Clary Ranch facts for kids
Clary Ranch, once a private cattle ranch, is a very important place where archaeologists have found many old things. They have dug up amazing artifacts (things made by people) and fossils (old remains of animals and plants). These discoveries help us learn about life long ago.
Discovering Clary Ranch's Past
The story of Clary Ranch began in 1970. A rancher named Oren V. Clary noticed old tools, charcoal, and bison bones. These items were appearing from a riverbank in Ash Hollow Draw. He reported his findings to the University of Nebraska State Museum (UNSM).
In 1979, an archaeologist named Thomas Myers started digging at the ranch. He worked there for four summers, from 1979 to 1983. Myers had help from vertebrate paleontologists (scientists who study ancient animals) like R. George Corner and Lloyd G. Tanner.
Even though they found a lot, a full report on the site wasn't finished until 1997. That's when Matthew G Hill began studying the bison bones. His detailed report helped him earn his doctorate degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Hill's work led to new questions about the site. So, more digging seasons took place between 2001 and 2004.
First Digs: 1979-1982
The first big digs at Clary Ranch were led by Myers, Corner, and Tanner. The digging teams were volunteers from the Nebraska Archaeological Society. Each summer, they dug about 50 square areas, each 1 by 1 meter in size.
By the end of 1982, they had dug up about 194 square meters in total. Most of this was in Area A (182 square meters). A smaller area, Area B, was 8 meters west and had 12 square meters dug. The diggers carefully mapped larger animal bones and important artifacts. Smaller items were collected by the square and depth level. This means every item found has a clear location.
From these digs, the UNSM collected 1966 bison bones. Scientists figured out that these bones came from at least 41 different bison. Many of the bones were broken into pieces. Only 15 long bones were found whole. This suggests that the bison bones were processed for their marrow. Based on modern bison, it's thought that about 4.5 gallons of marrow were collected. This is because almost all long bones (90%) were broken for marrow.
Later Digs: 2001-2004
After Matt Hill finished his study of the animal bones in 1997, he still had many questions. To find answers, two short digging trips were made. These trips helped re-open old dig sites and find new areas to explore. The results were good, so in 2003, a field school from Iowa State University came to Clary Ranch.
The main goal of the 2003 dig was to check how well past digs had found small items. Specifically, they wanted to see if the old methods missed tiny pieces of stone tools (called microdebitage). The 2003 dig was in an area where bison bones had been found before, but no stone tools.
They dug 1x1 meter squares, dividing each into 16 smaller sections. They dug down 2 centimeters at a time. One very important discovery in 2003 was a bison leg bone piece. Scientists were able to get collagen from it. This allowed them to get the first radiocarbon date for the site. It showed the site was about 9040 years old!
Also, no large stone tools were found in their original place. But, 33 tiny pieces of microdebitage were found using water screening. The largest piece was only 7 millimeters. This showed that the earlier UNSM digs were good at finding small artifacts. It also suggested that different areas of the site were used for different activities. With this new information, Hill returned in 2004 for another field school. This time, he had funding from the National Science Foundation.
