Variation in Paleoindian fauna use on the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains of North America

Abstract

Drawing on data from 69 zooarchaeological assemblages from Paleoindian sites in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, this paper explores factors underlying changes in prehistoric diet breadth. Results indicate that different site types provide different perspectives on Paleoindian faunal use. Kill assemblages can only inform on the exploitation of large game, while the full variety of prey used by foragers is represented at camps. In contrast to prior claims, however, the inclusion of kill site assemblages in zooarchaeological analyses does not appear to bias our perspective of Paleoindian subsistence. Rather, there is strong indication that Paleoindian foragers targeted different types of prey depending on which habitat they occupied. In more-diverse environments of alluvial valleys and foothill/mountains, foragers exploited large game whenever possible, but they also targeted a suite of smaller prey items. In more uniform grassland environments, subsistence strategies focused almost exclusively on hunting large prey, such as bison and mammoth. These results also provide limited support for prior studies that argue for intensified resource use and increased diet breadth in response to early Holocene environmental changes, at least in certain settings.