Far more than Clovis peoples, Folsom
peoples were specialized hunters of big
game. Their preferred prey was not
mammoths, one of the first Pleistocene animals
to become extinct. Instead they hunted giant
bison.
In Texas Folsom people worked cooperatively
to ambush herds of bison.They crafted thin,
exquisitely wrought stone points. It appears
likely that they used the atlatl to increase
the throwing power of their spears.
Folsom culture was a phenomenon of the
Great Plains, with Texas at its southernmost
extent. We do not know whether Folsom
people were direct descendants of the Clovis,
or if they represented a new population group
At Bonfire Shelter near the Rio Grande, approximately 11,000 years
ago, Folsom hunters drove a bison herd over a cliff. Or perhaps a
scouting party simply came upon animals-roughly 120 of themthat had fallen accidentally to their deaths. The people butchered
the carcasses, utilizing various parts for
food, shelter and toolmaking.
Bison jump mural from Seminole Canyon State Park.
Hunting large game with an atlatl. The atlatl was a throwing
stick that dramatically increased the power and range of a spear.
With this device a hunter could safely attack prey from 100 yards
away-the full length of a football field.
Paleoindians tied their stone points to a dart foreshaft using sinew or
plant fiber, then sealed the attachment with pine pitch or asphaltum.
Folsom hunters chased giant bison on foot across the plains
the Texas Panhandle. At Caprock Canyons State Park,
spiritual guides left behind a strange marker: bison
leg and jaw bones stacked against each other, with the
animal's skull placed on top. At the Lubbock Lake Site, a
watering hole much favored by ancient beasts, Folsom
hunters lodged a spear squarely in the bones of a
giant bison.