A Late Precontact Bison Kill during the Avonlea to Old Women’s Transition on the Great Plains

Abstract

This thesis encompasses a primary report and interpretation of the excavations at EfOx-70 and 71, a late Precontact bison kill and processing area near Duchess, Alberta. The reporting portion includes activities from the 2019 field excavations and provides further in-depth analysis and interpretation of AMS radiocarbon dates and of faunal and lithic remains at the sites. A summary of the excavations and results is followed by an analysis of the lithic materials, their distribution across the sites, the tool typology, and the raw materials. The faunal remains, including a detailed analysis of seasonality and animal age based on tooth eruption, are discussed in relation to their distribution across the sites showing EfOx-70 as a bone bed and primary processing area and EfOx-71 as a secondary processing site. Further to a discussion of the artifacts that characterize the sites, I explore temporality and discuss the Avonlea-Old Women’s archaeological transition on the great plains. The geography and topographic features of the landscape are also discussed with hypotheses of how the bison were procured and dispatched.