CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT, AND BISON POPULATIONS ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC AND EARLY HISTORIC CENTRAL PLAINS

A close and persistent association between bison and Central Plains Native Americans is a firmly entrenched image in archaeological and historical thought. However this model is overly generalized. To test the model, unmodified bison bone density (identified specimens/excavated m(3)) and sample diversity were measured for a series of semisedentary villages occupied between AD 1 and 1850. The results suggest: (1) Woodland tradition (AD 1-1000) bison use increased from east to west; (2) Central Plains tradition populations (AD 1000-1400) grew crops and practiced a diverse hunting-gathering economy supplemented only occasionally with bison hunting; and (3) after AD 1600, protohistoric and historic villagers engaged in intensive bison hunting with an apparent reduction in maize agriculture and broad spectrum hunting-gathering. Village and group size, the archaeological record, climate change, and intertribal relationships are explored to explain these data. The study concludes that climate change and related resource depletion were the most significant factors in bison procurement variability.