Far more than Clovis peoples, Folsom peoples were specialized hunters of big game. Their preferred prey was not mammoths, one of the first Pleistocene animals to become extinct. Instead they hunted giant bison. In Texas Folsom people worked cooperatively to ambush herds of bison.They crafted thin, exquisitely wrought stone points. It appears

likely that they used the atlatl to increase the throwing power of their spears.Folsom culture was a phenomenon of the Great Plains, with Texas at its southernmost extent. We do not know whether Folsom people were direct descendants of the Clovis, or if they represented a new population group

Bison jump mural from Seminole Canyon State Park.

At Bonfire Shelter near the Rio Grande, approximately 11,000 years ago, Folsom hunters drove a bison herd over a cliff. Or perhaps a scouting party simply came upon animals-roughly 120 of them-that had fallen accidentally to their deaths. The people butchered the carcasses, utilizing various parts for food, shelter and toolmaking.

Hunting large game with an atlatl. The atlatl was a throwing stick that dramatically increased the power and range of a spear. With this device a hunter could safely attack prey from 100 yards away-the full length of a football field.

Paleoindians tied their stone points to a dart foreshaft using sinew or plant fiber, then sealed the attachment with pine pitch or asphaltum.

Folsom hunters chased giant bison on foot across the plains the Texas Panhandle. At Caprock Canyons State Park, spiritual guides left behind a strange marker: bison leg and jaw bones stacked against each other, with the animal's skull placed on top. At the Lubbock Lake Site, a watering hole much favored by ancient beasts, Folsom hunters lodged a spear squarely in the bones of a giant bison.