Owl Cave is an archaeological site located in southeastern Idaho and was identified in 1978. This site dates all the way back to 9,500 - 8,500 B.P., [1] and is one out of three caves that resulted from a collapsing lava tube on the eastern Snake River Plain. The other two caves within the same area of Owl Cave are Coyote Cave and Dry Cat Cave. Owl Cave is the only cave that has been prominently excavated. A rich history of past environmental life can be traced back to this site's perimeters, where bison hunting and mammoth activity took place.
Contained within the history of the past, bisons played a substantial role in Idaho and continue to do so. Owl Cave has revealed a time when this species' population was at risk. Archeologists have retrieved tons of bison remains in this area using bone beds. Their findings have alluded to evidence of their habitat along the Snake River Plain. However, through further examination of the bone bed, signs of mass killings were found as a result. It was included that, "Traditional methods of communal bison hunting included three primary techniques: (1) impounding bison in pounds, (2) driving bison to trap or jump locations, and (3) surrounding bison in a surround". [2] Research of bison's existence within this area has found that their populations were not only significant in these plains over 4,000 years ago, but they were also being hunted and harvested for the use of Native American survival which therefore led to the decline of their population in this area.
The existence of Owl Cave and surrounding caves further helps researchers trace and understand the emergence of Idaho's significance. However, further attempted examination reveals that so much more encapsulates this site and has yet to be discovered. Through further research, it has been made clear that this cave/location has not been excavated in its entirety, and Owl Cave "has gained some physical protection from landowner stewardship, the Idaho Heritage Trust, and the Archaeological Conservancy". [3]
According to Researchers, "Owl Cave may be one of the most important terminal Pleistocene archaeological sites in western North America and its research potential has yet to be realized" (Suzann Henrickson, 2017). [4] Before bison were introduced as this location's star animal, Owl Cave revealed speculative evidence relating to the primitive age of mammoth hunting. An archeologist's excavation led to the discovery of an array of mammoth remains at Owl Cave. However, it has been suggested that these findings could be unrelated to this particular site of interest.
Researcher London Karr highlighted and described specific details regarding the remains of a singular Mammoth found at this cite. He revealed, "Only a small fraction of the total bone material from a mammoth is represented, and no element remains complete. The recovered assemblage consists of about 54 long bone fragments, 13 rib sections and fragments, and a variety of fragments of scapulae, vertebrae, teeth, and cancellous bone" (Karr, 2015). [5] This researcher also emphasized the issue of accurate dating within the findings at Owl Cave.
Owl Cave can be used to help trace and further understand the way of life in the Early Archaic and Paleoindian hunting periods. However, at one point, there was not much accessible data regarding this unique site. When using databases across time, transferring information was not always the most accurate regarding this Cave and many other related sites (Lohse, Anderson, 2002). [6]
The woolly rhinoceros, simply known as woolly rhino, is an extinct species of rhinoceros that inhabited northern Eurasia during the Pleistocene epoch. The woolly rhinoceros was a member of the Pleistocene megafauna. The woolly rhinoceros was covered with long, thick hair that allowed it to survive in the extremely cold, harsh mammoth steppe. It had a massive hump reaching from its shoulder and fed mainly on herbaceous plants that grew in the steppe. Mummified carcasses preserved in permafrost and many bone remains of woolly rhinoceroses have been found. Images of woolly rhinoceroses are found among cave paintings in Europe and Asia. The species range contracted towards Siberia beginning around 17,000 years ago, with the youngest known records being around 14,000 years old in northeast Siberia, coinciding with the Bølling–Allerød warming, which likely disrupted its habitat, with environmental DNA records possibly extending the range of the species around 9,800 years ago.
Panthera spelaea, also known as the cave lion or steppe lion, is an extinct Panthera species that most likely evolved in Europe after the third Cromerian interglacial stage, less than 600,000 years ago. Genetic analysis of ancient DNA has revealed that while closely related, it was a distinct species genetically isolated from the modern lion occurring in Africa and Asia, with the genetic divergence between the two species variously estimated between 1.9 million and 600,000 years ago. It is closely related and probably ancestral to the American lion. The species ranged from Western Europe to eastern Beringia in North America, and was a prominent member of the mammoth steppe fauna. It became extinct about 13,000 years ago.
The Columbian mammoth is an extinct species of mammoth that inhabited North America from southern Canada to Costa Rica during the Pleistocene epoch. The Columbian mammoth descended from Eurasian steppe mammoths that colonised North America during the Early Pleistocene around 1.5–1.3 million years ago, and later experienced hybridisation with the woolly mammoth lineage. The Columbian mammoth was among the last mammoth species, and the pygmy mammoths evolved from them on the Channel Islands of California. The closest extant relative of the Columbian and other mammoths is the Asian elephant.
Spy Cave is located in Wallonia near Spy in the municipality of Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Namur Province, Belgium above the left bank of the Orneau River. Classified as a premier Heritage site of the Walloon Region, the location ranks among the most significant paleolithic sites in Europe. The cave consists of numerous small chambers and corridors.
Pachycrocuta is an extinct genus of prehistoric hyenas. The largest and most well-researched species is Pachycrocuta brevirostris, colloquially known as the giant short-faced hyena as it stood about 90–100 cm (35–39 in) at the shoulder and it is estimated to have averaged 110 kg (240 lb) in weight, approaching the size of a lioness, making it the largest known hyena. Pachycrocuta first appeared during the late Miocene. By 800,000 years ago, it became locally extinct in Europe, with it surviving in East Asia until at least 500,000 years ago, and possibly later elsewhere in Asia.
The straight-tusked elephant is an extinct species of elephant that inhabited Europe and Western Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. One of the largest known elephant species, mature bulls on average had a shoulder height of 3.81–4.2 metres (12.5–13.8 ft) and a weight of 10.8–15 tonnes (24,000–33,000 lb). Like modern elephants, the straight-tusked elephant lived in herds, flourishing during interglacial periods, when its range would extend as far north as Great Britain. Skeletons found in association with stone tools and wooden spears suggest they were scavenged and hunted by early humans, including Neanderthals. It is the ancestral species of most dwarf elephants that inhabited islands in the Mediterranean.
Mammuthus meridionalis, sometimes called the southern mammoth, is an extinct species of mammoth native to Eurasia, including Europe, during the Early Pleistocene, living from around 2.5 million years ago to 800,000 years ago.
La Cotte de St Brelade is a Paleolithic site of early habitation in Saint Brélade, Jersey. Cotte means "cave" in Jèrriais. The cave is also known as Lé Creux ès Fées.
The Klasies River Caves are a series of caves located east of the Klasies River Mouth on the Tsitsikamma coast in the Humansdorp district of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The Klasies River Main (KRM) site consists of 3 main caves and 2 shelters located within a cliff on the southern coast of the Eastern Cape. The site provides evidence for developments in stone tool technology, evolution of modern human anatomy and behavior, and changes in paleoecology and climate in Southern Africa based on evidence from plant remains.
In archaeology and paleontology a faunal assemblage is a group of animal fossils found together in a given stratum. In a non-deformed deposition, fossils are organized by stratum following the laws of uniformitarianism and superposition, which state that the natural phenomena observable today also apply to the paleontological record and that the oldest stratum will be at the bottom of a paleontological deposit.
Wilson Butte Cave is located on the Snake River plain in Jerome County northeast of Twin Falls and southeast of Shoshone, Idaho. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an archeological site, it is maintained by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
George Carr Frison was an American archaeologist. He received the Society for American Archaeology's Lifetime Achievement Award, the Paleoarchaeologist of the Century Award, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He was Wyoming's first State Archaeologist, and was a founder of the University of Wyoming Anthropology Department. He died in September 2020 at the age of 95.
Arctodus is an extinct genus of short-faced bear that inhabited North America during the Pleistocene. There are two recognized species: the lesser short-faced bear and the giant short-faced bear. Of these species, A. simus was larger, is known from more complete remains, and is considered one of the most charismatic of North America's megafauna. A. pristinus was largely restricted to the Early Pleistocene of the Eastern United States, whereas A. simus had a broader range, with most finds being from the Late Pleistocene of the United States, Mexico and Canada. A. simus evolved from A. pristinus, but both species likely overlapped in the Middle Pleistocene. Both species are relatively rare in the fossil record.
Qesem cave is a Lower Paleolithic archaeological site near the town of Kafr Qasim in Israel. Early humans were occupying the site by 400,000 until c. 200,000 years ago.
St. Mary Reservoir is a reservoir in southwestern Alberta, Canada. It was created for irrigation purposes by the damming of the St. Mary River, which was completed in 1951. The Kainai Nation's Blood 148 Indian reserve borders its northwest side. There are camping and picnic areas at the reservoir, and it is a popular site for power boating, water skiing, windsurfing, swimming and fishing.
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Pešturina is a cave in the municipality of Niška Banja in southeast Serbia. It is located southwest of Jelašnica and 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Niš. Artifacts from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods were discovered since the archaeological excavations began in 2006. The remains, identified as the Mousterian culture, were dated from 111,000 BP+ 5,000 to 39,000 BP + 3,000, which makes Pešturina one of the latest surviving Neanderthal habitats. The cave has been nicknamed the "Serbian Atapuerca".
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