CROW and the CAVE - Book Review by Prehistoric AMERICAN

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Midland v. Folsom and the Shadows on the Trail

Figure One - 2.0-inch long projectile point from Wyoming. Some might call this a Folsom 

point made on a flake (pseudo flute) while others might call it a Midland point. 

John Bradford Branney Collection.    

Fourth Edition 

I love researching archaeological reports about Paleoindians for my historical fiction books. I take what I learn about Paleoindian lifestyles and spin a yarn that portrays how Paleoindians might have lived. I love breathing life into Paleoindians and the challenges they faced 12,600 years ago. From what we know in the archaeological record, 'word of mouth' and 'hands-on' instruction were most likely the methods used for Paleoindians to pass on traditions to the younger generation. Archaeologists have not found any written documentation dating back to the time of Paleoindians in North America. 

The passage below in red is from the third book in my five-book, historical fiction series on Paleoindians. This particular book is titled WINDS of EDEN from the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy. The series takes place around 12,500 years ago on the high plains of Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. In this passage, an elderly man is showing his grandchild how to make a fluted projectile point that we now call a Folsom point. Here is a tiny taste of WINDS of EDEN;  

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The old man woke up from his nap when the sun was starting its descent in the sky. He reached over and picked up his satchel. He pulled out a large red and gray striped rock and sat staring at it. He rubbed the rock between his thumb and forefinger while thinking about everything that had happened to him since he had carried the rock from the canyon. Much had happened in his life since then, some of it good and some of it bad. When the old man finished reminiscing, he gently placed the red and gray striped rock back into the satchel. Then, with satchel in hand, the old man stood up and left his tipi. When he was outside the tipi, he had to shield his aged eyes from the bright sun. He slowly edged his way to a flat boulder next to his campfire where he sat down. Then, he pulled five unfinished spear points from the satchel. He laid the unfinished spear points down on the boulder next to him and then dug through the satchel, pulling out a cylinder–shaped punch made from an antler, a large antler hammer, small squares of bison hide, and a sharp deer antler tine. He placed these items next to the five unfinished spear points. He leaned over and picked up a flat rock at the base of the boulder. He set the flat rock down next to his other supplies. 

When the old man looked up, a young boy was running like the wind towards him.

“Haw! – Hello!” the old man said to the young boy when he arrived at the campfire.

“Haw!” the boy replied, somewhat out of breath. “I want to watch you.”

“Waste! – Good!” the old man declared with a grin.

The young boy sat down as close to the old man as possible without actually sitting on the old man’s lap. The old man picked up the first spear point and handed it to the young boy.

“He táku hwo? – What is it?” the old man asked.

The boy studied the piece of chert, his face frozen in a frown as he concentrated on the old man’s question. The young boy flipped the rock over in his hands, studying every surface. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the base of the spear point. Between the two sharp ears at the corners of the base of the spear point, the young boy spotted a tiny knob of chert, jutting out at the middle of the base.

“Tóka he? – What is wrong?” the old man asked, a whimsical smile on his face.

The boy flicked the tiny knob with his thumbnail and replied, “You have dulled this part.”

The young boy then ran his thumb across the small knobbed platform and said, “It is smooth.”

The fluted projectile point that the old man and the boy made was so distinctive that there is no mistaking a fluted Folsom point when found today.  

Headline: Pleistocene Woman Discovered at Midland, Texas 

In 1953, an avocational archaeologist 

by the name of Keith Glasscock 

discovered fossilized human remains

Figure two. A Kansas-found Folsom point and
a Colorado-found Midland point, both
made from Alibates agatized dolomite.
John Bradford Branney Collection.

remains in a sand blowout six miles southwest of Midland, Texas. In the same blowout, Mr. Glasscock found several fluted Folsom projectile points and a similarly made unfluted Folsom-like projectile point. Mr. Glasscock understood the archaeological significance of the fossilized human remains associated with the artifacts. He reported his findings to archaeologist Fred Wendorf. Wendorf, Glasscock, and other archaeologists investigated the site In all, Glasscock and the archaeologists found seven fluted Folsom projectile points and twenty-one unfluted Folsom-like points during their investigation. 

Wendorf and his colleagues named the site Scharbauer after the landowner and initially coined the term "unfluted Folsom point" to describe the Folsom-like projectile points found associated with the fluted Folsom points. In their study of the "unfluted Folsom points", the archaeologists came up with the similarities and differences between the fluted and unfluted points found at the site. They evaluated the raw material to see if the fluted and the "unfluted Folsom points" came from different geographical locations. The archaeologists concluded that the makers of the two projectile point styles used the same material. Their studies led the archaeologists to propose that several of the "unfluted Folsom points" were purposely made without flutes and that they were just not fluted Folsom point rejects. Later on and based on the high volume of unfluted Folsom points found at the Scharbauer site, Wendorf proposed a new projectile point type for the "unfluted Folsom points", calling them Midland after a nearby town. The name Midland stuck.      



Figure three. Colorado Folsom and
Midland projectile points.
John Bradford Branney Collection.

The investigation of the blowout at the Scharbauer site led the archaeologists to conclude that the human remains belonged to a woman who died in the late Pleistocene and that the associated Folsom / Midland artifacts came after her death. The archaeologists postulated that the woman could be a Folsom / Midland Paleoindian, but more likely she belonged to an earlier Paleoindian culture. Based on the geological analysis, the archaeologists suggested that there was a possibility that the Folsom and Midland projectile points came from the same Paleoindian culture, but their evidence was inconclusive. 

So where do Midland points belong?

Perhaps, Midland points were reworked Folsom points or were made from Folsom channel flakes. Maybe, Midland preform points were just too thin to flute. A few people argue that Midland was an archaeological complex separate from Folsom. These people call attention to a Midland-only site named Winkler-1, discovered in southeastern New Mexico by an amateur archaeologist who throughout the years surface collected Midland points from an active sand blowout. Food for thought, huh? 

If Midland was a separate archaeological complex, perhaps there was a transition period between fluted Folsom and unfluted Midland projectile points? 

What are your thoughts? 

Bradley, Bruce 
2010    Paleoindian Flaked Stone Technology on the Plains and in the Rockies. In Prehistoric Hunters-Gatherers of the High Plains and Rockies by Marcel Kornfeld, George C. Frison, and Mary Lou Larson, pp. 474-475. Left Coast Press. Walnut Creek, California.  

Wendorf, Fred, Alex D. Krieger, and Claude C. Albritton

1955    The Midland Discovery. Greenwood Press. Westport, Connecticut

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GHOSTS OF THE HEART by John Bradford Branney - A Book Review

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GHOSTS OF THE HEART, the second book in the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL QUADRILOGY, is available from Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and other better booksellers in paperback and e book.


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Saber-Toothed Cat or Mtn. Lion? Pick Your Poison

Figure One - Eyes of a hunter! 

She lay on a ledge overlooking the dying pond. From her vantage point, igmuwatogla, the mountain lioness was watching the pond for prey. The water in the pond would soon dry up, and the drought had killed off most of the deer. The lioness was hungry. Her small round ears perked up when she heard a sound. She listened and heard something coming her way in the shadows of the trees. She heard footsteps walking through the crackling dry leaves. Her keen eyes focused on the direction of the sound, but before she ever spotted the prey, she recognized the odor. The scent of deer blood teased her quivering nostrils. Igmuwatogla raised her twitching nose. She heard the snap of a tree branch. Her ears shot forward, and the pupils of her eyes readjusted to the light where the sound came from. The aroma of blood testing her patience. Her shrunken stomach growled in anticipation of a meal. The lioness spotted movement in the trees below. She slunk down the slope of the canyon, listening and watching for the prey. Her instincts told her to set up an ambush and wait for her prey. Igmuwatogla picked up her pace. Millions of years of evolution had made the lioness the perfect predator

The passage in blue above came from the book SHADOWS on the TRAIL, the first book in the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy, a historical book series about Paleoindians 12,600 years ago. The book passage describes how a mountain lioness sizes up her next meal by using the extraordinary senses and instincts that millions of years of evolution had fine-tuned. Who is her next meal? Well, you will have to read SHADOWS on the TRAIL to find that out. If you like Prehistoric America, you won't be disappointed.  

Figure 2 - Smilodon fatalis or a Sabre-toothed

cat fights with a dire wolf over a mammoth carcass at the 

Rancho La Brea tar pits. The dire wolf is already

fatally stuck in the oozing tar. Photo

courtesy of www.50birds.com.

In one of my earlier blog articles titled Dire Wolves Versus Gray Wolves, I explored my decision-making for selecting gray wolves over dire wolves for costarring in my first book SHADOWS on the TRAIL. I used the same decision-making process to select my second predator for the book. My decision came down between the seemingly formidable and extinct saber-toothed cat, Smilodon fatalis, or the amazing evolutionary survivor, the American mountain lion. Below is some of my criteria I used in making my selection. 

 

Figure 3 - The saber-toothed cat reached a
height of 39 inches at the shoulder and a body
length of 69 inches. Photo courtesy of
www.arisonaskiesmeteorites.com.

Based on fossil evidence, one of the great predators of North America for over one million years was Smilodon fatalis, or the saber-toothed cat. It survived near the top of the food chain from about 1.6 million years ago to around 10,000 years ago. Based on analysis from skeletons, the saber-toothed cat weighed between 350 to 620 lbs. and was about the same size as a modern-day African lion. Analysis shows it was built more like a bear than the African lion with heavier forequarters and lighter hindquarters than an African Lion. Based on bone structure, the saber-toothed cat was not as fleet of foot as the African lion. Furthermore, DNA studies have confirmed that the saber-toothed cat is not related to any living feline species. 

Figure 4 - The fictional caveman cartoon The Flintstones
featured a saber-toothed cat named Baby Puss.  

The most distinguishing characteristic of the saber-toothed cat was its large serrated canine teeth which could reach a length of seven or eight inches. Although the teeth were ominous-looking, they were fragile and could not bite through bone. Mechanical analyses have shown that the narrow jaws of the saber-toothed cat only had about one-third to one-half of the biting power of an African lion.

Since saber-toothed cats are extinct so we must interpret their habits and lifestyle from fossil remains. The best place to do the interpretation is at the "gooey graveyard" at the Rancho La Brea tar pits in southern California where over two thousand well-preserved saber-toothed cat skeletons have been recovered and analyzed. Only the dire wolf has a greater concentration of skeletal material at the Rancho La Brea tar pits.

Figure 5 - Size comparison between a human and the saber-toothed cat 

that weighed as much as three to four men. Photo courtesy of

www.unclemacsgardenshed.blogspot.com.

Based on the number of skeletons at the tar pits, scientists believe that saber-toothed cats were ambush predators that preyed on large, slow-moving herbivores such as bison, camels, ground sloths, horses, and mastodons. Its bone structure indicates that it was not suited for preying on quicker, smaller animals. It most likely inhabited forest or heavy brush environments where the cover provided an opportunity for ambushing its prey. The large sample of saber-toothed cat bone material recovered in the tar pits indicates that the animals were scavenging other trapped animals there. Scientists, analyzing the tar pit specimens, found a large number of broken teeth and fractured bones in saber-toothed cat skeletons, and concluded that the trauma causing the injuries came from preying on much larger prey animals. 

The bottom line is that the saber-toothed cat was unable to adapt to a new environment and went extinct with many of the large mammal species that it preyed upon...

What about the American mountain lion? 

Figure 6 - The American Mountain Lion 

The American mountain lion, also known as a cougar, puma, panther, or catamount; is a highly efficient stalk-and-ambush predator. The mountain lion's name is a misnomer since its habitat is quite diverse and not limited to mountains. They are found on the desert and plains, as well as the foothills and mountains. The American mountain lion has the widest habitat range of any large terrestrial mammal in the western hemisphere, spanning from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America! It is the second heaviest cat in the western hemisphere, behind the jaguar. Adult lions stand 24 to 35 inches at the shoulders and from head to tail range from 4.9 to 9 feet. Adult males weigh between 115 to 220 lbs.                

The mountain lion is a solitary, nocturnal animal that pursues a wide range of prey from insects up to ungulates weighing over 1000 lbs. The mountain lion's lean and wiry physique gives it great leaping and short-sprint capabilities. The mountain lion can leap vertically eighteen feet in one bound and jump horizontally forty to forty-five feet. The mountain lion's top speed is between forty and fifty miles per hour. Evolution created this near-perfect predator. 

                      

Figure 7 - Photo courtesy of www.fineartamerica.com  

In addition to its physical strength and performance, the mountain lion has extraordinary senses.  The mountain lion uses its finely tuned sense of smell to locate prey within an area. Once the prey is located, the mountain lion moves its small rounded ears together or independently to isolate the direction of the sound. The mountain lion can open its eye pupils three times wider than a human, letting in much more light for nocturnal conditions. Mountain lions demonstrate a heightened sensitivity to movement and many biologists believe that movement triggers an attack. This theory answers the question as to why most of its natural prey freezes in the presence of a mountain lion. The prey is trying to prevent an attack.

By now you can pretty much guess which predator I picked for SHADOWS on the TRAIL. That does not mean you won't see a saber-toothed cat in my other books. Check out my books and see how I handled the storyline! LINK BELOW! 

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