Owl Cave Revisited: Examining the Evidence for a Folsom-Bison Association

Abstract

The discovery of green-fractured mammoth bone in Owl Cave in the 1970s inspired the original investigators to focus primarily on the possible association between these remains and Folsom points recovered from the same stratum. With the Museum of Idaho's recent acquisition of the complete Owl Cave collection, we have gained a better understanding of the periglacial processes that appear to have displaced and mixed mammoth remains with a younger Folsom component. New efforts to date bison bone also recovered from the lowest levels of the cave have produced radiocarbon dates that fall within the accepted age range of Folsom technology. These results have prompted efforts to investigate the potential for an association between the lithic assemblage and bison, a scenario that is much more plausible given our current understanding of the Folsom archaeological record.