This section contains a list of sites ordered by the ratio of PES to Paleoindian projectiles. It is a mixture of data from the literature (not exhaustive) and my personal sites and is best viewed in Netscape or Explorer. This ratio varies from 17.5 to 0.0 in the list and it is a good indicator of the activities that were occurring at a site. I have only included sites where the sum of the count of the PES and projectiles was greater that 20.

A very low ratio indicates a kill site and the Casper Site (ratio is 0) was just that. Here, it is estimated 100 bison were killed and at least 34 butchered. Frison wrote: It seems highly improbable that this (site) represents a single drive but probably a series of drives over a single season ... ( 1974:22). Considering the number of animals killed and the probability that the site represents more than one event, the PES apparently was not a tool involved in the initial butchering of the animals.

Site 34-4-3 has the next lowest ratio of 0.3 which suggests it was a kill site. However, the artifacts were surface collected and there was no evidence of a bone bed. The site setting is a classic trap, as was the parabolic dune at Casper. It is in the confluence of two drainages (arroyos) with rock walls. The distance between the walls in the confluence is approximately 275 meters. Immediately below the confluence there is a narrowing of the combined drainage to about 30 meters and it would have been very easy to trap animals in the narrowing. This site yielded one (1) whole Clovis projectile and 21 fragments (mostly basal pieces); 14 Folsom fragments (mostly basal pieces); 2 Eden midsections and 1 Belen base. The various point types represented obviously demonstrate that the site was used several times, as was probably the Casper site. Finally, the artifacts were found on the floor of the confluence and not on the bare rock ledges above the confluence, where there was a vantage point of the surrounding countryside. It is my opinion that this site was a kill site or was very near one.

Proceeding up the list the ratio gets bigger and appropriately Lindenmeier scores a 1.0. This site had all the ingredients of everyday life. There was an adjacent kill site. The people made and refurbished their weapons and they even created art. I suggest ratios in the range of 0.8 to 3.0 represent sites that are a combination of numerous day to day activities.

Sites with high PES to projectile ratios represent specialized activities and possibly single events in time. Consider my two sites, 3-46-1 (West Texas) and 34-11-7 (Central New Mexico), with ratios of 17.1 and 5.0. Besides having high ratios, both sites appear to represent one point type. Additionally, these sites are both situated on top of the highest point near the local water source. The high point obviously provides a tremendous view of the surrounding countryside and is not a good place to trap animals.

I believe these high ratio sites are extensions of a nearby, larger living site, similar (activity not size) to Lindenmeier. The activities that occurred at these specialized sites occurred at (in) the Lindenmeier site also, but for some reason were not spatially separated. This is the reason Lindenmeier's ratio is 1.0; it is a mixture of several specialized activities.

I have chosen not to comment on the Vail, Debert or Bostrom Sites which also have high ratios because my only knowledge of these sites comes from the literature. I have not seen their environmental setting and unfortunately what I read in books never matches what I see on the ground. With that said, I would not be surprised to find that these sites also represent a location of specialized activities that is part of a larger site.

Finally, there has been much written in recent years concerning the movement of lithic material (exotics) across the landscape. I would like to caution the future researchers to be cognizant of the type of sites that are being compared because I believe the distribution of the various lithic materials is going to be effected by site type. It is very likely these specialized sites, hunting or scraping, will yield a skew distribution (subset) of what really exists in the larger living sites.

Move to:

• Introductory Page
• Description of The Paleo End Scraper
• Life Cycle of The Paleo End Scraper
• Wear Patterns on The Paleo End Scraper
• Hafting(?) of The Paleo End Scraper
• Ratio of Paleo End Scrapers to Projectiles THE READER IS HERE.
• References

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