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Down the Rabbit Hole: Comment on Sundstrom and Walker (2021)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2022

Julie Francis*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
Lawrence L. Loendorf
Affiliation:
Sacred Sites Research Inc., Albuquerque, NM, USA
Marcel Kornfeld
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
Mary Lou Larson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
James M. Adovasio
Affiliation:
Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA † Deceased
*
([email protected], corresponding author)

Abstract

The Sheep Mountain juniper bark net, originally thought to be of Paleoindian age, was redated by Sundstrom and Walker (2021) to the Late Prehistoric period. Although the original investigators convincingly argued that the net was intended for use with mountain sheep or deer, Sundstrom and Walker suggest it was used to trap small game such as rabbits or sage grouse. Unfortunately, the authors ignore important information presented by the original investigators and misrepresent the archaeological record of the immediate area. The Sheep Mountain net is still best interpreted as designed for use to trap mountain sheep and deer.

Recibimos de buena manera las nuevas fechas publican por Sundstrom y Walker (2021) para la red de Sheep Mountain, encontrado cerca de Cody, Wyoming. Estas fechas indican que la red, fabricado de fibra de enebro, tiene una edad menos de 1300 cal aP. Presunto de ser de edad Paleoindian, los investigadores originales (Frison et al. 1986) presentaron argumentos fuertes que se utilizaban la red para la caza de borregos cimarrones. Pero, Sundstrom y Walker ofrecen que se la utilizaban para atrapar conejos. Desafortunadamente, Sundstrom y Walker ignoran hechos importantes presentados por Frison y colaboradores y tergiversan la prehistoria de la región. Todavía, la interpretación de Frison et al. que se utilizaban la red para atrapar borregos cimarrones es lo mejor.

Type
Comment
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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References

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