Symbolism and Ritualistic Uses of the Bison Skull Among the Plains Indians of North America ...

• Main Author: St. Clair, Jacquelin E.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The Wyoming Archaeological Society 2003
• Subjects: Wyoming; Late Prehistoric; Late Archaic; Middle Paleoindian; Crow/Hidasta; Shoshone; Sioux; Cheyenne/Arapaho; Cooper; Ruby; Gull Lake; Vore; Glenrock; Fauna; Arikara; Kiowa; Pawnee; Kiowa Apache; Gros Ventre; varved sediments; Teton-Dakota; Little Ice Age; Comanche; BLACKFOOT; Assiniboine; Ponca; Ritual; Ceremony; Mandan; assiniboine
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48512/xcv8476409; https://core.tdar.org/document/476409/symbolism-and-ritualistic-uses-of-the-bison-skull-among-the-plains-indians-of-north-america

Archaeological data show acts which may at first appear to involve merely the acquisition of food are, indeed, interwoven with spiritual beliefs and emotions. Bison kill sites have been investigated to gain information regarding hunting strategies and food appropriation. However, some of the sites have yielded additional information taking us beyond the procurement of food, widening our view to include religion, rituals and ceremonialism. The Cooper site (Bement 1999) offers early evidence of hunting ritual at a Folsom age (ca. 10,000 B.P.) bison kill site in the form of a red zigzag painted on the frontal bone of a bison skull. The Ruby site (Frison 1971), a Late Plains Archaic period bison pound, indicates the probable ritualistic function of a lenticular ceremonial structure. An arrangement of skulls at one end of the structure replicated the lens shaped form. The Vore site, a Late Prehistoric buffalo jump, supports the specialized treatment of skulls in several clearly circular ceremonial alignments, ...