Doctoral Dissertation: Bison Hunting on the Late Prehistoric Great Plains: Seeking an Explanation for Variability in the Kill Record

在大卫·J·梅尔策博士的监督下，朱迪思·库珀将分析从大平原上的晚期史前野牛捕杀地点收集的数据。在过去的两千年里，大量的野牛猎杀在北部平原上很常见。猎人将牛群赶过悬崖边缘，或将它们困在笼子或畜栏里。狩猎活动主要发生在秋季，当时群体为严酷的北部平原冬季收集食物。相反，在同一时间，在南部/中原地区，大型野牛被杀的情况很少。取而代之的是，猎人瞄准了少量的野牛，通常会导致一头野牛死亡。然而，在更早的时期，猎人在这两个地区都进行了大规模杀戮。为什么南部/中原地区的晚期史前猎人放弃了大规模猎杀野牛，尽管他们在北部平原的同时代人继续杀害他们？奇怪的是，在南部/中原地区的史前晚期居民点经常发现野牛的骨头，这表明，尽管没有大型猎物，野牛在饮食中发挥了同样重要的作用。在杀戮地点如此罕见的情况下，野牛骨怎么会在居民点如此普遍？目前，对于南部/中原地区大型野牛捕杀地点的稀少，还没有提供足够的解释。这项研究将定义并试图解释大平原地区史前晚期野牛狩猎的差异。具体地说，作者将测试造成差异的原因是不同的考古保存(例如，南部/中原地区发生了大规模杀戮，但他们的特征随着时间的推移而被摧毁)、环境(例如，南部/中原地区温和的气候使秋季不需要大量猎杀野牛)、技术(例如，南部/中原地区的猎人没有大规模杀戮所需的武器)或社会组织(例如，南部/中原地区的群体更久坐着，严重依赖园艺)。为了验证这些假设，关于野牛捕杀地点和大平原环境的现有数据将从政府记录和公布的来源中收集并汇编，以产生一个统一的数据库。这些数据将使用地理信息系统(GIS)进行分析，这是一种专门为地理数据设计的计算机系统。这项研究的总体目标有三个：(A)确定野牛采购随时间和空间的变化；(B)解释野牛狩猎策略在环境方面的差异；以及(C)定义大平原气候、野牛和人类之间的关系。该项目将产生考古和环境数据的最新综合，并将通过数字媒体提供给其他研究人员。事实上，该项目的成果将对其他科学的研究人员有用，从而鼓励跨学科数据共享和合作。这项研究的更广泛影响包括纳入未得到充分利用的政府网站记录。此外，拟议的研究将整合地理信息系统的创新应用，这些应用可能被用于解决未来类似的问题。最后，这项研究将极大地惠及大平原上的美洲原住民。通过唤起人们对史前原住民群体多样性的关注，这项研究将提供对他们文化史的更复杂和更细微的认识。

Under the supervision of Dr. David J. Meltzer, Judith Cooper will analyze data gathered on Late Prehistoric bison kill sites on the Great Plains. During the last two millennia, mass bison kills were common on the Northern Plains. Hunters drove herds over cliff edges, or trapped them in pounds or corrals. Hunting events mostly occurred in the fall, when groups gathered provisions for the harsh Northern Plains winter. Conversely, at the same time on the Southern/Central Plains, large bison kills were rare. Instead, hunters targeted small numbers of bison, often resulting in the death of a single animal. And yet, during earlier time periods, hunters executed mass kills in both regions. Why did Late Prehistoric hunters on the Southern/Central Plains abandon mass bison kills, even though their Northern Plains contemporaries continued to execute them? Oddly, bison bone is often found at Late Prehistoric residential sites across the Southern/Central Plains, suggesting that, despite the absence of large kills, bison played an equally important dietary role. How is bison bone so widespread at residential sites when kill sites are so rare? At present, an adequate explanation for the paucity of large bison kill sites on the Southern/Central Plains has yet to be offered. This research will define and seek to explain the differences in Late Prehistoric bison hunting across the Great Plains. Specifically, the author will test if the differences resulted from variation in archaeological preservation (e.g., large kills occurred on the Southern/Central Plains, but their signature was destroyed over time), environment (e.g., the mild climate of the Southern/Central Plains rendered large bison kills during the fall unnecessary), technology (e.g., hunters on the Southern/Central Plains did not have weapons necessary for mass kills), or social organization (e.g., Southern/Central Plains groups were more sedentary and relied heavily on horticulture). To test these hypotheses, existing data on bison kill sites and Great Plains environment will be gathered from government records and published sources and compiled to produce a unified database. These data will be analyzed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a computer system designed specifically for geographic data. The overall goals of the research are threefold: (a) to identify changes in bison procurement over time and space, (b) to explain differences in bison hunting strategies in terms of the environment; and (c) to define the relationship between climate, bison, and humans on the Great Plains.The project will generate an up-to-date synthesis of archaeological and environmental data, which will be made available to other researchers through digital media. In fact, the project results will be useful to researchers in other sciences, and thus encourage interdisciplinary data sharing and collaboration. Broader impacts of the research include the incorporation of underused government site records. Also, the proposed research will integrate innovative applications of GIS and these may be used to address similar problems in the future. Finally, this research will greatly benefit Native American populations indigenous to the Great Plains. By calling attention to the diversity amongst prehistoric aboriginal groups, this research will provide a more complex and nuanced perception of their culture history.