Sean Farrell | Texas State University (original) (raw)
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Media by Sean Farrell
At the Bonfire Shelter archaeological site in West Texas, people were butchering bison more than ... more At the Bonfire Shelter archaeological site in West Texas, people were butchering bison more than 11,000 years ago. Today, Texas State students and faculty uncover and preserve clues about ancient life. - Joshua Matthews, Video Producer.
Talks by Sean Farrell
Informal Presentation, 2019
Bonfire Shelter is located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas and contains deep de... more Bonfire Shelter is located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas and contains deep deposits reaching back into the last Ice Age. The site is compelling for two primary reasons. First, it may preserve evidence of the oldest and southernmost “bison jump” in North America; however, there is disagreement as to whether a 12,000-year-old layer of bones represents one or as many as three hunting events, and whether or not they truly represent bison jumps. If they do, it is an unprecedented adaptive strategy for North American Paleoindians. Second, a lower layer includes remains of mammoth and other Pleistocene megafauna of ambiguous origin. Previous researchers have argued that these 14,600 year old remains also reflect human activity, but this has never been verified. In an effort to generate more definitive answers to the uncertainties surrounding the interpretation of Bonfire Shelter, the Ancient Southwest Texas Project (ASWT) at Texas State University initiated new fieldwork at the site in 2017.
Papers by Sean Farrell
Texas State University, 2020
Plains Anthropologist, 2020
Bonfire Shelter (41VV218) is a nationally significant site in the Lower Pecos region of the West ... more Bonfire Shelter (41VV218) is a nationally significant site in the Lower Pecos region of the West Texas borderlands that contains a record of episodic use by hunter-gatherers spanning at least twelve millennia. At least two major bison hunting episodes are evident at Bonfire Shelter, one associated with Paleoindian Plainview and Folsom projectile points (Bone Bed 2), and another associated with Late Archaic Castroville and Montell points (Bone Bed 3). The approximately 12,000-year-old layers comprising Bone Bed 2 may represent the oldest and southernmost bison jump in North America, but this interpretation is the subject of recent debate. In addition, older deposits containing Rancholabrean fauna but lacking stone tools (Bone Bed 1) date to approximately 14,000 years ago and are proposed by previous researchers to be at least partially the result of human activity. This article reviews the issues surrounding Bone Bed 2 and Bone Bed 1 and presents new radiocarbon dates, artifacts, features, along with some initial observations and ongoing plans for renewed field investigations at Bonfire Shelter carried out by the Ancient Southwest Texas Project at Texas State University.
At the Bonfire Shelter archaeological site in West Texas, people were butchering bison more than ... more At the Bonfire Shelter archaeological site in West Texas, people were butchering bison more than 11,000 years ago. Today, Texas State students and faculty uncover and preserve clues about ancient life. - Joshua Matthews, Video Producer.
Informal Presentation, 2019
Bonfire Shelter is located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas and contains deep de... more Bonfire Shelter is located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas and contains deep deposits reaching back into the last Ice Age. The site is compelling for two primary reasons. First, it may preserve evidence of the oldest and southernmost “bison jump” in North America; however, there is disagreement as to whether a 12,000-year-old layer of bones represents one or as many as three hunting events, and whether or not they truly represent bison jumps. If they do, it is an unprecedented adaptive strategy for North American Paleoindians. Second, a lower layer includes remains of mammoth and other Pleistocene megafauna of ambiguous origin. Previous researchers have argued that these 14,600 year old remains also reflect human activity, but this has never been verified. In an effort to generate more definitive answers to the uncertainties surrounding the interpretation of Bonfire Shelter, the Ancient Southwest Texas Project (ASWT) at Texas State University initiated new fieldwork at the site in 2017.
Texas State University, 2020
Plains Anthropologist, 2020
Bonfire Shelter (41VV218) is a nationally significant site in the Lower Pecos region of the West ... more Bonfire Shelter (41VV218) is a nationally significant site in the Lower Pecos region of the West Texas borderlands that contains a record of episodic use by hunter-gatherers spanning at least twelve millennia. At least two major bison hunting episodes are evident at Bonfire Shelter, one associated with Paleoindian Plainview and Folsom projectile points (Bone Bed 2), and another associated with Late Archaic Castroville and Montell points (Bone Bed 3). The approximately 12,000-year-old layers comprising Bone Bed 2 may represent the oldest and southernmost bison jump in North America, but this interpretation is the subject of recent debate. In addition, older deposits containing Rancholabrean fauna but lacking stone tools (Bone Bed 1) date to approximately 14,000 years ago and are proposed by previous researchers to be at least partially the result of human activity. This article reviews the issues surrounding Bone Bed 2 and Bone Bed 1 and presents new radiocarbon dates, artifacts, features, along with some initial observations and ongoing plans for renewed field investigations at Bonfire Shelter carried out by the Ancient Southwest Texas Project at Texas State University.