A faunal analysis of the frazier site, an agate basin-age bison kill-butchery site in northeastern Colorado

The Frazier site (5WL268) was excavated in the late 1960s under the direction of Dr. H. Marie Wormington and represents the only known Agate Basin-age (ca. 10,000 years B.P.) bison kill-butchery site in Colorado. As such, it provides important information about Late Paleoindian subsistence on the High Plains. Left astragali indicate that a minimum of fort-four bison (B. antiquus) was killed at the site and measurements taken on the calcanea and metacarpals suggest the archaeofauna is largely comprised of demales and immature animals. While Wormington interpreted the site as a secondary processing area, bison skeletal part frequencies, bone breakage patterns and butchery evidence provide a refined picture of the site's function, suggesting instead that it represents a kill locale. This interpretation is strengthened by a comparison with other Agate Basin site appears to reflect the selective removal of high-utility upper limb elements only, the skeletal element profile from the Frazier site suggests a scenario in which both high-utility upper limb elements and low-utility metapodials were transported from the site. Such behavior may be indicative of seasonal differences in bison carcass utility related to the Frazier site's occupation late in the cold season (late winter-early spring).