Walde, Dale Allen2024-08-152024-08-1519851985https://hdl.handle.net/1828/20037Gender of prey is increasingly recognized as an important factor in the hunting and processing decision­-making of prehistoric hunters (Frison 1978a, Peterson and Hughes 1980, Speth 1983). Speth (1983) particularly stresses this point in reference to prehistoric North American plains bison hunters. Recognition of the possible importance of prey gender to plains bison hunters makes the accurate assignment of gender to archaeologically obtained bison bones vital to the interpretation of plains archaeological sites. In the present study, dissatisfaction is expressed with the implicit theoretical and statistical assumptions underlying gender assigning methods developed in the past (Duffield 1973, Bedord 1974, 1978, Peterson and Hughes 1980). Reservations are particularly expressed about the use of complete single elements and the use of ratio-based indices prevalent in these methodological approaches. In an effort to improve upon previous methods, a sample of contemporary, known gender bison bone was analayzed using a series of discriminant function analyses. These analyses were carried out on the proximal and distal ends of six major post-cranial elements: the humerus, radius, metacarpal, femur, tibia, and metatarsal. It was found that each end of each element could be assigned gender with an accuracy rate of at least ninety percent in the contemporary known gender bison sample. The uniformitarian assumption that variables which can be used successfully to assign gender to contemporary bison elements can also be used to assign gender to prehistoric bison elements was made. A series of twenty-nine equations based upon this assumption has been derived from the discriminant function analyses of contemporary bison. Each equation is specific to a given end of a given bone and can be used to assign gender to that element part. At least two equations using different combinations of variables have been produced for most element ends. This avoids the requirement of other methods that a specific set of measurable variables be present on archaeologically recovered material to permit analysis. Users of these equations are warned that changes in bison populations through time limits application to material less than six thousand years old.73 pagesAvailable to the World Wide WebThesis