Record-setting projectile point found during FYI trip to Hudson-Meng
While a group of Chadron State College students was studying recently at the Hudson-Meng Education and Research Center north of Crawford, Forest Service ranger Kathleen Hanson spotted a projectile point which is thought to be the best archaeological find at Hudson-Meng in at least 10 years.
According to Dennis Kuhnel, director of the Hudson-Meng Education and Research Center, the projectile point was found very near the actual Hudson-Meng Bison Kill site but has yet to be identified with a specific cultural chronology. Kuhnel estimated that the five-inch point is 6,500-7,600 years old.
The atlatl point appears to be a combination of more than one point style from the time period in what is now Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
“All in all, it is an amazing find. I think it is fair to say it will be a memorable moment for all the CSC students involved, for the rest of their lives,” said Kuhnel.
The students, enrolled in First-Year Inquiry 169 O "10,000 B.C., Great Plains, North America," were led by CSC faculty members Dennis Kuhnel and Jennifer Balmat on a tour of the Toadstool Geologic Park during the field trip.
Kuhnel, and Forest Service Hudson-Meng Education and Research Center rangers Luke Hittner and Hanson led a six-hour interpretive guided hike of the area - approximately a seven-mile round-trip.
Tours similar to this field trip of the Hudson-Meng Bison Kill can be scheduled by any CSC class or club interested by contacting Kuhnel or other Forest Service staff at 308-432-0300.
Category: Campus News