THE COLBY CLOVIS MAMMOTH KILL SITE
NORTHERN WYOMING
12,000 - 14,000 YEARS AGO
(NEW DATING ESTIMATES)
PAGE 1 OF 2 PAGES
COPYRIGHT FEBRUARY 28, 2002 PETER A. BOSTROM

ABSTRACT
COLBY SITE
MAMMOTH KILL SITE
NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING

    The Colby site is located on private property in north central Wyoming in the Bighorn Basin. This important site was named after Donald Colby who discovered the first Clovis spear point there in 1962. Mr. Colby found it while using heavy earth moving equipment during the construction of a reservoir. The Colby site was first recognized as an important archaeological site in 1973 when the first scientific excavations began to take place there. Most of the site was excavated during five separate digging seasons between the years 1973 through 1978.
    Parts of at least seven mammoths were found in an ancient arroyo (dry gully or stream) in two areas designated as bone pile number 1 and bone pile number 2. There was also a third much smaller bone concentration that consisted of a variety of different mammoth bones. It's believed that due to the difference in the preservation of the bones that the mammoths were probably not all killed at the same time. The two larger bone piles were found to be in direct association with a small collection of Clovis related stone and bone artifacts. New dating estimates for Clovis could place this site as early as 14,000 years ago. Other types of animal bones found on the Colby site include horse, camel, bison, pronghorn, jackrabbit and possibly musk-ox.

Aerial view of the Colby Clovis kill site.
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ARROW SHOWS THE LOCATION OF THE
COLBY MAMMOTH KILL SITE
NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING
PICTURE CREDIT---UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT

   The Colby site is located at the edge of an artificial reservoir just east of the Bighorn River within the interior of the Bighorn Basin. The elevation of the site is approximately 4,000 feet.

 

Small mammoth bone concentration on the Colby site.
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THIRD SMALLEST MAMMOTH
BONE CONCENTRATION
COLBY SITE
NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING

PICTURE CREDIT---UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT

    The excavation of the third fairly small bone concentration was located between two much larger bone piles. The mammoth bones in this picture consists of a cranium, mandibles, two femora, several ribs, several vertebrae and foot bones. There were no artifacts found in association with these bones.

Excavation of mammoth bones in pile 2 on the Colby site.
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BONE PILE NUMBER 2
COLBY SITE
NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING

PICTURE CREDIT--UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT

   Bone pile number 2 was discovered during a test excavation in the fall of 1973. The arrow in this picture is pointing to a broken camel radius that is not believed to have been associated with the main bone bed.  It's theorized that it may have been deposited there by water flowing through this ancient arroyo where the 7 mammoths were killed and butchered by Clovis hunters.

   Several artifacts were found in bone pile number 2. A small red Clovis point, 18 resharpening flakes, a large granite water worn rock used as a chopper, a sandstone abrader, and two bone fragments thought to have been used as tools.


Excavation of mammoth bones in pile 2 on the Colby site.
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BONE PILE NUMBER 2
COLBY SITE
NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING

PICTURE CREDIT---UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT

   The highest element (bone) excavated from bone pile number 2 was a mammoth skull. This skull had previously been exposed by reservoir construction several years earlier.
   Twenty two artifacts were found in this bone pile, including 18 resharpening flakes. A granite water worn rock (boulder) had been split to make a chopper. The edge of this tool indicated heavy use wear, possibly during the butchering process. A sandstone abrader was also found beneath the bone pile and it has use wear from pecking and use striations on both faces. In addition, two bone fragments may have been used as tools because of some polish or use wear on them. The poor bone preservation made close study of any bone tools difficult if not impossible to do. As soon as the bones were exposed to the air they had to be treated with water mixed with glue to stabilized them. Otherwise they would begin to disintegrate.


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TRANSPORTING MAMMOTH SKULL
COLBY SITE
NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING
PICTURE CREDIT---UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT

   Special care was taken to remove the fragile mammoth bones. Just as paleontologist transport their fossilized bones, archaeologist must also enclose their more recent mammoth and mastodon bone in plaster jackets. Note the steel reinforcement rods supporting the tusks and the chain hoist to lift the great weight.

BONE PILE NUMBER 1

   Bone pile number 1 contained 16 artifacts. The most notable were two Clovis points. One was fairly large but was missing the tip of the point. If it were complete it may have been about 4 inches long. Another smaller extensively resharpened Clovis point measures about 2 1/2 inches long. There were 12 resharpening flakes and one larger percussion flake found which indicates they were probably altering the edges of their tools as the butchering process progressed. A process comparable to the way we would sharpen a steel knife today when it gets dull. Also found in bone pile number 1 was a small water worn rock (boulder) that had been split and the resulting working edge had been dulled from excessive pounding.

 

TIME-LINE PERSPECTIVE
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   Clovis people were using spears to kill mammoths on the Colby site sometime between 12,000 and 14,000 years ago. During this same period of time the bow and arrow was believed to have been invented and in use by the end of the Late Palaeolithic in Egypt at Jebel Sahaba. (The first direct evidence of bow and arrows comes from Stellmoor in West Germany where arrow shafts were found and dated to 10,500 years ago).

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"REFERENCES"


1984, "Egypt Before the Pharaohs," by Michael A. Hoffman, pp 66 & 67.
1986, "The Colby Mammoth Site," by George C. Frison and Lawrence C. Todd.
1988, "Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory," by Ian Tattersall, Eric Delson and John Van Couvering, p. 97.

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