Found all this deer bone on one dig



Next visit, expanded the hole and broke off the tip of an antler > > >



I uncovered it carefully, hoping it was the handle of a knife or at least the start of a 22 point rack of the now extinct whitetailus antiquidus


Just a spike !

Nother area, this big bone was sticking out with some equally large tree roots ( previous digger just missed it..)



Years ago I had found a giant Sloth leg bone with a point inbedded...
Think anyone would believe a shot Bison leg bone ?

The bone on the left is a giant sloth? Is it flat on the back? I have a petrified bone that looks just like that one and have no clue what it came from.

That sloth bone with the Pedernales dart point embedded could be a real show stopper. Earliest radiocarbon date I could find on Pedernales Culture was 4420 B.P. General consensus over the years has been that the giant sloths died out during the megafaunal extinctions about 11,000 years ago.............but ( And there's always a but ) there were 19 identified and classified species of sloth in North America and there is some evidence from a University of Florida research team that some sloths may have survived up until 4500 years ago. That research team is headed by Dr.David Steadman at the Florida U. Museum of Natural History. 352 273 1969. I am quite sure He would like to talk to you. Report back to us on what he has to say.

I studied a bone in Biology called the "Humor" bone. Not to be confused with the "Don't take this picture too seriously" bone. It's always good to loosen the collar sometimes.



Cool report Hal. Looks like a chop em' up part of the site you dug through....Nice!

We've hit bone beds on some of the digs but nothing like that. Closest one to that many was the Barksdale dig when Hal was there. That's the one where I found that old Indian pot. Funny think about that pot, I didn't realize the ancient Indians could write. Amongst the scroll work and finger prints were the words "Hecho en Mexico." Still owe you for that one Hal.

I'm still waiting for an arrowhead that dissolves when you put water on it.

No Sloth Jim, but if you have a large bone find that is truly fossilised ( possibly COA'ed at a fossil show ) thats a treasure.

Red, Your research is impecable I never thought about relating the proper aged point to the " ancient bone age "...Tks for the info.

Te & Trav......HUMOR bone !.. Oh ye of su****ious mind !

"big bone" is definitly COW...came across the pretty much complete skeleton drying in the sun yrs ago...all white. Painted the bone with wood stain to get that late archaic look. Point not really a G10, tip is missing !

Just found bone is for real, with the look of late middle archaic deterioration.....
This whole exchange has brought up another Bone ID fact...most big bones larger than obvious deer are always " Bison or Buffalo " as indeed I first thought my big find must have been. but now next to a true cattle specimen
I would rather think the smaller one might be from a lesser animal, like cat or bear family.

Trav, I had forgotten about your last comment.....I got 3 1/2 months to get in gear..

I'm looking forward to it, Hal. If we could get that on video it would be America's Funniest Videos worthy!

Back years ago my brother and I were digging on a site along bull creek near Austin.One of the best camps I've ever seen, there were several pedernales spear heads pulled out of there reaching six inches in length.My brother was digging about 30" or so deep when he found an intact Bison skull.It had the biggest Montel spearhead I've ever seen sticking out of the skull.We both got very excited, and he began to slowly scratch, and scrape around it very carefully.After several tedious hours we thought it was clear of soil,and he gave it a gentle tug...it immediately disintegrated into small bones,and powder.I wish we could have had a photo of it.It was a neat day for the 4 or 5 of us digging that day.So believe it or not it is possible to find.

Thats a heck of story R.Y....Just one little pic on a cell phone cam would have immortalised that find in the history books of flintdom forever. ( if only they had cell phns in 1922 ) tee hee.
Interesting that it was a Montell, Most are so EXCESSIVELY thin they seem better for penetrating meat, not bone. Also confirms the ancients' low regard for flint products, the hunter did not even bother to retrieve that lucky ammo ( he probably didn't realise such a point was worth about $2,000. )

Yes to bad there was no cell phones in the early 1980's, at least not with a camera.The Montel that was found was about 4 1/2 inches long.We took it to a good friend who documented it for us.She used to sell at all the artifact shows,Jimmy Nuckles,very knowledgable lady who was Indian,and grew up on a reservation.Sadly she recently passed away.We found alot of Bison bones at that site,I imagine they were hunted or chased off the big cliffs...so the next time you drive down 360 look at the high cliffs on the left side along bull creek.