The Cooper Site

Two miles northeast of here is the Cooper Paleo-Indian bison kill site. The site was the scene of three of the largest Folsom (ca. 10,500 years ago) bison kills known. Each event saw more than thirty bison herded into a dead-end gully. Hunters on the gully rim killed the animals with spears tipped with finely crafted Folsom points. A bison skull beneath the second kill was painted with red zigzag lines to ensure a successful hunt. The mineral pigment was red hematite. This is the oldest painted skull in North America and is the earliest evidence of hunting ritual for the Plains region.