Sunday, January 6, 2008
Calf Creek Bison Skull
After seeing the PBS History Detectives segment on the Calf Creek projectile point embedded in the bison skull. I have some questions and observations. First, why didn't the History Detectives investigators do any sort of examination of the wound to see if there had been any bone growth at the edges of the wound? Also, it appears to me that the design of the Calf Creek projectile points indicates that they were made to break off in the body of the prey. The way the point is made it would be difficult to wrap any sort of binding around the shaft with it attached. It would be slipped into a hole in a shaft prior to being thrown. If the animal was not killed, the shaft would be picked up for immediate re-use by the insertion of another point. The hunter would not be encumbered by having to carry multiple long poles, each with its own spear point. I understand that the rock points are rather brittle and having to carry several of them during the stalking and chase of a wild animal would expose the points to being broken before they could by used.
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