Lithic variability at the emergence of the Great Bend Aspect: Bison hunting and processing toolkits from Southern Kansas

Abstract

Recent investigations have identified campsites and village sites that were occupied right before the emergence of the Great Bend Aspect, an ancestral Wichita complex in central and southern Kansas, with clear associations with bison hunting and lithic procurement. How these closely distributed campsites and their village components are related is not yet understood. Lithic material acquisition and use patterns show a specialized economy centered around bison hunting and processing tool production. The presented research attempts to associate three campsites in southern Kansas (14BU402-3, 14CO419, and 14CO423) and one village site (14SR501) with the emergence of the Great Bend Aspect based frequencies of projectile points, beveled knives, and raw material use. This thesis looks at the intra- and inter-site variability of projectile points, beveled knives, and scrapers of three campsites and one village site occupation. These sites show heavy use of local and non-local raw materials to produce formal stone tools that show standardization in morphology across sites.