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Barren Ground Caribou (Rangifer arcticus) from an Early Man Site in Southeastern Michigan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Charles E. Cleland*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Abstract

The identification of a phalanx of a barren ground caribou (Rangifer arcticus) from the Holcombe site in southeastern Michigan is perhaps the earliest association of man and an animal species in the eastern United States. This phalanx was excavated from a small pit which contained four fragments of unifacially worked artifacts, a number of plano-convex spalls typical of the Holcombe lithic complex, and a small amount of beech charcoal. Association of this site with a beach of glacial Lake Algonquin places its occupation at approximately 9200 B.C.

Type
Facts and Comments
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1965

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