Avonlea Phase Winter Fare at Lost Terrace, Upper Missouri River Valley of Montana: The Vertebrate Fauna

The nearly singular subsistence reliance by Late Prehistoric hunter-gatherers in the northwestern Plains on bison (Bison bison) is well-established. In a significant departure from that subsistence adaptation, a group of Avonlea Phase people occupying a floodplain of the upper Missouri River during...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plains anthropologist 2000-11, Vol.45 (174), p.53-69
Main Authors: Davis, Leslie B., Fisher, John W., Wilson, Michael C., Chomko, Stephen A., Morlan, Richard E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age groups
America and Arctic regions
Antelopes
Archaeology
Bison
Bones
Charcoal
Excavations
Hunting
North America
Paleoanthropology
Plains
Preceramic cultures
Prehistoric era
Prehistory and protohistory
Subsistence hunting
Terraces
Wildlife
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Summary:The nearly singular subsistence reliance by Late Prehistoric hunter-gatherers in the northwestern Plains on bison (Bison bison) is well-established. In a significant departure from that subsistence adaptation, a group of Avonlea Phase people occupying a floodplain of the upper Missouri River during late winter ca. 1200 radiocarbon years before present (RCYBP) procured a large number of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana). The excavated sample contains a minimum of 83 post-natal and 25 fetal pronghorn. Comprehensive breakage and utilization of carcass parts indicates that these people experienced significant nutritional stress. Whether Lost Terrace represents an example of patterned seasonal pronghorn hunting in the river bottom or was forced as a subsistence departure from reliance on river bottom wintering bison has not been determined at this time.
ISSN:0032-0447
2052-546X
DOI:10.1080/2052546.2000.11932023