New Paris No. 2: A Pennsylvania Cave Site Revisited

Abstract

An association of man and extirpated fauna brought to light almost forty years ago in southern Pennsylvania is reconsidered. Originally investigated by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the New Paris sinkholes are well-known for their extensive Pleistocene cave fauna and are most often associated with the dedicated work of the late Dr. John Guilday. The initial find in sinkhole #2 of an adult bull elk skeleton with an arrowhead embedded in its neck vertebrae had long been forgotten. In the pre-Libby era of scientific research, the elk was assessed as Holocene in age and the stone arrowhead as probable evidence of an early Colonial period Amerindian hunting event. Recent review of this discovery and radiocarbon analysis of a portion of the elk skeleton suggests a somewhat greater age and significance.