Chronicles of Oklahoma
|
| Opening width | .................... | 36 feet |
| Rear width | .................... | 14 feet |
| Depth, front to rear | .................... | 16 feet |
| Ceiling height, front | .................... | 8 feet |
| Ceiling height, rear | .................... | 3 feet |
The floor debris was on an average of twelve inches in thickness. The material composing it consisted of disintegrated rock from the ceiling intermingled with dust and ancient campfire ashes. This substance was examined in sections one foot square
and sifted to recover any artifact that might have been present. As each article was removed its position was noted as to vertical and horizontal position and recorded on a sectional map of the floor. All indications of a pre-historic occupancy were found not less than eight inches deep.
In the most northern portion of the shelter and lying ten inches deep, a well-polished fist hatchet was found alongside a pile of mammal bones. As they were split into many fragments an identification was impossible.
As work progressed toward the rear, charcoal in an increasing amount was found. In the very back of the shelter and at a point where experiment proved the best draft could be obtained, great deposits of ashes and charcoal were uncovered. As they were topped with several inches of debris, hard-packed to the point that a pick had to be used to loosen it, its antiquity cannot be doubted.
Over the floor and nearly on the same level with the campfire site, flint spear and arrow points, whole and broken, were found. A pit, ten inches deep and eight inches across, at the southern extreme of the opening yielded five arrow heads and about a quart of roughly-dressed flakes.
No pottery, ornaments or vestiges of such were found.
Signs that the shelter was formerly a permanent habitation were not indicated. Lack of domestic utensils among the finds bears out this conclusion.
As bluff shelters are quite a common type of pre-historic habitation sites of rugged country, a brief description regarding them will be given. As a rule the site was chosen with an eye to proximity to water and shelter from the elements. Variations range from simple camps at the base of a jutting rock to elaborate cliff dwellings. In any rough country, with the above two factors included, excavation at the base of almost any protected area will reveal archaeological material of more or less importance.
Considering only the cave-dwellers and bluff-dwellers of this state, doubt is expressed whether they were a distinct cultural group or not. Research has not been carried to the point where
a definite statement can be made. However, studies of cave dwellings in the Ozarks of Missouri and of cave deposits of Northwestern Oklahoma2 have brought to light interesting facts regarding the people responsible for them. Various estimates have been given for the age of certain sites in the Ozarks, the finds in Jacob's Cavern, McDonald County, Mo., for instance, being placed at 1226 B.C.3
The writer theorizes that any bluff dwelling in the region herein reported is merely a camp, either temporary or permanent, of some former pre-historic race whose regular abode was in some local village, the camp being used by occasional hunting or war party. Within the last three years, two villages have been excavated within twelve miles of the bluff shelter reported in this article.4
Being protected, material from bluff and cave shelters is generally in an excellent state of preservation. Future studies of such habitats will doubtless reveal many interesting facts about the pre-history of Oklahoma.