Domebo Canyon, Oklahoma facts for kids

Domebo Canyon, Oklahoma is a special place where scientists found clues about ancient people. It's an archaeological site in southwestern Oklahoma. Here, hunters from a very long time ago, during the Pleistocene Epoch (also known as the Ice Age), killed a giant mammoth.

At Domebo, parts of a mammoth skeleton were found. Scientists also discovered two complete and one broken stone spear points. These tools were made by the prehistoric hunters. This site is important because it's one of the few places where mammoth bones were found exactly where they were left, along with stone tools. This helps us understand how these early hunters lived and found their food.

What Does "Domebo" Mean?

The name Domebo comes from the Kiowa language. It means a musical instrument, like a flute or a flageolet.

Where is Domebo Canyon?

The Domebo site is in Caddo County, in west-central Oklahoma. This area has many archaeological sites, over 450! Most of them are from about 1,000 years ago. But the Domebo site is much older. It dates back about 11,000 years!

How Was Domebo Canyon Discovered?

The Museum of the Great Plains first heard about Domebo in December 1961. A man named Mr. J. E. "Buck" Patterson found bones sticking out of a creek bank. These bones included parts of a mammoth skull, a tusk, and vertebrae.

Adrian D. Anderson, a museum expert, visited the site. He found signs that humans had been there with the bones. This meant the site was important enough to dig up carefully. While they were preparing the site, they found a piece of a projectile point (like a spearhead). Finding this human tool so close to the mammoth bones made the excavation even more exciting!

The National Science Foundation helped pay for the digging. The Bureau of Indian Affairs gave permission. The excavation started on February 1, 1962. It was a big project that helped scientists learn a lot about the past.

What Did Scientists Find?

Scientists found parts of an imperial mammoth skeleton. They also found several Clovis-style spear points. Besides these, they learned about the layers of earth and found evidence of ancient plants and animals.

Layers of Earth (Stratigraphy)

The ground at Domebo Canyon has different layers, like a cake. The top layer has dark soil mixed with yellowish-grey sand. Scientists believe that long ago, about 11,000 years ago, soil built up along a small valley.

The layers of earth show that the area where the mammoth bones were found was disturbed by water at least twice. The mammoth bones and spear points were buried under these layers. Even though the area might have been marshy, it seems the mammoth died on dry ground. Then, fine sand and clay covered its remains.

Scientists used radiocarbon dating to figure out the age of the site. They found that the lower layers, where the mammoth was killed, are about 11,000 years old. This area was probably a stream with lots of plants back then. Fossils of freshwater and land mollusks (like snails) support this idea. The climate at that time was perfect for these creatures.

Ancient Tools and Bones (Archaeology)

The Domebo site is linked to the Clovis culture, which was a group of early Americans. The dates from Domebo match other mammoth kill sites in the southern United States.

Scientists carefully studied all the mammoth bones. They didn't find clear cut marks from tools. However, the way some large leg bones and rib bones were positioned suggested that the mammoth was cut up by humans.

The mammoth found was likely a young female, based on the size of its tusks. Scientists recovered parts of its skull, tusks, leg bones (like the upper arm bone and thigh bone), and other bones.

Two complete spear points and one broken piece were found with the mammoth remains. One complete point was about 78 millimeters (about 3 inches) long. It was blue-grey in color. The second complete point was about 68 millimeters (about 2.7 inches) long. These points are very important clues about the ancient hunters.

Ancient Environment (Ecology)

Scientists also studied soil samples from Domebo. They found fossils of many different kinds of freshwater snails, land snails, and small freshwater clams. This tells us that the area was probably marshy and wet.

They also looked at pollen samples. They found pollen from pine, spruce, oak, and elm trees. This suggests that the area had a mix of northern and forest trees. However, these pollens might have been carried by wind and rain from other places.

A Small Mystery at the Site

During the digging, there was a rumor that some extra spear points were planted at the site. Someone who wasn't part of the project tried to put other spear points near the discovery to get credit. An archaeologist named Frank C. Leonhardy confirmed this happened. The person confessed. But don't worry, scientists confirmed that the main bones and tools found at Domebo are real and important discoveries.

Two of the three spear points found at Domebo are considered Clovis points. The third one looks a bit different and might be a Plainview point type.

Scientists also found a fourth spear point and two stone flakes downstream from the main site. They think these might have been moved by water erosion from the original mammoth kill site.