Jackrabbit Processing

at Antelope Cave, Arizona

 
 

Most skeletal parts of jackrabbits are present in the assemblage, indicating that animals were being brought whole to the site and that the whole sequence of butchering and cooking occurred in one location.


There is one notable exception, however. The bones that comprise the rib cage and neck (cervical and thoracic vertebrae, ribs, and sternum) are conspicuously absent from the site. This is seen below in the bar graph.




Ethnographers noted that some people in the western North America took this portion of jackrabbits and pulverized it into a meal that could be consumed, bone and all. Karl Reinhard and his colleagues have even found prehistoric evidence of this practice, with coprolites (fossilized poop) contained tiny fragments of these bones!

 

Presence and Absence of Skeletal Parts

Jacob Fisher takes full responsibility for the information posted. The information on this page represents that of Jacob Fisher and not that of California State University Sacramento.

Previous                                                                                            Next   

Last updated on October 27, 2010