14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 95 



animals were killed before a definite dark soil layer had been built 

 up. Some of the bones extended down into the stained stratum. Ex- 

 posure of a larger section in this area is probably essential to an under- 

 standing of the various factors responsible for the situation. The 

 deposit above the bones was similar to that in the upper layers of the 

 trenches, namely, sand, gravel, and some boulders, with a thin soil 

 line at the present surface. 



At least nine individual bison are represented in the collection from 

 this location. Many of the bones, including several legs, were still 

 articulated when uncovered (pi. 3, fig. i). The remains of one crea- 

 ture were found with a forequarter, most of the ribs from one side, 

 and the vertebral column still intact. The skull, in a somewhat damaged 

 condition, was nearby. Portions of other skulls were obtained, but 

 they are all too fragmentary to be of material assistance in the identi- 

 fication of the species. The most striking find consisted of a vertebra 

 with the tip end of a projectile point in place in the foramen for the 

 spinal cord (pi. 3, fig. 2). This bone was in position in the center of a 

 group of articulated vertebrae, and when it was removed from the 

 ground and was being cleaned by L. C. Eiseley, graduate student from 

 the University of Pennsylvania, the point was discovered. Hafted 

 on either an arrow or spear shaft, it had apparently been driven into 

 the animal and then broken ofif at the end of the longitudinal groove. 

 The wound may not have been directly responsible for the creature's 

 death, but it would have crippled it to such an extent that a killing 

 blow could easily have been administered. This was not the only 

 implement from the pit, however, as 33 additional specimens of the 

 stone chipper's work were found in association with the bones. These 

 objects consist of points, portions of points, various types of scrapers, 

 blades, flakeknives, and gravers. Tavo flakes with chipped cutting 

 edges accompanied the bison skull, and several fragmentary points 

 were lying between components of articulated segments in such a 

 way as to suggest that they had been in the flesh of the animals. 



The assemblage in the bison pit recalled in some aspects features 

 ()l)served at the quarry where the original Folsom finds were made.' 

 Evidence at the latter place indicated the culmination of a hunt and 

 the killing of animals around a water hole or marshy spot. After as 

 much of the flesh as could be carried away had been removed from the 

 carcasses, they were left to sink in the mire. Through the course of 

 time natural agencies drained the swampy ground and covered the 

 site with earth washed down from higher levels in the vicinity. No 



° Cook, 1927 ; Figgins, 1927. 



