Abstract

The remains of at least ten bison-three adult fomales, five juveniles, and two calves-were shallowly buriedinlacustrine clays at the base of a large truncated dune encircling the northern perimeter of Big Lake, the largest saline lake in Texas. Radiocarbon assay of sediments and bone apatite, and the heavily ground base of a straight-sided Late Paleoindian dart point, date the kill to approximately 8000 radiocarbon years ago. The verticalstance of lower limb bones indicates that the animals were mired in the saturated clays of the lake bed and dispatched A subsequent period of extreme aridity promoted the accumulation of an enormous lunate dune that buried thebonebed under meters of displaced lake sediments. Under the current climatic regime, the dune has been truncatedand eroded by episodes of lake competency, again bringing the bone deposit to the surface.

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