The Plano cultures is a name given by
archaeologists to a group of disparate
hunter-gatherer communities that occupied the
Great Plains area of
North America during the
Paleo-Indian or
Archaic period.
Distinguishing characteristics
The Plano cultures are characterised by a range of unfluted
projectile point
In North American archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have ...
tools collectively called
Plano point
In archaeology, Plano point is flaked stone projectile points and tools created by the various Plano cultures of the North American Great Plains between 9000 BC and 6000 BC for hunting, and possibly to kill other humans.
They are bifacially work ...
s and like the
Folsom people generally hunted ''
Bison antiquus
''Bison antiquus'', the antique bison or ancient bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in Late Pleistocene North America until around 10,000 years ago. It was one of the most common large herbivores on the North American continent dur ...
'', but made even greater use of techniques to force stampedes off of a cliff or into a constructed corral. Their diets also included
pronghorn
The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...
,
elk,
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
,
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
, and
coyote. To better manage their food supply, they preserved meat in berries and animal fat and stored it in containers made of hides.
History
The Plano cultures existed in the North American Arctic during the
Paleo-Indian or
Archaic period between
9000 BCE and
6000 BCE. The Plano cultures originated in the plains, but extended far beyond, from the Atlantic coast to modern-day British Columbia and as far north as the Northwest Territories. "Early Plano culture occurs south of the
North Saskatchewan River
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...
in Saskatchewan and in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains north to the
Peace River Valley of Alberta and adjacent British Columbia. At this time, most of Manitoba was still covered by
Glacial Lake Agassiz and associated glacial ice."
Bison herds were attracted to the grasslands and parklands in the western region. Around 9,000 B.P. as retreating glaciers created newly released lake regions, the expansion of plant and animal communities expanded north and east, and the
barren ground caribou in the tundra,
boreal woodland caribou
The boreal woodland caribou (''Rangifer tarandus caribou''; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision. See Reindeer: taxonomy), also known as woodland caribou, boreal forest caribou and forest-dwelling caribou, is a North American subspecies of ...
in the boreal forests and plains, and mountain caribou replaced
bison as the major prey animal.
In the Great Plains, the following are Plano cultures from 10,000 to 7,000 years ago, distinguished by long,
lanceolate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...
projectile points:
[Cassells, E. Steve. (1997). ''The Archeology of Colorado'', Revised Edition. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books. p. 79. .]
* Agate Basin complex, named for the
Agate Basin Site.
[Cassells, E. Steve. (1997). ''The Archeology of Colorado'', Revised Edition. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books. p. 81. .]
*
Cody complex
The Cody complex is a Paleo-Indian culture group first identified at a bison antiquus kill site near Cody, Wyoming in 1951. Points possessing characteristics of Cody Complex flaking have been found all across North America from Canada to as f ...
, named for the Horner site near
Cody, Wyoming
Cody is a city in Northwest Wyoming and the seat of government of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Colonel William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896.
The population was 10,066 at th ...
, includes the
Olsen-Chubbuck Bison Kill Site and the
Jurgens Site.
[Cassells, E. Steve. (1997). ''The Archaeology of Colorado'', Revised Edition. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books. pp. 81-86. .]
*
Hell Gap complex, such as the
Hell Gap, Wyoming site for which it was named and the
Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site.
[
* Foothills / Mountain complex ]
Citations
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plano Cultures
Archaeological cultures of North America
Archaic period in North America
Indigenous culture of the Great Plains
Native American history of Colorado
Paleo-Indian period
Pre-Columbian cultures
Prehistoric cultures in Colorado
Archaeology of the United States
7th millennium BC
8th millennium BC