Hunting Technologies of the Last 12,000 Years

Bill Buchan, far left, and Steve Kenady point to evidence of a broken nose on the skull of the Bison Antiquus found in Ayer Pond on Orcas Island.

Saturday, October 29, 4-5 p.m. at Odd Fellows Hall

Daniel Meatte, Archeology Program Manager at WA State Parks, is offering a talk and demonstration on Hunting Technologies of the last 12,000 years. This talk, sponsored by the Orcas Island Historical Museum, will examine the prehistoric technology used to build and fashion Native American hunting weapons common to the Pacific Northwest.

This technology may have been used in prehistoric hunting on Orcas Island, as the Bison Antiquus skull,  discovered in the excavation of the Ayer property, shows evidence that humans were hunting and butchering animals at an earlier time than what was previously thought.

In an article written by Archeologist Steve Kenady and others for the “Quaternary International,” the scientists describe “the details of the butchering evidence at Ayer Pond and a new date of 11,990 which is a little older than we thought,” Kenady said.

In Kenady et al.’s paper, they conclude: “Butchering by humans is the explanation that is most consistent with all of the physical evidence that is currently available for the male B. antiquus from Ayer Pond.”

Hundreds of artifacts, weapons, and tools will be displayed during the prehistoric hunting techniques presentation this Saturday, affording the audience a chance to handle and examine this remarkable equipment up close. Samples of the materials used to make this gear – bone, wood, minerals, sinew, pigments, feathers, oils, etc. – will be displayed.

These items represent over 12,000 years of technological change. Understanding the knowledge and skills necessary to build, use and repair this gear provides greater insight about Washington’s First Peoples.

A Q&A session will follow the talk.

Admission is by donation at the door. For further information, call 376-4849