STUCK IN THE MUCK - THE BIG-LAKE-BISON KILL SITE (41RG13), WEST TEXAS

The remains of at least ten bison-three adult females, five juveniles, and two calves-were shallowly buried in lacustrine clays at the base of a large truncated dune encircling the northern perimeter of Big Lak e, the largest saline lake in Texas. Radiocarbon assay of sediments an d bone apatite, and the heavily ground base of a straight-sided Late P aleoindian dart point, date the kill to approximately 8000 radiocarbon years ago. The vertical stance of lower limb bones indicates that the animals were mired in the saturated clays of the lake bed and dispatc hed. A subsequent period of extreme aridity promoted the accumulation of an enormous lunate dune that buried the bonebed under meters of dis placed lake sediments. Under the current climatic regime, the dune has been truncated and eroded by episodes of lake competency, again bring ing the bone deposit to the surface.