Cave discovery of 6,000-year-old hunter's toolkit offers rare glimpse into earliest lives in West Texas
MARFA, Texas – Archaeologists have unearthed a treasure trove of artifacts frozen in time deep within a West Texas cave, including potentially the oldest intact weapon system ever found in North America.
The remarkable discovery within the San Esteban Rockshelter, south of Marfa, is now rewriting the story of the Big Bend region's earliest inhabitants.
For the past six years, archaeologists from the Center for Big Bend Studies and the Odyssey Archaeological Research Fund at the University of Kansas have been working together to study area sites that may have harbored the earliest evidence of humans in the region.
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One of the most notable finds was a preserved ancient hunting kit that was found in pristine condition. While no complete components were found, among the weaponry were broken dart nock ends, a straight-flying boomerang, stone-tipped and hardwood foreshafts, and a partial atlatl.
Researchers believe the discovery suggests an ancient hunter paused within the cave, built a small fire, repaired their essential tools and left behind the mundane items of everyday life that waited thousands of years to be discovered.
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"If it really is a contemporaneous kit, it's a pretty monumental finding," CBBS Director Bryon Schroeder told Texas Parks and Wildlife. "We can use the wood to reconstruct the environment and learn more about the amount of time they spent working on tools."
Schroeder added that this new knowledge can be applied to other archaeological sites in the Big Bend.
"We get these incredible snapshots of life, vignettes of how they lived, what the environment was and how they responded to it," he said.
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Caves were likely a potential cultural significance of Indigenous American traditions, where hunted prey could be reincarnated, according to CBBS assistant professor Devin Pettigrew.
"We aren't sure to what extent the deposit of these broken components in the rock shelter had a symbolic or spiritual purpose," CBBS Assistant Professor Devin Pettigrew noted to Texas Parks and Wildlife. "Interpretations like this, based on more recent cultures, are more difficult the further back in time you go."
Beyond the hunting implements, archaeologists also unearthed human feces – which can provide valuable dietary and health information – and a remarkably preserved folded pronghorn hide, Texas Parks and Wildlife reports.
"We just sat there and stared at it in wonder," Schroeder said of tanned hide discovery. "That's a moment in time. It's akin to holding dish gloves that somebody put over the sink after doing the dishes. Somebody folded that hide up and sat that right on top of this rock. And nobody touched it for 6,000 years."Original article source: Cave discovery of 6,000-year-old hunter's toolkit offers rare glimpse into earliest lives in West Texas
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