Hudson-Meng Bison Kill facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Hudson-Meng Bison Kill Site
|
|
The dig site at Hudson-Meng
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Nearest city | Crawford, Nebraska |
|---|---|
| Area | 20 acres (8.1 ha) |
| Website | Hudson-Meng Education & Research Center |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001076 |
| Added to NRHP | August 28, 1973 |
The Hudson-Meng Bison Kill Site is a special place in western Nebraska. It's officially called the Hudson-Meng Education and Research Center. This site holds the bones of hundreds of bison from about 10,000 years ago. It's like a giant puzzle of ancient animal life!
You can visit this site during certain times of the year. There's a visitor center where you can learn about the bones. You can even see some of the bones still in the ground. Guided tours are also available to help you explore.
If you like hiking, there's a 3-mile trail called the Bison Trail. It leads to the interesting Toadstool Geologic Park.
Contents
Discovering the Ancient Bison Site
The Hudson-Meng site is famous for its huge collection of bison bones. It's located in the Oglala National Grassland, about 20 miles northwest of Crawford. Scientists have found the remains of up to 600 bison here. These animals lived around 10,000 years ago.
How the Site Was Found
Two local ranchers, Bill Hudson and Albert Meng, found the bones in 1954. They were digging a pond when they made this amazing discovery. Because of them, the site is named Hudson-Meng.
Early Excavations
In the 1970s, Dr. Larry Agenbroad led the first big dig here. His team uncovered a large area of bones, over 400 square meters. At the time, it was thought to be the biggest "bison kill" site ever found. A "kill site" is where ancient hunters killed many animals.
The bison found here are not exactly like the ones we see today. They are an older type of bison, somewhere between the extinct Bison antiquus and the modern Bison bison.
New Ideas About the Bison Deaths
In the 1990s, more excavations took place. Drs. Larry Todd and David Rapson studied the site again. They came up with a different idea. They suggested that the bison might have died from natural causes. Perhaps a natural disaster, like a big snowstorm or a drought, caused their deaths. This means it might not have been a "kill site" after all.
Ongoing Research
Research at the Hudson-Meng site continues to this day. In 2005, new teams started digging again. Since 2006, Dr. Mark Muñiz has been leading the archaeological research. These studies help us learn more about how the bison died. They also teach us about the ancient people who lived in this area.
The United States Forest Service manages the Hudson-Meng site. They work to protect it and help people learn from this unique place.
