Animal Remains Found in Cache Pits

Animal Remains Found in Cache Pits. Huff Indian Village State Historic Site. More than 120 pounds of bones were found among the trash in two cache pits excavated in 1999 , Bison Bones , Bones from a least six bison were recovered. Bison was the game animal of choice for Plains Village people. Virtually every part of the bison carcass was eaten or used in some manner. A mature cow yielded about 500 pounds of meat, and a bull nearly twice this amount. People used hides for tipi covers, robes, clothing, rawhide, and many leather products. Bison sinew was useful as modern duct tape. Bones and horns were crafted into cultivating tools, picks, awls, stone flakers, spoons, scoops, squash knives, ornaments, and many other objects, Most bison bones recovered in the trash pits are highly fragmented, like the illustrated specimens, due to marrow extraction and processing of bone grease. , Small-to Medium-Sized Mammals , Bones of mammals smaller than the bison are abundant in the village refuse. Burning, butcher marks and breakage indicate that nearly all these species were killed for food, pelts, or usable bone elements. Archaeologists also found domestic dog or coyote, beaver, prairie dog, porcupine, jackrabbit, cottontail, bobcat or lynx, deer (whitetail of mule), and swift fox. While not present in this small excavation sample, elk and antelope were important economic species. , , Micromammal Bones , Bones from very small, primarily rodents and insectivores, are also abundant in the trash deposits. A few of these small creatures probably became trapped in open pits or only incidentally found their way into the trash deposited. Micromammal remains can be helpful in reconstructing past local environments, as well as for interpreting broader climatic conditions when Huff Village was occupied. , Fish Bones , Fish remains are abundant in the trash deposits, showing that fishing provided an important dietary component for the villages. Fishhooks are rare at Huff Village, so it is likely that trapping was an important means of fishing. Fish resent in two excavated pits include surgeon, gold eye, white sucker, channel catfish, stonechat, buffalo sucker, redhorse sucker, flathead chub, and walleye or sauger. , , Bird Bones , Bird bones are also abundant in the trash deposits. Villages frequently fashioned long bones of larger birds into awls. Whistles were made fro eagle wing bones. Several large birds, especially the bald eagle, were prized for their feathers used for personal adornment and decoration . Bones from waterfowl and smaller birds exhibited butcher marks and burning indicating these were sources of food.