Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T09:24:42.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Andrews, Rhonda L., and Adovasio, James M. 1980 Perishable Industries from Hinds Cave, Val Verde County, Texas. Ethnology Monographs 5. Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Eakin, Daniel H. 1989 Report of Archaeological Test Excavations at the Pagoda Creek Site, 48PA853. Report prepared for the Wyoming Highway Department by the Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist. On file, Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, Cultural Records Office, Laramie.Google Scholar
Eakin, Daniel H. 2005 Evidence for Shoshonean Mountain Sheep Trapping and Early Historic Occupation of the Absaroka Mountains of Northwest Wyoming. In University of Wyoming, National Park Service Research Center 29th Annual Report, edited by Harlow, Henry J. and Harlow, Maryanne, pp 7486. University of Wyoming, Laramie.Google Scholar
Eakin, Daniel H., and Eckerle, William P. 2012 Data Recovery Excavations at the Moss Creek Site (48PA919), North Fork of the Shoshone River, Shoshone National Forest, WYDOT Project PREB-031-1(44), US Highway 14-16-20, Park County, Wyoming. Report prepared for the Wyoming Department of Transportation by the Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist. On file, Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, Cultural Records, Laramie.Google Scholar
Frison, George C., Andrews, Rhonda L., Adovasio, James M., Carlisle, Ronald, and Edgar, Robert 1986 A Late Paleoindian Animal Trapping Net from Northern Wyoming. American Antiquity 51:352361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frison, George C., Reher, Charles A., and Walker, Danny N. 1990 Prehistoric Mountain Sheep Hunting in the Central Rocky Mountains of North America. In Hunters of the Recent Past, edited by Davis, Leslie B. and Reeves, Brian O. K., pp. 208240. Unwin-Hyman, London.Google Scholar
Hansen, Dan L., Beatty, Greg L., and Bedrosian, Geoffrey 2017 Biology of Jackrabbits (Lepus spp.) as Prey of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the Western United States. Unpublished report prepared by the Western Golden Eagle Team, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Electronic document, https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/Reference/Profile/87136, accessed November 29, 2021.Google Scholar
Hansen, Dan L., Bedrosian, Geoffrey, and Beatty, Greg L. 2017 Biology of Cottontail Rabbits (Sylvilagus spp.) as Prey of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the Western United States. Unpublished report prepared by the Western Golden Eagle Team, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Electronic document, https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/Reference/Profile/87137, accessed November 29, 2021.Google Scholar
Harris, Arthur H. 2002 Appendix: The Mummy Cave Tetrapods. In The Archeology of Mummy Cave, Wyoming: An Introduction to Shoshonean Prehistory, by Husted, Wilfred M. and Edgar, Robert, pp. 163170. Special Report No. 4, Technical Report Series No. 9, National Park Service, Midwest Archeological Center, Lincoln, Nebraska; Southeast Archeological Center, Tallahassee, Florida.Google Scholar
Hughes, Susan S. 2003 Beyond the Altithermal: The Role of Climate Change in the Prehistoric Adaptations of Northwestern Wyoming. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Husted, Wilfred M., and Edgar, Robert 2002 The Archeology of Mummy Cave, Wyoming: An Introduction to Shoshonean Prehistory. Special Report No. 4. Technical Report Series No. 9. National Park Service, Midwest Archeological Center, Lincoln, Nebraska; Southeast Archeological Center, Tallahassee, Florida.Google Scholar
Kornfeld, Marcel, Frison, George C., and Larson, Mary Lou 2010 Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers of the High Plains and Rockies. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Nabokov, Peter, and Loendorf, Lawrence 2004 Restoring a Presence: American Indians and Yellowstone National Park. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Page, Michael K. 2016 The Goff Creek Site (48PA325): Prehistoric Bighorn Sheep Procurement in the Absaroka Mountains of Northwestern Wyoming. Cultural Resource Series No. 3. Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist, Laramie.Google Scholar
Scheiber, Laura L., and Finley, Judson Byrd 2017 Mountain Shoshone Technological Traditions across the Great Divide. In Across a Great Divide: Continuity and Change in Native North American Societies, 1400–1900, edited by Laura L, Scheiber and Mitchell, Mark, pp. 128152. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Sundstrom, Linea, and Walker, Danny N. 2021 The Sheep Mountain Animal Net Revisited. American Antiquity 86:833844.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wildlife Conservation Society 2011 Greater Yellowstone Ungulate Migrations. Electronic document, https://databasin.org/maps/new/#datasets=1a82b70322fe439dae3747d5ba3699cf, accessed November 20, 2021.Google Scholar