results must be
considered equivocal because the predictions were not met
for 3/7 of the periods with data (including a markedly dry
period from 900 to 500 B.P.).Comparison of the measures
of bison and pronghorn abundance against climatic periods derived from Miller's (1992) paleoclimatic reconstruction produced fewer matches between predicted and observed results. Using these paleoclimatic periods, even the
Altithermal failed to meet test predictions.
CONCLUSIONS
Although there are some periods of concordance, these results imply that changes in archaeofaunal proportions cannot be explained by climate change alone. There appear to
be other important influences on procurement patterns, at
least for bison and pronghorn in certain portions of the
past. This is hardly surprising, given that subsistence
change can result from a variety of other factors {e.g.,
changes in population, technology, scheduling, and social
organization) that affect relative demands, costs,and yields
of different foraging strategies within a cultural system.
It is unlikely that a single simple cause {except perhaps
sampling) can be attributed to all archaeofaunal patterns
noted here, and the explanation for one taxon at one time
may be inadequate for another time or taxon. For example,
rabbit use might peak in one period due to a decreasein the
natural abundance of larger animals, and during another
period due to an increased demand for rabbit fur robes as a
result of population growth, trade, or simply style. Environmental change appears to explain Green River Basin faunal patterning for some periods {e.g., the Altithermal), but
other periods seem to require explanations that involve
other phenomena.
Despite a long history of site-level archaeofaunal work,
our understanding of Green River Basin subsistenceat the
regional scale is still in its infancy; largely because synthetic
work has lagged behind basic anaiysis. In this work, I hope I
have partially rectified this problem by providing a regionwide quantitative synthesis,a summary of trends, and a test
of the "null" hypothesis for the significant changes in bison
remains. Future work might profitably focus on explaining
other patterns in the data or examine the potential roles of
N
Periods Defined from Eckerle and Hobey's (1995b) Paleoclimatic Summary
1) Earliest Holocene
2) Early Holocene
3) Altithermal
4) Early Neoglacial
5) Middle Neoglacial
6) EoLate Neoglacial
7) Little Altithermal
8) Little Ice Age
10,000-9000
9000-7500
7500-5000
5000-3500
3500-1800
1800-900
900-500
500-150
moist
arid
very arida
arid
moist
arid
very arida
moist
common
+
rare
no data
rare
+
rare
+
common
+
no data
+
+
O
5
9
6
44
3
1
+
+?
+?
rare
+
no data
+
+
rare
common
+
total number
of assemblages =
69
Periods Defined from Miller's (1992:232) Paleoclimatic Summary, Excluding Fluctuations < 300 Years
1) Anathermal
2) Altithermal
3) Neoglacial
4) Early Medithermal
5) M. Medithermall
6) M. Medithermal2
7) M. Medithermal 3
8) Late Medithermal
9) Latest Medithermal
12,000-9500
9500-{;000
6000-3500
3500-2800
2800-2400
2400-2000
2000-1000
1000-500
500-100
v. moista
very arida
moist
very arida
moist
arid
moist
very arida
moist
common
rare
common
rare
common
rare
common
rare
common
+
+
+
+?
4
14
I
I
2
42
5
2
+?
+?
+
+
+
total number of assemblages =
72
2 These periods are noted as the most marked or severe, which should therefore show the best correspondence with test predictions.
A plus sign indicates a match between prediction and observation, while a minus sign indicates inconclusi\-e results or a pattern opposite of that pre.
dicted. A question mark indicates a weak pattern.
phenomena such as population growth/pressure, technological change, migration, exchange, and changes in mobility on Green River Basin faunal exploitation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research described in this paper could not have been
completed without the assistanceof many individuals who
helped locate and assemblethe archaeofaunal data. Particular thanks are owed to Archaeological Services of Western
Wyoming College, L Larson, M. Metcalf, C. Smith, K.
Thompson, the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management,
and the Wyoming SHPO Cultural Records Office. The
help and support of Kevin Thompson, Mike Metcalf and
their respective institutions are particularly appreciated. I
would also like to thank the University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology for providing laboratory space
and support during the winter of 1995. This paper
benefited from discussions with J. Chatters, J. Driver, B.
Hoffman, M. Madsen, M. Metcalf, M. Partlow,J. Stoltman,
and others. Shortcomings in the written product are, of
course, mine alone. This research was supported in part by
NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant SBR-g4IIOI6.
AP
122
[185]
Site No.
Site Name
Cor
05MF2631
Sand Wash Wickiup
Rawlins Peak #5
all
48CRO698
Mean RCYBP
nponent
113
67
14
16
104
18
42
50
11
11
43
2816
25
29
59
86
48
47
32
84
22
11
all
48CRl849
Feature
48CR3961
II
5
48CR3962
1
2
I
Sheehan
Sheehan
Plant
48CR4114
48CR4114
48CR4139
48CR4681
48CR4681
48LNOl27
Cow
48LNO350
Barnes
Hollow
Creek
48LNO373
48LNO373
48LNO373
48LNO373
48LNO373
48LNO373
48LNO373
48LNO373
48LNO373
48LNO689
48LNO717
Kemmerer
lnd
Park
48LNO787
48LNl289
48LNl296
48LNl468
48LNl468
48LNl468
48LNl468
48LNl468
48LNl733
48LN2068
48LN2068
48LN2068
48LN2068
48SUO301
48SUO354
48SUO595
48SUO867
48SUO867
48SUIO42
48SWOOO5
48SWOIOl
48SWOIOl
48SWOl55
48SWO212
48SWO390
48SWO390
[186]
AP 122
Taliaferro
Taliaferro
Taliaferro
Taliaferro
Taliaferro
Moxa 34
Pescadero
Pescadero
Pescadero
Pescadero
Wardell
Calpet Rockshelter
Birch Creek
Harrower
Harrower
Stewart Flat
Finley
Pine Spring
Pine Spring
II
4
all
Area A 100/100 Oc 12
A 1000/1000 Corn 3
A 1200/1200 Oc 2
A 1200/1200 Oc 3
A 1200/1200 Oc4
A 1200/1200 Oc 5
A 1200/1200 Oc 6
Area C
Area F
upper zone
upper level
all
Trench F: DW Cornp
Area E Cornp3
III
IV
V
VI
\'II
2
AnalUnitAI
Anal Unit BI
Anal Unit B2
Anal Unit B3
all
rockshelter all
2
5
6
UN/UP
excav
Occupation
I
Occupation 2
all
I (all)
Datum A block
Datum B block Comp
Total NISP
I
1528
411
15
50
35
30
25
109
39
41
41
118
95
13
4646
73
118
1053
80
18
1055
106
284
15
20
52
75
Reference
Murcray et al. 1993
Emslie 1982
Reiss 1983
O'Brien et al. 1983
Tanner 1983
Bower et al. 1986
Bower et al. 1986
Reust et al. 1993
Reust et al. 1993
Reust et al. 1993
Schock et al. 1982
McKern 1995
Wheeleretal.1986
Wheeler et al. 1986
Wheeler et al. 1986
Wheeler et al. 1986
Wheeler et al. 1986
Wheeler et al. 1986
Wheeler et al. 1986
Wheeler et al. 1986
Wheeler et al. 1986
Reust et al. 1986
Sanders et al. 1989
Sanders et al. 1982
Wheeler et al. 1986
Wheeler et al. 1986
Harrell1988
Harrelll988
Harrell 1988
Harrelll988
Harrell1988
Current 1991
Rood et al. 1995
Rood et al. 1995
Rood et al. 1995
Rood et al. 1995
Frison 1973
Francisetal.1987
Murcray 1996
Thompson 1991
Thompson 1991
Hoefer 1991
Schultz and Frankforter 1951
Sharrock 1966
Sharrock 1966
McNees 1992b
McNees 1992a
Rood 1992
Rood 1992
48SW1217
48SW1242
48SW1560
48SW2090
48SW2302
48SW2590
48SW2590
48SW2590
48SW2590
48SW3604
48SW4381
48SW5019
48SW5019
48SW5057
48SW5057
48SW5215
48SW5222
48SW5222
48SW5315
48SW5352
48SW5352
48SW5649
48SW5649
48SW5649
48SW5649
48SW5655
48SW5655
48SW6324
48SW6595
48SW6895
48SW6926
48SW7933
48SW7933
48SW7991
48SW8594
48UTOO35
48UTO199
48UTOl99
48UTO199
48UTO370
48UTO390
48UTO390
48UTO799
48UTO920
Firehole Basin
Maxon Ranch
Maxon Ranch
Maxon Ranch
Maxon Ranch
Inman Buffalo
Paradox Ridge
Buffalo Hump
Buffalo Hump
Archery
Archery
Little Ridge
Little Ridge
Peru II
Mayfly
Lower Powder Spring
Lower Powder Spring
Ovis
Oyster Ridge
Austin Wash
Austin Wash
all
3 (Locality 4B)
buried
2
TUl Layer 4 (Fl)
Locality A Comp I
Locality A Comp II
Locality A Comp III
Locality A Comp IV
all
2
Unit B Component
1
Unit C Component 3
2
3
1 (Block A)
North Locality
Middle Locality
3
Middle Archaic Block
F8 block
Activity Area A
Activity Area B
Activity Area D
Activity Area E
Datum A block
Datum B block
WII and WIII
II
all
Horizon 3
Al
A2
II
all
Occupation Area A
?
Occupation Area B
all
bone midden
bone bed
3
Area A
628
1545
1470
2639
1343
6320
4817
2215
1140
1080
1390
6150
1070
1445
1267
5150
1100
720
1050
3236
4160
1448
1400
1220
1130
1273
1470
962
1749
1790
1420
4710
1071
1412
6490
1350
1460
930
4890
5012
1140
1227
1130
1650
439
132
II
23
15
24
204
188
89
109
157
55
29
256
188
32
30
718
10
195
93
47
61
38
127
141
89
30
31
67
14
130
37
14
192
1046
93
34
28
47
253
2034
88
II
Lubinski and Metcalf 1996
Harrell and Swenson 1986
Hoefer et al. 1996
Darlington and Cohn 1992
Tucker 1985
Harrel1 1986
Harrel1 1986
Harrel1 1986
Harrell 1986
Latady et al. 1996
Tanner 1982
Creasman et al. 1983
Creasman et al. 1983
Bergstrom 1989
Bergstrom 1989
McKern 1987
Hakiel et al. 1987
Hakiel et al. 1987
Hakiel et al. 1985
McKibbin et al. 1989
McKibbin et al. 1989
McKibbin et al. 1989
McKibbinetal.1989
McKibbin et al. 1989
McKibbin et al. 1989
McKibbin et al. 1989
McKibbinetal.1989
Weathermon et al. 1992
McNees et al. 1989
Current 1992
Current 1992
Murcray 1994
Murcray 1994
Harding and McNees 1992
Murcray 1994
Zier 1982
Schroedl 1985
Smith 1992
Schroedl 1985
Schroedl1985
Reissand Walker 1982
Schroedl1985
Schroedl1985
Lessard and Eckles 1989
AP
122
[187]
Climatic
Appendix
13.2
Periods and Exploitation
Miller's
Climatic
Period
I
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
mean
(1992) Periods
Data
Eckerle and Hobey's (1995b) Periods
Bison
Ubiquity
Compar.
Ubiquity
Bison
%NISP
100
25
50
loo
100
100
52
80
100
79
loo
50
44
50
50
50
43
57
66
57
63
80
9
43
30
1
2
58
49
37
.AJlvalues are percents. Periods are described in Table 13.3.
[188] AP 122
Pattern
Climatic
Period
I
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
mean
Bison
Ubiquity
Compar.
Ubiquity
Bison
%NISP
loo
100
63
0
44
83
59
67
100
0
40
45
44
50
50
0
6
12
33
43
51
64
47
30
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