Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site

Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site
Name	Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site
Location	northeastern Colorado, United States
Region	North America
Period	Paleo-Indian period
Cultures	Folsom culture, Plano cultures
Discovered	1970s
Archaeologists	Colorado State University, University of Denver

Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site The Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site is a late Pleistocene to Early Holocene Paleo-Indian bison procurement locality in northeastern Colorado, United States, notable for dense faunal remains and lithic assemblages. Excavations produced important data bearing on Folsom culture, regional Pleistocene extinctions, and Paleo-Indian subsistence, contributing to debates involving radiocarbon dating, stratigraphy, and landscape use. The site has been investigated by researchers associated with institutions such as Colorado State University, University of Denver, and regional museums.

Location and Discovery

The site is located on the high plains of northeastern Colorado near riverine and terrace settings used by prehistoric hunters, within the broader geographic frame of Great Plains (North America), South Platte River, and neighboring drainage systems. Discovery occurred during the 1970s by local landowners and avocational surveyors, followed by professional recording by teams from Colorado State University, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and researchers linked to Smithsonian Institution collections and regional archaeological surveys. Early reports were circulated through venues such as the Society for American Archaeology, American Antiquity, and state cultural resource management offices.

Archaeological Investigations

Fieldwork at the site involved standard excavation methodologies developed in the late 20th century, including controlled unit excavation, stratigraphic profiling, and systematic flotation used by field crews trained with protocols endorsed by National Park Service and university archaeological departments. Investigations incorporated specialists in zooarchaeology, lithic analysis, and taphonomy affiliated with Colorado State University, University of Wyoming, and independent researchers who published in outlets such as Plains Anthropologist and proceedings of the Society for American Archaeology. Analytical techniques included radiocarbon assays calibrated against the IntCal curve, microscopic use-wear studies paralleling work at comparative sites like Blackwater Draw and Clovis type site, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions drawing on pollen records compared with data from Yellowstone National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Site Description and Features

Excavations revealed a stratified kill locus with dense concentrations of bison skeletal elements, an associated camp area with hearth features, and clusters of lithic debitage and projectile points. The spatial patterning resembles kill and processing loci documented at Wanamaker Site and Vore Buffalo Jump though on a localized terrace setting comparable to Hinds Cave contexts. Features included bone beds, potential drive-line remnants, and hearth-lined pits; sedimentology and depositional contexts were analyzed in collaboration with geomorphologists who have worked in Great Plains (North America) alluvial systems. The site preservation allowed for high-resolution mapping of element distribution used in agent-based interpretations of butchery and transport behaviors.

Artifacts and Ecofacts

Recovered artifacts comprise large numbers of flaked stone tools, including bifacial projectile points stylistically allied to Folsom points and other Plano-type implements, associated scrapers, and expedient flake tools. Raw material sourcing linked knapped lithics to regional quarries such as those documented near Rocks of Guernsey and lithic procurement zones cataloged by researchers at University of Colorado Boulder. Ecofacts include an extensive bison assemblage with multiple individuals represented, faunal fragmentation patterns indicative of systematic defleshing and marrow extraction, and microfaunal remains used for seasonality assessment analogous to studies at Ziegler Reservoir (Colorado) and Agate Basin site. Stable isotope and radiocarbon data from bone collagen contributed to paleodietary and chronology discussions prominent in research on Paleoindian diets and Late Pleistocene chronologies.

Cultural and Chronological Context

The assemblage is generally placed within the terminal Pleistocene to Early Holocene transition and linked to Folsom culture adaptations centered on bison hunting on the Great Plains (North America). Chronometric determinations and typological comparisons situate the site alongside well-known complexes such as Clovis culture antecedent sites and subsequent Plano cultures trajectories, informing models of technological change and mobility proposed by scholars associated with Harvard University and University of Arizona. Regional comparisons involve contemporaneous localities in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Kansas, and integrate paleoenvironmental records from Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat, late Pleistocene climate oscillations, and megafaunal population dynamics.

Interpretation and Significance

Interpretations emphasize the site as a specialized bison procurement and processing locality that documents coordinated hunting, butchery sequences, and social behaviors among late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. The Jones-Miller assemblage has been cited in debates over hunting strategies, landscape management, and human contributions to megafaunal turnover alongside discussions involving Overkill hypothesis proponents and critics working in Quaternary studies. Its high-quality preservation, extensive faunal and lithic datasets, and secure stratigraphic context make it a key comparative reference for Plains archaeologists, zooarchaeologists, and paleoclimatologists collaborating across institutions like the Smithsonian Institution, National Science Foundation, and regional museums.

Category:Archaeological sites in Colorado Category:Paleo-Indian sites in the United States Category:Great Plains archaeology