Latest news with #CenterforBigBendStudies
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
6,500-year-old hunting weapons discovered Texas cave
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Archaeologists in Texas have discovered a cache of ancient hunting weapons, including the remains of poison darts, that is one the earliest collections of hunting weapons ever found in North America. The weapons are about 6,500 years old and were unearthed in a cave over several years of excavations there. They seem to make up a system of interchangeable parts for an atlatl, or spear-thrower. "We found the first pieces in 2020 and then we've found other pieces every year," said Bryon Schroeder, an archaeologist and director of the Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS) at Sul Ross University in Texas. The team found the most recent weapon last summer and researchers plan to return to the site later this year, he told Live Science. The finds come from the remote San Esteban rock shelter in the Big Bend region beside the Rio Grande and the border with Mexico, where archaeologists from the CBBS and the University of Kansas have carried out excavations since 2019. They've now found evidence of human activity at the site that dates back 13,000 years or more. However, all of the weapons were broken, leading archaeologists to suspect that a single person or a small group may have used the cave to sort through and repair their old hunting weapons about 6,500 years ago, Schroeder said. Related: Tiny, Ancient Native American Weapons May Have Been Used to Train Children to Fight The weapons found so far include a throwing stick, also known as a straight boomerang; four "nock" or notched ends of darts for the spear-thrower; part of the spear-thrower itself; six wooden foreshafts for darts with sharp stone points; and four hardwood foreshafts that the archaeologists think were used for poison darts. Radiocarbon dating suggests the spear-thrower is older than the foreshafts for the darts, but Schroeder thinks that may be because older wood was used to make it — a common issue with ancient wooden artifacts known as the "Old Wood Problem." CBBS archaeologist Devin Pettigrew told Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine that the weapons were all broken, but nearly all components of the atlatl system had been found. "We don't yet have the socket ends [that] we need to understand how the foreshafts attach to the main shafts," he told the magazine. "We're also missing the proximal [or handle] end of the atlatl, but we know enough about this type to reconstruct what it may have looked like." Image 1 of 3 The ancient weapon were unearthed over several years from a remote rock shelter and cave in the Big Bend region of Texas. Image 2 of 3 Teams of archaeologists have excavated several parts of the rock shelter and cave since 2019. Image 3 of 3 The pieces of weapons have been excavated over several years from a particular part of the cave behind the rock shelter and may be the oldest found in North America. Pettigrew was also enthusiastic about the "straight boomerang" found at the site. Historically, boomerangs aerodynamically shaped to return to the thrower were used as toys or for hunting birds. But straight boomerangs, like the weapon found in the San Esteban rock shelter, flew straight and were heavy enough to kill or incapacitate small animals. These straight boomerangs have been found all over the world, with the oldest coming from Poland and dating to about 30,000 years ago. As well as the cache of weapons, the archaeologists excavating the cave have also found an ancient fireplace or "hearth"; coprolites, or fossilized human feces; and the folded-up hide of a pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) — an antelope-like animal native to North America. RELATED STORIES —Ancient burial of fierce female hunter (and her weapons) discovered in Peru —Melting glaciers reveal 1,700-year-old weapons used by reindeer hunters —Oldest firearms ever found in US were abandoned by Spanish in 16th-century battle against Native Americans The pronghorn hide had been tanned — that is, cured by some method to prevent decay — and much of its fur was still there after more than 6,000 years. (Objects made of wood or leather often rot away entirely, but the region's arid climate may have preserved them here.) Schroeder said many bone fragments found at the site suggested that pronghorns were one of the main prey animals for the prehistoric hunters who occupied the rock shelter. The archaeologists are now examining other bone fragments from the cave to determine which additional animal species the ancient people there hunted, and perhaps how they butchered the animals for food.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
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. Deer Hunter Stumbles Upon Rare Mammoth Tusk In Rugged Terrain Of West Texas 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. Ancient Tiny Shark Species Discovered At Mammoth Cave National Park "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. Life-sized Murals Discovered On Walls Of Pompeii Home Buried By Volcanic Eruption Nearly 2,000 Years Ago 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
Miami Herald
01-04-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
7,000-year-old hunting kit gives ‘snapshots' of ancient human life, researchers say
An ancient human's hunting kit castoffs found in modern-day Big Bend National Park can help reveal how people lived in the region 7,000 years ago, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. A boomerang, stone dart components and a spear-throwing device called an atlatl used by ancient humans almost everywhere in the world were found at the West Texas site, along with a folded pronghorn hide that still bore hair. Texas Parks and Wildlife said it might be 'the oldest example of an intact full weapon system in North America.' Bryon Schroeder, director of the Center for Big Bend Studies, said the kit found in the San Esteban Rockshelter was in remarkably good condition for a relic, giving researchers insights into the owner's life. 'A person came to the back of the cave and went through their hunting gear piece by piece: 'This is good. This is not good. I need to remake this leather pouch a little bit.' And then they went on their way,' Schroeder told the agency's magazine. 'But that one small act is going to have profound implications in understanding a wide range of topics, including the environment.' He said since the wood survived, it can be analyzed to find out what was growing in the area and how long hunters spent working on their tools. 'We get these incredible snapshots of life, vignettes of how they lived, what the environment was and how they responded to it,' he said. In an interview with McClatchy News, Schroeder said another site had evidence that indigenous Clovis people lived in modern-day Big Bend as long as 13,000 years ago. 'We have also found multiple sites associated with mammoth(s), and we are in the process of dating those and hope to understand if those were killed by humans in the coming months,' Schroeder said. How they hunted Devin Pettigrew, a weapons expert who assisted with the research, said the atlatls and boomerangs are common ancient weapons. Atlatls consisted of handheld, grooved lengths of wood that held spears and allowed for better accuracy, while most boomerangs were only made to travel one direction. 'Atlatls have been found on every continent except Africa and Antarctica, and boomerangs, every continent but Antarctica,' he told McClatchy News. 'These are very common ancient thrown projectiles that are hard to pin to any early time period because of their perishable nature.' A roughly 20,000-year-old mammoth ivory boomerang has been seen in Poland. Ancient Egyptians and Celts used them, and more recently ethnographically by people in Africa, Australia, and the Americas, among other places. The most common type of boomerang is non-returning and made for combat and hunting, like the one found in the cave. 'It is important because it tells us about cultural connections, ecology, and people's lives,' Pettigrew said. He said the earliest evidence of atlatls comes from 20,000 years ago in Europe, compared to 70,000 years ago for the bow. But it's hard to confirm the accuracy of those dates given how many weapons may have been simply destroyed over time and never seen. 'Most scholars think the earliest Paleo-Indigenous people to come into the Americas had atlatls and used them to hunt megafauna like mammoths,' Pettigrew said. 'This was the predominant piercing projectile weapon until around 2,000 years ago when societies were becoming more settled, larger and complex, the bow finally supplanted the atlatl in most, but definitely not all roles.' Schroeder said their Odyssey fieldwork is still ongoing, and more is slated for June 2025.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A Man Stumbled Upon the Tusk of a Mammoth
A hunter on a former 272,000-acre West Texas cattle ranch stumbled upon a fossilized mammoth tusk. The ranch manager was skeptical of the claim at first, thinking it was a stump, but brought the information to archaeologists at Sul Ross State University. Texas was once a mammoth hot spot. Can a hunting trip be considered successful if your biggest prize was already dead when you found it? What if it's been dead for thousands of years? We're asking for a hunter in West Texas, who went out in hopes of bringing home some venison and instead discovered a single mammoth tusk on an expansive 272,000-acre ranch in the Chihuahuan Desert near Big Bend National Park. A hunter at the O2 Ranch came back to the ranch manager, Will Juett, with a photo rather than a 10-point buck. 'I was skeptical when a deer hunter showed me a picture of what he thought was a fossil,' Juett said in a statement provided by Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. 'I figured it was likely just an old stump, but imagined how great it would be if he was right.' Turns out, pretty great. Juett worked with Bryon Schroeder and Erika Blecha, archaeologists at the Center for Big Bend Studies at Sul Ross, who in turn contacted a graduate student at the University of Kansas specializing in mammoth studies. With a couple more anthropology professors in tow, a team of five traveled to the ranch to see this mysterious object in the picture. It didn't take long for experts to solve the mystery. 'The tusk was located in the drainage area of a creek bed,' said Schroeder, the director of the center. 'We realized pretty quickly there was not more to the skeleton, just an isolated tusk that had been separated from the rest of the remains.' It took the team two days to plaster-jacket the tusk, using strips of plaster covered in burlap for protection, and to build a frame to transfer the find to the Sul Ross campus. The team said carbon dating results will be available within the next few months, ideally narrowing the date of the tusk to a 500-year range. Mammoth finds aren't wildly rare in Texas. As the Smithsonian reported, there's even a Waco Mammoth National Monument, five acres of protected land established in Central Texas in 2015 to highlight the only known evidence of a nursery herd of Columbian mammoths that all died suddenly together in what researchers believe was a flash flood. The Columbian mammoth was the most likely mammoth species populating what is now Texas. Related to the woolly mammoth, the Columbian variety—which could have formed when woolly mammoths mated with an unknown line of mammoths—stood taller, up to 13 feet in height at the shoulder, and weighed up to 20,000 pounds, according to the National Park Service. Less hairy than the woolly variety, the Columbian mammoth was prominent in the southern half of North America, which included Texas. The Columbian mammoth was an herbivore, so the tusks were often used to dig up plant roots or strip bark off trees. Of course, males used the tusks as weapons, especially in the fight over females. Experts believe mammoth populations died off with the conclusion of the last ice age, possibly anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. 'Seeing that mammoth tusk just brings the ancient world to life,' Juett said. 'Now, I can't help but imagine that huge animal wandering around the hills on the O2 Ranch. My next thought is always about the people that faced those huge tusks with only a stone tool in their hand.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘I Couldn't Believe It.' Deer Hunter Finds Prehistoric Mammoth Tusk on West Texas Ranch
A hunter was looking for deer on a West Texas ranch last season when he came across an unusual object sticking out of a dry creek bed. The hunter told the ranch owner, Will Juett, that he thought it was some sort of fossil. Juett had his doubts, so he reached out to two people who might know more, Dr. Bryon Schroeder and archaeologist Erika Blecher with the Center for Big Bend Studies at nearby Sul Ros University. The two researchers recruited a few more experts and headed to Juett's property, the O2 Ranch, where they verified the hunter's find as a prehistoric mammoth tusk, according to a university press release. 'It paid off big time,' Juett said of his decision to bring the researchers out. 'When they confirmed what they had uncovered, I couldn't believe it.' Schroeder explained in the university's announcement that there were no other bones nearby. He called it an 'isolated tusk' that had somehow been separated from the rest of the mammoth's remains. Read Next: Alabama Fossil Hunter Finds 34-Million-Year-Old Whale Skull on Her Family Farm After unearthing the prehistoric fossil, the team spent two days covering it in protective plaster and building a frame to transport it back to the Sul Ros campus in Alpine. The tusk is now being carbon dated, and those results are expected within the next few months, the press release notes. The only other mammoth tusk that's been found in the Trans-Pecos region and carbon dated was uncovered in 1960, not long after the method was developed. 'There was a big range of error back then,' Schroeder said. 'Now we can get it down to a narrower range within 500 years.' This could help expand our understanding of mammoths in Texas and their natural history in the region. Although it's a long way from the Arctic, where most wooly mammoth bones have been found, the Lone Star State was the long-ago home of Columbian mammoths, an even larger species that roamed across North America during the last Ice Age. Columbian mammoth fossils have been unearthed in several states, including California, Utah, and Nevada, and even as far south as Costa Rica, according to Smithsonian Magazine. Read Next: The Earliest Alaskans Built Hunting Camps Along Woolly Mammoth Migration Routes One of the biggest and most interesting concentrations of mammoth bones lies in Central Texas between the Bosque and Brazos Rivers, roughly 500 miles east of the O2 Ranch. Now the site of Waco Mammoth National Monument, the protected five-acre area is where archaeologists found the first (and, so far, the only) evidence of a 'nursery herd' of Columbian mammoths. Although larger concentrations of bones have been found in other places, like South Dakota, the Waco discovery is significant because researchers now believe that all 26 of the mammoths died in a single catastrophic event — most likely a flash flood — roughly 29,000 years ago.
