Late Pleistocene northward-dispersing Bison antiquus from the Bighill Creek Formation, Gallelli Gravel Pit, Alberta, Canada, and the fate of Bison occidentalis

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 827-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Wilson ◽  
Leonard V. Hills ◽  
Beth Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Type Specimen ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Dna Evidence ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Gravel Pit ◽  
Ice Retreat ◽  
America South ◽  
Bison Antiquus ◽  
Clade 1

Late Pleistocene bison skeletal remains from the Gallelli Gravel Pit in the Bighill Creek Formation at Calgary, Alberta, document at least two individuals, including the largest postglacial bison reported from North America south of Beringia. Two partial crania, dated to 11 290 and 10 100 14C years BP, are referred to the southern species Bison antiquus Leidy, indicating northward movement from the midcontinent as ice retreat opened a corridor between Laurentide and Cordilleran ice. Their large size suggests a dispersal phenotype exploiting newly available territory. DNA evidence links the 11 290-year-old bison to Clade 1, which includes modern B. bison . This supports in situ evolution of B. bison from B. antiquus through the intermediate usually called B.“occidentalis” . Bison of B. “occidentalis” character appeared in Alberta about 10 ka BP, and the DNA evidence counters the suggestion of a migratory wave from Beringia. The B. occidentalis type specimen is from Alaska, so this name may be inappropriate for southern populations. Radiocarbon dates suggest that the Bighill Creek Formation paleofauna comprises two faunules separated in time by the Younger Dryas climatic episode.

scholarly journals A tanged point and two blade technologies from Rubha Port an t-Seilich, Isle of Islay, western Scotland

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inger Marie Berg-Hansen ◽  
Karen Wicks ◽  
Steven Mithen
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Technological Analysis ◽  
North Western

We describe a tanged point and a blade technology from Rubha Port an t-Seilich, Isle of Islay, Scotland that provides further support to a Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene presence in Scotland prior to the establishment of the narrow blade Mesolithic industry. The existing evidence for a Late Pleistocene or early Holocene presence comes from isolated finds of tanged points (Tiree, Shieldig, Brodgar), undated assemblages from disturbed contexts that are most likely Late Pleistocene in date (Howburn, Kilmefort Cave), and undated assemblages containing broad blade microliths (e.g., Glenbatrick, Morton). This article provides a summary of recent excavations and the stratigraphy at Rubha Port an t-Seilich, and a detailed analysis the lithic blade blank production at the site, which is, we believe, the first application of a chaîne opératoire based approach to a Scottish assemblage. The study includes comparisons with contemporary assemblages from north-western Europe. The significance of the Rubha Port an t-Seilich finds is threefold: (1) the relative large size of the assemblage that allows a technological analysis; (2) the finds partially derive from a stratified context below a narrow blade assemblage, associated with radiocarbon dates 9301-7750 cal. BP; and (3) further excavation can increase the sample size and potentially expose an in situ Late Pleistocene or early Holocene cultural horizon.

Late Pleistocene Camelops from the Gallelli Pit, Calgary, Alberta: morphology and geologic setting

1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 729-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Wilson ◽  
C. S. Churcher
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Bison Bison ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Braided River ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Morphologic Variation ◽  
Bison Antiquus ◽  
Geologic Setting ◽  
Gravel Deposit ◽  
Cut And Fill

A radiocarbon-dated gravel deposit in Calgary, Alberta, has yielded a large humerus referred to the extinct camelid, Camelops cf. hesternus. With a date of 11 300 ± 290 BP (RL-757) this is the first securely dated postglacial record of Camelops in Canada. Studies of the gravels show them to represent a period of rapid aggradation by a braided river, subsequent to the drainage of glacial Lake Calgary. The gravels are equivalent in age and characteristics to the Bighill Creek Formation of the Cochrane area, 30 km west of Calgary; and are therefore assigned to that formation. Later fill units are, however, excluded from the formation as they represent Holocene cut-and-fill events of differing hydrologic significance. Recent suggestions that Lake Calgary persisted until 9000 years BP can now be rejected on the basis of stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates. Studies of the camel humerus suggest some revisions in our views concerning morphologic variation in the species: the species was probably more plastic than has been accepted to date. Associated Bison bison antiquus and Equus conversidens from the same gravels (Gallelli and Galvin Pits) are briefly described. The ungulate fauna from these pits suggests a semiforest habitat with extensive shrub and grassland elements.

Palaeolithic Big Game Hunting at HP766 in Wadi Umm Rahau, Northern Sudan

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achilles Gautier ◽  
Daniel Makowiecki ◽  
Henryk Paner ◽  
Wim Van Neer
Keyword(s):  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Big Game Hunting ◽  
Bone Remains

HP766, discovered by the Gdansk Archaeological Museum Expedition (GAME) in the region immediately upstream the Merowe Dam in North Sudan and now under water, is one of the few palaeolithic sites with animal bone remains in the country. The archaeological deposits, the large size of the site, the lithics and the radiocarbon dates indicate occupation of a silt terrace of the Nile in late MSA and perhaps LSA times. Large and very large mammals predominate markedly among the recovered bone remains and it would seem that the palaeolithic hunters focused on such game. They could corner these animals on the site which is partially surrounded by high bedrock outcrops. Moreover swampy conditions of the site after the retreat of the annual Nile flood may have rendered less mobile the prey animals. According to this scenario, HP766 would testify to the ecological skills and generational memory of late prehistoric man in Sudan.

scholarly journals Calibration of Radiocarbon Dates for the Late Pleistocene Using U/Th Dates on Stalagmites

Radiocarbon ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Vogel ◽  
Joel Kronfeld
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Magnetic Dipole ◽  
Satisfactory Agreement ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Dipole Field ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Magnetic Dipole Field

Twenty paired 14C and U/Th dates covering most of the past 50,000 yr have been obtained on a stalagmite from the Cango Caves in South Africa as well as some additional age-pairs on two stalagmites from Tasmania that partially fill a gap between 7 ka and 17 ka ago. After allowance is made for the initial apparent 14C ages, the age-pairs between 7 ka and 20 ka show satisfactory agreement with the coral data of Bard et al. (1990, 1993). The results for the Cango stalagmite between 25 ka and 50 ka show the 14C dates to be substantially younger than the U/Th dates except at 49 ka and 29 ka, where near correspondence occurs. The discrepancies may be explained by variations in 14C production caused by changes in the magnetic dipole field of the Earth. A tentative calibration curve for this period is offered.

A Carved Stone from D'Arcy, Saskatchewan

1940 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-335
Author(s):  
Vladimar Alfred Vigfusson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
The North ◽  
Gravel Pit ◽  
North Bank ◽  
The Town

In recent years, the attention of some archaeologists has been directed to the Canadian Northwest with the expectation of finding some evidence or indication of the early migrations of man on this continent. That man reached North America by Bering Strait from Asia, is generally accepted, but the theory that the migrations took place in late Pleistocene times and by way of an open corridor between the Keewatin ice and the Rockies, requires confirmation. It is significant that Folsom and Yuma points from Saskatchewan, described by E. B. Howard, were found mainly in areas bordering the ancient glacial Lake Regina.As a further contribution to this problem, it seems desirable to present a brief description of a carved stone relic found in gravel in central Saskatchewan about three years ago.The stone was found about seven miles southeast of the town of D'Arcy in a gravel pit located on Sec. 9, Tp. 28, Rge. 18, W. 3rd Meridian, on the north bank of a ravine running east into Bad Lake.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Age Constraints on Rates of Advance and Retreat of the Puget Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the Last Glaciation

1998 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. Porter ◽  
Terry W. Swanson
Keyword(s):  
Average Rate ◽  
Distance Curve ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
Glacier Terminus ◽  
Ice Retreat ◽  
Time Distance ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacier Advance ◽  
Age Constraints

Calibrated radiocarbon dates of organic matter below and above till of the last (Fraser) glaciation provide limiting ages that constrain the chronology and duration of the last advance–retreat cycle of the Puget Lobe in the central and southeastern Puget Lowland. Seven dates for wood near the top of a thick proglacial delta have a weighted mean age of 17,420 ± 90 cal yr B.P., which is the closest limiting age for arrival of the glacier near the latitude of Seattle. A time–distance curve constructed along a flowline extending south from southwestern British Columbia to the central Puget Lowland implies an average glacier advance rate of ca. 135 m/yr. The glacier terminus reached its southernmost limit ca. 16,950 yr ago and likely remained there for ca. 100 yr. In the vicinity of Seattle, where the glacier reached a maximum thickness of 1000 m, ice covered the landscape for ca. 1020 yr. Postglacial dates constraining the timing of ice retreat in the central lowland are as old as 16,420 cal yr B.P. and show that the terminus had retreated to the northern limit of the lowland within three to four centuries after the glacial maximum. The average rate of retreat was about twice the rate of advance and was enhanced by rapid calving recession along flowline sectors where the glacier front crossed deep proglacial lakes.

scholarly journals Large tare vessels of the bronze age Turganic settlement in Orenburg Region

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 91-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalya Petrovna Salugina ◽  
Nina Leonidovna Morgunova ◽  
Mihail Aleksandrovich Turetskii
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Burial Mound ◽  
North Caucasus ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Orenburg Region ◽  
The North ◽  
Type Selection ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Culture Formation ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

In the ceramic collection of Turganic settlement in the Orenburg region there is a group of bronze age pottery, which by its morphological and technological indicators stands out sharply from the main group of dishes. They are large size vessels with massive aureoles and distended body. The authors called these vessels hums. The aim of this study is to identify cultural-chronological position of the specified group of dishes in the system of the antiquities of the early - middle bronze age. Within this group the authors distinguish two types. The basis for type selection was the particular design of the upper part of the vessel. The first type is ceramics from Turganic settlement and the vessel from the burial mound Perevolotsky I. Morphological and technological features, and a series of radiocarbon dates has allowed to date these vessels to the time of the yamnaya culture formation in the Volga-Ural region (Repinsky stage). The authors suggest that the appearance of such vessels should be an imitation of the Maikop pottery. It could be penetration of small groups of craftsmen or the intensification of contacts with the population of the North Caucasus. The second type of pottery from Turganic settlement is similar to the burial mound Kardailovsky I (mound 1, burial 3) in Orenburg region, in the Northern pre-Caspian, region of the Samara river, Kuban and the Dnieper. Researchers have noted the scarcity and originality of this dish. The chronological and cultural position of such vessels is determined within the III Millennium BC (calibrated values).

New excavations at the late Pleistocene site of Chinchihuapi I, Chile

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom D. Dillehay ◽  
Carlos Ocampo ◽  
Jose Saavedra ◽  
Mario Pino ◽  
Linda Scott-Cummings ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Occupied Site ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Central Chile ◽  
South Central ◽  
Cool Temperate ◽  
Human Use ◽  
Monte Verde ◽  
Point Type

AbstractThis paper presents new excavation data on the Chinchihuapi I (CH-I) locality within the Monte Verde site complex, located along Chinchihuapi Creek in the cool, temperate Valdivian rain forest of south-central Chile. The 2017 and 2018 archaeological excavations carried out in this open-air locality reveal further that CH-I is an intermittently occupied site dating from the Early Holocene (~10,000 cal yr BP) to the late Pleistocene (at least ~14,500 cal yr BP) and probably earlier. A new series of radiocarbon dates refines the chronology of human use of the site during this period. In this paper, we describe the archaeological and stratigraphic contexts of the recent excavations and analyze the recovered artifact assemblages. A fragmented Monte Verde II point type on an exotic quartz newly recovered from excavations at CH-I indicates that this biface design existed in at least two areas of the wider site complex ~14,500 cal yr BP. In addition, associated with the early Holocene component at CH-I are later Paijan-like points recovered with lithic tools and debris and other materials. We discuss the geographic distribution of diagnostic artifacts from the site and their probable relationship to other early sites in South America.

scholarly journals Two New Late Pleistocene Avifaunas From New Mexico

The Condor ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecka L. Brasso ◽  
Steven D. Emslie
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
New Records ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Subalpine Forest ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Aegolius Funereus ◽  
Boreal Owl ◽  
Gymnogyps Californianus

Abstract We report two new late Pleistocene avifaunas from New Mexico, recovered from Sandia Cave during archaeological excavations by F. Hibben in the 1930s and the nearby Marmot Cave excavated in 2000. The fossil assemblage from Sandia Cave consists of at least 30 taxa, including seven extralimital and two extinct species, Coragyps occidentalis (extinct vulture) and Ectopistes migratorius (Passenger Pigeon). The avifauna from Marmot Cave is limited to eight taxa shared with Sandia Cave. Two new records of Gymnogyps californianus (California Condor) are reported from these sites, as well as new records of Lagopus sp. (ptarmigan), Aegolius funereus (Boreal Owl), and Micrathene whitneyi (Elf Owl) from New Mexico. Two new radiocarbon dates on fossil G. californianus from Sandia and Marmot cave are reported at 10 795 ± 50 and 25 090 ± 220 14C years before present (B.P.), respectively. These collections provide further evidence for mixed avian communities in New Mexico during the late Pleistocene and are similar to other cave avifaunas of comparable age from the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain regions. The birds from Sandia Cave that are shared with other fossil avifaunas include species currently found in arctic tundra, boreal, and steppe habitats, as well as open, xeric communities. This collection provides additional evidence for widespread steppe-tundra, shrub, and subalpine forest environments at lower elevations of western North America during the late Pleistocene.

A combined mesowear analysis of Mexican Bison antiquus shows a generalist diet with geographical variation

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 1130-1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Díaz-Sibaja ◽  
Eduardo Jiménez-Hidalgo ◽  
Javier Ponce-Saavedra ◽  
María Luisa García-Zepeda
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Santa Ana ◽  
Dietary Preference ◽  
Sierra Madre Del Sur ◽  
Bison Antiquus ◽  
Generalist Diet

AbstractBison antiquus Leidy, 1852 was one of the largest and most widely distributed megafaunal species during the Late Pleistocene in North America, giving rise to the modern plains bison in the middle Holocene. Despite the importance of the ancient bison, little is known about its feeding ecology. We employed a combination of extended mesowear, and mesowear III to infer the dietary preference and habitat use of three Mexican samples of B. antiquus. These included two northern samples—La Piedad-Santa Ana and La Cinta-Portalitos—from the Transmexican Volcanic Belt morphotectonic Province, as well as one southern sample—Viko Vijin—from the Sierra Madre del Sur morphotectonic province. We found that the northern Mexican samples were primarily nonstrict grazers, whereas the southern sample displays a pattern consistent with mixed feeding habits. This suggests variability among the diets of the bison from these samples, caused by different paleoenvironments. This evidence complements the paleoenvironmental reconstructions in the studied localities; for the northern samples, open prairies composed of patches of woodland or shrubland and, for the southern locality, a fluvial floodplain with short-lived vegetation. In both scenarios, grasses (Poaceae) were nondominant. The dietary habits of our samples of ancient bison in Mexico are the southernmost dietary inference for the species in North America and expand our knowledge of the dietary habits of B. antiquus during the Late Pleistocene.

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