Historical Fiction Novel by John Bradford Branney breathes life into Prehistoric America

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Fans of the popular Shadows on the Trail book series by bestselling author John Bradford Branney are gobbling up copies of his latest adventure, Crow and the Cave.  

The historical fiction novels written by John Bradford Branney are known for their impeccable research and biting realism. In his latest blockbuster novel Crow and the Cave, Author Branney catapults his readers into Prehistoric America where they reunite with some familiar faces from Branney’s best-selling prehistoric adventure series the Shadows on the Trail Trilogy.

Hailed for its accurate depiction of life in Prehistoric America, Crow and the Cave is a fast-paced read that accurately builds on clues from the archaeological record and oral traditions practiced by early Americans. What makes Crow and the Cave even more compelling is the inspiration for the story. Crow and the Cave rose from a life-threatening accident that left Author Branney and his German Shepherd Madd Maxx crippled and bleeding on a remote ranch.  Not one to miss an opportunity to tell a story, Branney recounted this incident in the context of a Paleoindian named Hoka in Prehistoric America. This catastrophic event burst forth on the pages of Crow and the Cave.

Hogan and Cansha

John Bradford Branney has shown meticulous attention to detail and a consummate familiarity with the high plains of Prehistoric America in Crow and the Cave. Branney has again shown why he is one of the preeminent, authoritative, and technically-superb writers of this genre. Readers will relish every page of Crow and the Cave.    

John Bradford Branney holds a geology degree from the University of Wyoming and MBA from the the University of Colorado. John lives in the Colorado mountains with his wife, Theresa. Crow and the Cave is the eighth published book by Branney.

Copies of Crow and the Cave are available at all major booksellers, including Black Rose Writing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

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Part II - The "Spark" for CROW and the CAVE, an adventure by John Bradford Branney

Figure One - Crow and the Cave by John Bradford Branney. Release Date March 8, 2018.

In case you missed Part One of this blog posting, here is the link to Part One. LINK to Part I of "Spark" and CROW and the CAVE.

In Part One, horned cattle were bludgeoning my German Shepherd Madd Maxx and me. I was pinned to the ground by the horns and hooves of an orange-colored devil cow and Madd Maxx was battling the rest of the herd. The story continues below.  

Every time the devil cow stepped on my legs, I cried out. The pain was excruciating. I could not breathe. I was wheezing, and I was not getting enough oxygen to satisfy my body’s needs. My fractured ribs felt like someone had impaled me with a spear! While the halfton cow ground me into the dirt, she rocked her head back and forth trying to impale me with her horns. At the same time, she was walking all over me. My entire body was on fire. I felt immersed in hot lava. The pain was beyond tolerance. I was bleeding all over the pasture.

Figure Two - The orange and white devil cow whose mission was to eliminate the threat. 

Lying there in agony while suffocating on dust, I had an epiphany. I realized this devil cow was not going to let up on her attack until I was dead. If I fought her, she would kill him. I stopped moving and went limp. I played dead. I laid there motionless in the dirt and the blood and the manure. That was hard to do. I was in extreme pain. At first, the horned beast did not buy it. She pawed at me with her hooves, trying to roll me over, but I spread my legs just far enough to prevent her from rolling me over. I had my arms wrapped around my head like a helmet. She shoved me with her horned skull, but I did not budge. I remember feeling her wet breath against my neck as she sniffed me for life. Every time the devil cow stepped on me, I wanted to scream, but I held it all in.

I finally satisfied the devil cow. She was convinced that I was no longer a threat. She rejoined the herd, leaving me lying there in my own blood, covered in dirt and cow dung. I was in very bad shape. All I wanted to do was lie there, but I heard my dog, sometimes barking, sometimes yelping. I struggled to my knees. The pain was beyond anything I had ever experienced. My left leg took the worst of the beating. It would not straighten. I spotted Madd Maxx. The cows were circling him in a cloud of dust. Funny how the mind works under the strangest of circumstances. I remember thinking how the scene reminded me of an old western movie with the Indians circling the cover wagons, but in this case, it was cows circling Madd Maxx. I crawled through the circling cows. Occasionally one of them bumped into me, but I kept going. I grabbed Madd Maxx by his furry neck and pulled him from the circle. Then, I collapsed on the ground.

Figure Three - A portion of the rest of the herd. Glad to have a fence between us. 

Madd Maxx was in very bad shape. The cattle had annihilated him. The herd had ripped off his steel training collar and long lead rope. He was bleeding profusely from his mouth and he had bloody patches of matted fur across most of his body. His ferocious German Shepherd bark was now whimpers of pain. I pulled him away from the herd. I still could not breathe. I was choking, exhausted, and in agony. My gums were bleeding and my front teeth were loose. I had bit my tongue and it was bleeding. My legs and back felt like someone had dipped me in molten steel. I could not stand. Crawling was its own challenge. The shredded backpack still hung from my back by one frayed strap. Madd Maxx and I sat there on the prairie, humbled and conquered.

Then, the strangest thing happened. The cows lined up in front of us. I could not believe it. I guess they thought we still were not convinced of their superiority or maybe I had eaten too many hamburgers in my lifetime. I don’t know why. The orange and white devil cow stood directly in front of me, no further than five feet away. I heard her breathing and watched her chew her cud. Her eyes were on me. I knew I was not walking anywhere so I commanded Madd Maxx to run for the vehicle. He needed no further encouragement. He took off, half limping and half trotting with his tail firmly placed between his legs. He had no fight left in him. He plowed through the strands of a barbed wire fence that separated this pasture from the next. He made it to our vehicle without further incident. Now, it was my turn. I stood up. I remember screaming in pain as I tried to straighten my legs. Every nerve in my body was screaming out. I balanced myself on my right leg, my halfway useful leg. The devil cow stood between me and the vehicle. She lowered her head and smashed into me, knocking me backwards several feet and onto the ground. That is the last thing I remember.

Figure Four - While I was dealing with the orange and white devil cow, Madd Maxx dealt with the herd. 

I do not know how long I laid in the pasture. When I woke up, I was freezing. The temperature had dropped. I would never survive a night on the prairie. I had to get out of there. Pulling myself along on hands and damaged knees, I crawled to the vehicle. The remains of the backpack drooped down in front of my chest, but I was not going to stop and take it off. Not while I was in that pasture. I spotted Madd Maxx at the back of the vehicle, waiting for me. He was ready to get the heck out of Dodge. I loaded him up and drove to the ranch house. I was still wearing sunglasses, but one of the lenses was gone. I honked the horn at the ranch house. I opened my vehicle door and fell to the ground. That’s where I stayed. Sometime later, flight for life shuttled me to a trauma center in Colorado while Madd Maxx made an emergency visit to the vet. That was what happened to me and Madd Maxx on December 3, 2016, a day before my sixty-second birthday. Experience cannot get more real than that. Climb aboard my time machine. I have the dial set for 8700 B.C.

I hope you enjoy Crow and the Cave.

Part I - The "Spark" for CROW and the CAVE, an Adventure by John Bradford Branney

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My latest book CROW and the CAVE will be released March 8, 2018. In advance of that release date, I want to give you a little background on how this book came about. The passage below is the first part in a two part blog posting that describes the events leading up to my writing CROW and the CAVE.  

As an author, my historical fiction originates from research, real-life experiences, and an active imagination. Since many of my books are about Prehistoric America, I rely a lot on documented archaeological evidence. However, on December 3, 2016, I had a real-life experience that changed my life and I decided to adapt this encounter to my latest prehistoric adventure entitled Crow and the Cave.

Our German Shepherd Madd Maxx and I were prehistoric artifact hunting on a ranch in northern

Colorado when a herd of horned cattle decided they did not care for Madd Maxx. These cattle must have thought that Madd Maxx was a predator, like a wolf or a coyote. One of the horned beasts decided to remove the predator from the pasture. She lowered her head and rammed into Madd

Madd Maxx

Maxx, sending the one hundred-pound shepherd flying. I intervened between Madd Maxx and the orange-colored beast and paid the price. The horned devil that just launched Madd Maxx into inner space came after me, ramming her skull into my chest. Not having other options, I grabbed the cow by the horns and hung on for dear life. She shoved me backwards across the pasture, picking up speed as we went along. I concluded that hanging on to her horns was not going to end well for me, so I let go, and she ran right over the top of me. Ouch! She knocked the wind out of me. I was in pain and I could not breathe. Later, I found out that I had sustained three broken ribs and a bruised lung. I remember hearing Madd Maxx barking which was a good sign. He was still alive. I staggered to my feet like a fallen boxer rising for an eight count. Before I could straighten up, the horned devil plowed into me. One year later, I still remember that teeth-rattling jolt when her massive skull smashed into my back. I went down hard. I later found out I had sustained kidney, liver and adrenal gland damage. If I had any oxygen in my lungs to start with, it was all gone. I tried to crawl away, but the devil cow was on me, pinning me to the ground with her skull and horns, swinging her head from side to side, trying to hook me with her horns. Fortunately, I was wearing a backpack filled with bulky winter clothes. The devil cow ended up destroying the backpack, but wearing it saved my life. I had been carrying a metal walking stick that she also destroyed. As she mauled me, I remember seeing a huge dust cloud rising above the pasture. I was drowning in a sea of dust. The entire herd was on the war path. While I was trying to escape with my life, so was Madd Maxx, and he had the rest of the herd to contend with. I fought to breathe, but every time I took a breath, the cow slammed into my back.

As I laid there getting bludgeoned by this beast, I felt relieved when I heard Madd Maxx. I knew that if I heard him, he was still alive and if I was going to save him, I first had to save myself. I yelled for help, but that was futile. I was in the middle of nowhere and my yell had no energy, whatsoever. I

Madd Maxx

fought to escape, but the horned beast kept smashing into my back. She walked all over my legs and back with her sharp hooves. I swear it felt like she was kneading bread on my legs like some massive hooved cat. The more I resisted, the more aggressive the horned beast was. I wrapped my arms around my head, hoping to protect my skull from her horns and hooves. She had already loosened my front teeth. I remember thinking that I was going to "die by cow". I understand that we all die of some cause, sooner or later, but “death by cow”?

Based on the above narrative, you can see that Madd Maxx and I are in quite a pickle. You will have to wait until Part Two of the blog posting to see how we get out of it. Then, in subsequent blog postings, I will give you a taste or two about my prehistoric adventure CROW and the CAVE.    

CLICK to preorder CROW and the CAVE for 10% Discount

CLICK for Part Two of the "Spark".

Folsom v. Clovis Technology - SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL



Figure One - Wide range of High Plains Folsom Points from Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. The longest point is 1.9 inches long. John Bradford Branney Collection.  

Did you identify the above projectile points as Folsom?  

My five-book adventure series about North America and Paleoindians titled the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy began in what is called Texas and Colorado today. Ultimately, the latest book in the series, BEYOND the CAMPFIRE, ended up in the Black Hill of South Dakota and Wyoming. 

The books were written about a mysterious group of people we now call Folsom who lived on the Great Plains around twelve thousand six hundred or so years ago. There is no archaeological evidence that the Folsom Paleoindians used any kind of written language. Hence, they probably handed down their customs, processes, rituals, and folklore from generation to generation through word of mouth. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Folsom Paleoindian culture was a beautifully-crafted fluted projectile point that is arguably the finest projectile point type ever made in North America. One of the processes that the Folsom People passed on from generation to generation was the making of these fabulous fluted projectile points. Figure one is a photo of a few examples of Folsom points from my personal collection. Even with the variation in shape, size, material, and quality, most people familiar with artifacts would identify them as Folsom projectile points. 



Figure Two - The third book in the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy.
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In the third book of the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy titled WINDS of EDEN, I wrote about how I thought the Folsom People passed along their flint knapping processes  In the passage below, a tribal elder teaches children how to make these wonderful fluted projectile points. School is now in session!

The old man picked up a square of tatanka – bison hide. He placed it on top of his left thigh. He then picked up the flat rock and placed it on top of the bison hide. He then placed another square of bison hide over the top of the flat rock. The old man picked up an unfinished spear point and the antler punch. The three boys watched, never taking their eyes off the old man’s skilled hands. The old man then adjusted the flat rock so it was on the inside of his left thigh. He pushed the tip of the unfinished spear point against the flat rock and lined up the antler punch against the tiny knob on the base of the spear point. When the old man was satisfied with the positioning of the spear point, he placed the other end of the antler punch against his right thigh.

Since the elder was teaching the children a relatively complex process (rarely duplicated with success even today), we would expect to find errors and variations in the children's final product. Twelve thousand years later, you or I might find one of the children's Folsom points and wonder why all Folsom points weren't created equal. In general, Folsom projectile points exhibit three critical characteristics; 1). fluting, 2). thinness, and 3). micro pressure retouch along the edges. You can see these characteristics in all of the Folsom points in figure one. 

Figure Three - More Folsom points from my collection. 

I am switching gears now, to an earlier group of Paleoindians before Folsom. These Paleoindians were associated with what we call the Clovis Complex.

Ever since the discovery of the famous Folsom, Clovis, and Plainview sites in the early part of the twentieth century, there has been an ongoing effort to identify and categorize all Paleoindian projectile points into specific projectile point type buckets. Before the discovery of the above sites, archaeologists and collectors lumped most finely-made western Paleoindian projectile points into a broad category called Yuma, named after the town in Colorado where collectors were finding these artifacts in sand blowouts during the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s. 

One Paleoindian projectile point type with a broad geographical range in North America was named Clovis after the insitu discovery near the town by the same name in New Mexico. Today, collectors and archaeologists find Clovis-styled points in forty-eight states, Canada, and Mexico. Clovis projectile points are normally fluted, just like Folsom, but the flutes on Clovis are shorter and angled outward from the base (see figure four which demonstrates typical fluting angle differences - "a" in the diagram is Folsom and "b" is Clovis). In addition, Clovis projectile points exhibit less intricate pressure flaking and retouch than the average Folsom projectile point. Just like Folsom, Clovis projectile points show a broad range in dimensions, form, and material.

Figure Four - One way to differentiate 

between Folsom and Clovis. Folsom fluting 

is parallel to the biface plane (flat) while 

Clovis is diagonal to the biface plan (angled). 

Credit unknown.    

There are several plausible explanations for the variation in Clovis projectile points. First of all, Clovis flint knappers did not work from blueprints like modern-day manufacturing workers do. Clovis projectile points did not have written specifications, and all Clovis flint knappers were not created equal. For that matter, no Paleoindian flint knapper had exactly the same skills and experience as their peers! People with different levels of skill, experience, and creativity created Clovis projectile points! Last but not least, Clovis and other Paleoindian flint knappers dealt with a wide range of raw materials with different mechanical properties and quality. For example, chalcedony knaps differently than silicified sandstone which knaps differently than obsidian. Some raw material was just better for flint knapping than other materials, resulting in a wide range of quality and form between different projectile points. 

We can and should expect variation in quality, dimensions, and sizes for Clovis and Folsom projectile points!

  

We see variations in Clovis-styled fluted projectile points across the different regions in North America. The variation in size, shape, manufacturing process and material has led to many debates about whether or not these regional variants of Clovis-styled fluted projectile are actually Clovis points and fit under the umbrella of the Clovis Paleoindian culture that swept across North America. Some analysts argue that these regional Clovis-styled fluted projectile points prove by their chronological and morphological differences that they did not come from a single Clovis culture while others argue that these Clovis-styled fluted projectile points are just regional variations of a common Clovis theme at a slightly different time and place.

If these Clovis-styled fluted projectile points did come from one common Clovis culture, the variation might be explained by a process called 'drift". Drift occurs when we see the changing of a standard through time within groups of people who share the same cultural ancestry. Drift can occur in any given culture and can happen for a variety of reasons such as isolation of a population or innovation within a specific population or the evolving needs in a changing environment. As an example of the last item; when mammoths and mastodons became scarce or were absent, Clovis people might have adapted their weaponry to hunt different animals. We should expect a change in their projectile point style going from hunting mammoths as a mainstay to hunting bison or smaller mammals. In figure five below I show three different Clovis-styled variants from the eastern United States. Did these precede or follow Clovis? These three eastern types carry a bunch of Clovis characteristics. 

Figure Five - Clovis-style regional variants from eastern U.S. (Haynes 2002) Were these made by the same Clovis culture discovered in the west or different cultures that copied the fluting technology?   

Figure six represents a few Clovis projectile points from my high plains Clovis collection. You can see by the photo that even though these Clovis points were surface finds from the same region, they have quite a bit of variation. Even with the differences in form, fluting length, and flaking patterns, they are still Clovis points. In the caption below figure six, I identified the variants from other regions of North America that my high plains points resemble. As an example, the first point in my photograph is a Clovis projectile point that was surface found in northern New Mexico. It resembles the Gainey projectile point from the Great Lakes region in figure five. 

The photo in figure seven shows Clovis-styled fluted projectile points from the east coast of the United States and Canada. These Clovis-styled fluted projectile points are not typed as Clovis, even though they have similar characteristics to my Colorado Clovis point in figure six, second from the right.   

Figure Six - High Plains Clovis points demonstrate the wide range of variability. From left to right; New Mexico Clovis, Gainey variety; Nebraska Clovis, Colby variety, Montana Clovis, western variety; Colorado Clovis, Hazel Variety, Colorado Clovis, eastern variety; Colorado Clovis, Barnes Variety. The longest point is 3.8 inches long.
John Bradford Branney Collection.       

The bottom line is that there are a variety of reasons that a single point type such as Clovis shows variation between different projectile points within the type. That does not mean that these regional variants were not part of the Clovis Paleoindian culture that overtook North America for a few hundred years around 13,000 years ago.  

Figure Seven - Clovis-style points from Nova Scotia, New York, and Main.
(Haynes 2002) Boy, they sure look like my Colorado Clovis
above (fifth point).   

I am going to say goodbye for now and return to WINDS OF EDEN to see what happened between the elder and the children. School is back in session.      

The old man motioned for his two young grandchildren to sit down in front of him, close enough to see, but far enough away to avoid flying pieces of sharp rock. The old man readjusted the flat rock with the tip of the spear point. He then carefully positioned the groove in the antler punch with the tiny knob at the base of the spear point. When everything was to his liking, the old man picked up the heavy antler hammer and took a couple of practice swings in the air. The old man then held the antler hammer above the antler punch and swung down with enough force to transfer energy from the antler punch through the rock. The rock popped loudly and when the old man lifted up the spear point for the children to see, a flute or groove ran longitudinally up the entire length of the spear point. The children laughed as if it they had just witnessed great magic. Their eyes were as big as the moon as they looked around at each other. The old man gazed around at the children, smiling. The old man was proud of the flute in the spear point and relieved that he could still do it. However, what made him the happiest was passing down the fluting tradition to the next generation of the tribe.

2002    Haynes, Gary. The Early Settlement of North America - The Clovis Era. University             Press. Cambridge.  

The historical fiction novels written by John Bradford Branney are known for their impeccable research and biting realism. In his latest blockbuster novel BEYOND the CAMPFIRE  Branney places his readers smack dab into the middle of the late Pleistocene along the high plains of North America. BEYOND the CAMPFIRE is Branney's eleventh book.  

John Bradford Branney holds a geology degree from the University of Wyoming and an MBA from the University of Colorado.

 

What Is That Gunk on My Rock?

Figure One - Side B of a 4.1-inch-long discoidal biface made from Alibates agatized dolomite. 
Pedogenic carbonate dominates this side, indicating this was the "down" position in the soil. 

For those of you who do not know the inspiration for my prehistoric adventure book series, the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Hexalogy, this is the story. It all began on an early summer morning in 2010 on a northern Colorado ranch. I discovered a prehistoric stone tool made from a red and gray striped rock created in a well-known prehistoric rock quarry in the Panhandle of Texas (figures one and two). After studying the flaking patterns on the artifact and based on other Paleoindian artifacts I found on that site, I concluded that it most likely came from the mysterious Folsom Complex around 12,600 years ago, give or take a century or two. 

Figure Two. Side A of the 4.1-inch-long discoidal biface. Side A is not showing as much pedogenic carbonate as Side B. Side A was the original side "up" in the ground.  

When I found that prehistoric stone tool, I recognized the distinctive rock type at once, and I knew the rock's source was Texas. So, what was Alibates agatized dolomite doing in northern Colorado? My mind wandered about the ancient people who made the stone tool and how it ended up on a Paleoindian campsite in northern Colorado, some five hundred miles away from the famous prehistoric rock quarry.  Who made the stone tool, and what was he or she like? What happened on that long journey from Texas to northern Colorado some 12,600 years ago? Since it was impossible for me to ask the Paleoindians, I wrote my own version of the trip in the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Hexalogy. 

One thing is for sure, that discoidal biface rested in that soil for a long, long time. I was surprised that some lucky dog before me did not find it, or a cow or horse hoof did not smash it to pieces. And what was all that white gunk covering its surface? Inquiring minds wanted to know. 

                             Figure Three - Book One in the Series. CLICK to ORDER.

The white stuff is called pedogenic (secondary) carbonate, and it is mostly CaCO₃ or calcium carbonate. How does pedogenic carbonate end up on artifacts, rocks, and geological features? I am glad you asked. Pedogenic carbonation occurs when rainwater mixes with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Together, they form a diluted carbonic acid or H₂CO₃ in the soil. That weak acidic mixture dissolves other minerals in the soil and yields water-soluble calcium carbonate, bicarbonate, and other salts capable of precipitating onto other rocks and minerals when groundwater conditions permit it. 

Figures four and five are photographs of a Paleoindian ultrathin knife form where pedogenic carbonate completely took over one side of the artifact. The Paleoindian who made that knife form used obsidian as the raw material. In figure four, Side B is almost completely covered with pedogenic carbonate. 

            Figure Four - Side B of a 6.5-inch-long ultrathin knife form showing extensive pedogenic carbonate, indicating that side was "stratigraphically down" in the soil. 

John Bradford Branney Collection.  

Pedogenic carbonate obviously detracts from the artifact's original beauty and has limited my ability to study the flaking patterns on Side B. I can only guess what the flaking looks like underneath the gunk that covers it. The only good thing about pedogenic carbonate is that it eliminates any doubt as to the authenticity of the artifact. As far as I know, artifact replicators and fakers have not figured out how to fake pedogenic carbonate, but I am sure they are trying their best. 

Figure Five - Side A of a 6.5-inch-long ultrathin knife form showing no or little pedogenic carbonate. Side A was "stratigraphic up" in the soil. John Bradford Branney Collection.  

A geopetal indicator is any rock feature that demonstrates the relationship of top to bottom at the time of formation or placement of the rock. An example of a geopetal indicator in the geology world is the orientation of cross-bedding in a fluvial deposit. In the archaeology world, pedogenic carbonate lets us determine up or down for an artifact, bone, or feature.  

Pedogenic carbonate accumulates on or between sediment grains in the soil, occluding and cementing the sediment. Pedogenic carbonate forms a geopetal structure that first accumulates on the lowest part of its host. In the case of a buried prehistoric artifact, pedogenic carbonate coats the lowest portion of the artifact first. When found, the presence of pedogenic carbonate establishes the "stratigraphic up" position for that artifact. Figure five shows the "stratigraphic up" for that ultrathin knife form. 

Where will pedogenic carbonate most likely occur? Low rainfall is the single most important factor for developing pedogenic carbonate. Low rainfall allows the formation of pedogenic carbonate deposits near the surface of the ground, while heavy rainfall flushes the water-soluble salts down into the groundwater table, removing them from the sediments where we oftentimes find prehistoric artifacts.

How long does pedogenic carbonate take to affect a prehistoric artifact? That all depends on the soil and the rainfall conditions. I have Late Prehistoric artifacts that have the beginnings of pedogenic carbonate, while some of my Paleoindian artifacts show no sign of pedogenic carbonate.  

Figure Six - 3.8-inch-long Clovis spearpoint completely blanketed in pedogenic carbonate on
both sides. Surface found on private land in the high desert of northern New Mexico.
The original host material is unknown. John Bradford Branney Collection.      

I have read comments from people on social media sites asking for advice on how to remove pedogenic carbonate from artifacts. Most knowledgeable collectors will reply something like, "Leave the artifact alone." Occasionally, you will find someone who believes they are smarter than Mother Nature, and he or she recommends some concoction to remove the natural deposit. As far as I know, no one has ever been successful in removing pedogenic carbonate without damaging the artifact. Pedogenic carbonate chemically bonds to the soil, sediment, and rocks. It may look like it is only a surface coating, but it is chemically bound to the crystal lattice of the rock. 

What's my bottom line? Leave pedogenic carbonate alone! If you cannot learn to love the pedogenic carbonate on your artifacts, at least respect it! Like a good marriage, pedogenic carbonate is with your artifact forever.  

  

Reflections...

I found my first "perfect arrow point" when I was nine years old in good ole Wyoming. At the time, I was playing third base on a Little League baseball team called the Merchants. I looked down at the ground between second and third bases, and there was a jasper arrow point lying at my feet. Even at the ripe old age of nine, I was hooked on artifacts. Actually, I was hooked on artifacts much earlier than even nine years old. My mother inherited her father's extensive artifact collection, and from age six on up, I was fascinated with those artifacts. That was six decades ago, and my fascination with Prehistoric America has never left me.  

If you get a chance, read my prehistoric adventure series titled SHADOWS on the TRAIL Hexalogy. I think you will enjoy the book series. The adventures will transport you to a happy place, thousands of years in the past.         

 

From Clovis to Hell Gap - Overlapping Technologies?

Figure One - Paleoindian Projectile Point evolution from oldest on the left to old on the right.
From left to right, Clovis (northern Colorado), Goshen (Nebraska Panhandle), Folsom
(northern Colorado), Agate Basin (north-central Colorado), and Hell Gap  (eastern
Colorado). For scale, Hell Gap is 2.55 inches long. John Bradford Branney Collection. 

Using radiocarbon dating and geology, scientists are able to establish age ranges for different prehistoric cultures and the associated stone projectile point types. For example, scientists estimate that the Folsom prehistoric culture existed from around 10,900 to 10,200 RCYBP. This is based on a 10,900 RCYBP age from the Hanson site in northern Wyoming and a 10,200 RCYBP age from the Hell Gap site in southeastern Wyoming. This means that when I find a Folsom projectile point out on the surface of the prairie, I pretty much know how old it is and who made it. As more and more archaeological evidence is unearthed, scientists will fine-tune the Folsom prehistoric culture and age.

Without getting too far into the weeds, I want to explain the above dates, the 10,900 to 10,200 RCYBP. Those dates are uncalibrated or uncorrected radiocarbon dates, often referred to as Radiocarbon Years Before Present, with Before Present representing the year 1950. Archaeologists and scientists oftentimes publish uncalibrated or uncorrected radiocarbon ages like the above, even though uncalibrated radiocarbon dates can be misleading and do not tie up well to calendar years. For example, 10,000 RCYBP (uncalibrated radiocarbon years) corrects to approximately 11,695 to 11,336 calendar years from 1950, depending on the correction model used. And 11,000 RCYBP corrects to approximately 13,000 calendar years; two thousand years of correction going from uncalibrated to calibrated radiocarbon dates!  When you read an author quoting Clovis at 11,000 years bp that is an uncalibrated radiocarbon date. The Clovis prehistoric culture was really around 13,000 calendar years old. So be careful when you are looking at ages and dates. For more information, see my article on Reporting Radiocarbon Dates.  

Below is a scene from my prehistoric thriller book series the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy. In this particular scene from the first edition of my first book SHADOWS on the TRAIL, the leaders of  a Paleoindian 

Figure Two - CLICK for ADVENTURE

tribe found a spear point near the remains of their burning village.  From the style and technology of the spear point, Avonaco identified the people and culture who made the spear point and destroyed his village. In my book series, I emphasize my belief that certain Paleoindian projectile point types overlapped chronologically and geographically, and that Paleoindian projectile point evolution was not a serial process but more like a parallel process.  

Avonaco held the spear in his hands. The spear shaft was the same wood that the River People used, but the stone spear point was different. The stone spear point was thinner and longer than any Avonaco had ever seen and made from a shiny, black rock material. Avonaco ran his thumb down the sharp edge of the spear point and quickly pulled his thumb away.

“Éŝkos!–Sharp!” Avonaco exclaimed, looking down at his bleeding thumb.

He continued to examine the spear point, “I have only seen a spear point like this once made from this black rock. When I was a boy, I found a spear point much like this deep in the mountains. My father told me the black rock comes from the mountains.”

Avonaco then inspected the sinew wrap that connected the stone spear point to the wooden spear shaft. The River People used sinew from deer or bison to attach their spear points. Avonaco pointed to the sinew and said, “This is too thin, it is not from bison or deer.”

Avonaco ran his fingers down the smooth wood of the spear and noticed it had carvings in it. To see better, Avonaco moved the spear shaft closer to the light of the campfire. Carved into the

wood were five green-painted peaks next to two orange-painted suns : ҉  Ʌ Ʌ Ʌ Ʌ Ʌ  ҉   Waquini and Vipponah leaned over Avonaco’s shoulders to take a better look.

Vipponah asked, “Tipis?”

Avonaco thought about this and replied, “Mountains, maybe.”

The spear point that Avonaco inspected was a calling card for the people who made it. Just like Avonaco, scientists and collectors interpret and analyze prehistoric clues from projectile points. While Avonaco noted the differences in material and projectile point style, scientists and collectors recognize the differences in projectile point technologies and tie them back to specific prehistoric cultures. 

Figure Three - Paleoindians making their way. 

                                                                                                                                              Archaeological evidence and radiometric dating lean toward specific Paleoindian projectile point types overlapping with other Paleoindian projectile point types in both time and space. The High Plains Paleoindian projectile point types in figure one represent a chronological and technological continuum from the oldest stone projectile point on the left, a Clovis point made sometime around 13,000 years ago to the youngest projectile point on the right, a Hell Gap point made sometime around 11,500 years ago (calibrated radiocarbon ages). The Clovis prehistoric culture was gone by the time Paleoindians started making Hell Gap styled projectile points, but Hell Gap most likely overlapped in time with other prehistoric cultures such as Agate Basin and the Cody Complex.  

One way to illustrate this is with Table One below. It shows the statistical age ranges for each of the prehistoric cultures represented in Figure One above. As a reminder, B.P. in this table represents uncalibrated or uncorrected radiocarbon dates from the baseline year of 1950. I don't want to get hung up on the actual ages because as more archaeological data surfaces and technology improves, these age ranges will become better defined. My point is that these projectile point types statistically overlap in time, just as archeological sites indicate that these projectile point types overlapped in geographical space. 

The age ranges in Table One are from a single source, the book Projectile Points of the High Plains by Jeb Taylor. You will find that ages for prehistoric cultures vary from book to book and that ages are periodically updated as radiometric technology improves, but what stays the same is the overlapping projectile point technology concept. As a reminder, the ages in Table One are uncalibrated or uncorrected radiocarbon dates. For example, Clovis and Folsom 'calibrated years ago' are around 13,000 and 12,600 years ago, respectively.           

Prehistoric Culture	Earliest Date	Latest date
Clovis	11,300 B.P.	10,600 B.P.
Goshen	11,000 B.P.	10,700 B.P.
Folsom	10,900 B.P.	10,200 B.P.
Agate Basin	10,400 B.P	9,000 B.P.
Hell Gap	10,400 B.P.	9,500 B.P.

Table One. B.P. is uncalibrated radiocarbon age in years benchmarked from 1950.

It should be noted that in some cases the width of the age ranges in Table One might not be due to overlap but to the sampling and technology limitations of the radiometric measurements. 

If the overlap is legitimate between Paleoindian projectile point types, it opens up a number of mind-blowing questions, such as were the different projectile point types made by the same or different prehistoric cultures? Were the changes due to manufacturing process differences or changes in style? Did different prehistoric cultures make different projectile point types and just utilize the same sites or did the same culture make the different projectile point types? Were these projectile point types made by prehistoric cultures with different religions, beliefs, and languages?

Figure Four - Paleoindian artifacts from the Author's collection. 
From left to right: Clovis, Goshen, Hell Gap, Agate Basin, 
and Folsom. Agate Basin is 4.6 inches long.    

There is a high probability that we will never know the answers to these questions, we can only speculate, but it is fun to ponder these questions anyway. There is currently no archaeological evidence that defines the relationships between the people and cultures who made these different projectile point types. Scientists fill in these blanks with conjecture and theory. As an author of historical fiction novels about Prehistoric America, these blank spaces provide me some latitude in my stories, as well as food for thought.   

When I wrote the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy, I extensively researched the archaeological evidence from Folsom Paleoindian sites. I wrote my stories based on archaeological data combined with my own fictional spin and plot. I invite you to read the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy and join the adventure.    



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