The Cooper Bison Skull is a preserved bison skull, marked with painted zigzag lines, found at the Cooper Bison Kill Site near the North Canadian River in Oklahoma. The partially crushed skull adorned with hematite paint is believed to be the oldest painted artifact in North America. - AsNotedIn
I was uncovering a partially crushed skull and noticed a red zigzag line that looked like it was painted. I couldn't believe what I was looking at.... This hints that this culture had hunting rituals and ceremonies that are associated at least with the hunting and probably other aspects of their gathering. The incoming herd trampled this skull, but the piece with the paint survived.
| Y/M/D | Association | Description | Place | Locale | Food | Event | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -10500/00/00 | A Folsom hunter sets a painted bison skull above a gully near the Beaver River where it looks down on the arroyo where bison can be trapped for killing. The skull, marked with red zigzag lines, is probably part of a ritual to ensure a successful kill. | Cooper Bison Kill Site | Hal and Fern Cooper Wildlife Management Area | ||||
| 1993/00/00 | At the end of the arroyo, from a place where it looks down at the incoming animals, Leland Bement unearths a skull of a Bison Antiquus and notices "a red zigzag line that looked like it was painted. I couldn't believe what I was looking at." LB | Cooper Bison Kill Site | Hal and Fern Cooper Wildlife Management Area |
| Particulars for Cooper Bison Skull: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Animal | ||
| Science | Archaeology | study of human history and prehistory through excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains | |
| Object Attribute | Artifact | an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest | |
| Extinct Animal | Bison Antiquus | extinct species of bison that lived in Late Pleistocene North America until around 10,000 years ago | |
| Animal Attribute | Bone | connective tissue reinforced with calcium and specialised bone cells | |
| Cultural Affiliation | Folsom Period | ||
| Mineral | Hematite | heavy and relatively hard oxide mineral | |
| Age | Late Pleistocene | ||
| Sight Category | Object | ||
| Sociology | Ritual | a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order | |
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