Re: The joy of actual numbers, was Democracy

On Wed, 6 Nov 2024 18:31:13 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:

The Indians only had bison, which I don’t think domesticate well.

I would have to do some research but many of the Plains tribes had been
pushed west where they would encounter bison relatively late, either by
the Iroquois or whites. It took a few centuries or maybe millennia to turn
an aurochs into a milk cow. They may have figured it out eventually.

The harvesting technique wasn't too subtle.

https://fwp.mt.gov/first-peoples-buffalo-jump

I worked with an archaeologist whose primary function was doing back
country surveys for the Forest Service but we made a little side trip to
check out one of his theories. The area has quite a few drainages that run
up to the Idaho divide. The lower parts aren't too bad but they become
progressively steeper. His theory was they would drive up the drainage
while the hunters were up on the headwall waiting for the exhausted
animals to clamor out.

He had a tendency to see teepee rings and other artifacts that looked like
random rocks to me so I was a little skeptical until I stumbled over a
Folsom point in a blowout.