CAST #P-39

WINDUST POINT
BUHL BURIAL SITE
TWIN FALLS COUNTY, IDAHO
EST. 10,500 TO 11,000 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT
(AVAILABLE CAST)
COPYRIGHT JULY 31, 2003 PETER A. BOSTROM

CAST #P-39
"CHISEL-TIP" WINDUST POINT (CAST)
BUHL BURIAL SITE
TWIN FALLS COUNTY, IDAHO

    This Windust point was found in 1989 under the right side of the cranium of the "Buhl Woman" burial. The Buhl site is located in Twin Falls County, Idaho about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) north of the town of Buhl. The initial discovery was made by gravel quarry workers who pulled a human femur out of the screen of a rock crusher. The actually burial site was quickly located after the initial discovery.  Bone samples taken from the burial produced a radio carbon date of 10,675 + 95 years before present. Study of the teeth and bones suggest that the "Buhl Woman" was between 17 and 21 years old when she died. No genetic testing was done but the skull's morphology was similar to both American Indian and East Asian populations.
    This stemmed biface has been referred to as a Windust point by archaeologists. Windust points were first described by H.S. Rice in 1965 from samples that were found in the oldest deposits of Cave C of the Windust Caves in Washington. Windust points have also been found in Idaho and Oregon. A small percentage of these points have oddly shaped, and deliberately made, "chisel-tips" in place of a sharp point. The tips are made by the removal of a flake on each face which forms a narrow edge instead of a point. This Windust point does have a "chisel-tip." It is made of opaque black Obsidian and it measures 3 13/16 inches (9.66 cm) long.

    There were four artifacts and one badger baculum bone found with the Buhl skeleton. Besides the Windust point, the picture above shows casts of the three other artifacts that were found. The bone needle was restored before it was cast. The black line indicates where it was originally broken. It measured 1 1/4 inches (3.1 cm) long before it was restored. It also measured 2 mm in diameter and the eye measured .8 mm in diameter. Microscopic examination suggests that the eye was not drilled but it was formed by gouging with a hand-held perforator. The other two bone pieces have been described as fragments belonging to possibly a single awl or pin. The broken segment on the left has 11 engraved lines cut along the edges.
     All the Buhl site human remains, the artifacts and the badger bone were handed over to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, who claimed them, in December of 1992 for reburial. Tribal elders commented that "recent deaths on the reservation were caused by the stirring of the Buhl woman's spirit."

"REFERENCES"

1991, Perino, Gregory, "Selected Preforms, Points and Knives of the North American Indians," Vol. 2, page 248.
1993, Tarmina, Paul, "A Famous Skeleton Returns To The Earth," High Country News, (March 8, Vol. 25 No. 4).
1998, Slayman, Andrew L., "Buhl Woman," Vol.51 Number 6, December, Archaeology.
1998, Green, Thomas J., Cochran, Bruce, Fenton, Todd W., Woods, James C., Titmus, Gene L., Tieszen, Larry, Davies, Mary Anne, Miller, Susanne J., "The Buhl Burial: A Paleo Indian Woman From Southern Idaho," American Antiquity, Vol. 63 No. 3, pp. 437-456.
2002, Legon, Jeordan, "Oldest American Skull Found," CNN.com./Science & Space.

HOME    ORDERING