Excavated Kenton Cave
Pictured -- Pam and Christopher Zabawa (1981)
The Kenton Caves Re-examined
George Zabawa
15 September 1981
The Kenton Caves Re-examined
Located near the town of Kenton, in northwestern Oklahoma, are six caves which are known as the Kenton or Basketmaker caves. The first of the caves, called the Basketmaker 1 cave was discovered by Ele Baker, the son of William "Uncle Bill" Baker, on Saturday, June 16, 1928. William Baker, Cimarron County farm agent, rancher, and a vocational archaeologist, was to play an important role in arousing public and professional interest in these important archaeological sites. Ele Baker, who was also interested in the prehistory of Oklahoma, later directed the final excavation of the Basketmaker 1 cave.
In an effort to bring the Basketmaker 1 cave to the attention of professional archaeologists, Uncle Bill wrote to an archaeologist at the University of Oklahoma in which he describes the cave as "a wind-blown place in solid sandstone under an overhanging ledge of rock high up the hillside from the valley below. It faces west but is in the east end of a cove. The ledge of rock extends nearly west from near the side of the cave, which gives it very good protection from the north. Two-thirds the distance from the back to front has apparently been a solid rock wall built up, extending across the entire front of the cave. Dim paintings in red cover the east back wall of the cave. Most of them are so dim as to make it almost impossible to follow the outlines."
In July 1929, William Baker took a small party of Boy Scouts to the cavern to salvage what they could. Later, on August 26, 1929, Dr. Joseph Thoburn of the Oklahoma Historical Society arrived to survey the situation. He initiated excavation. This and subsequent excavations revealed that although a party from Denver had previously recovered a large number of artifacts, the best were still to be found. Initially, the artifacts from the caves were attributed to the Basketmaker cultures of southwest Arizona, Colorado, and parts of New Mexico.
This was proposed by the first archaeologist to excavate the largest cave. E. B. Renaud, during his excavation in 1929, recovered numerous artifacts from the caves such as sandals, baskets, and cordage. However, more important was what he did not recover—projectile points and pottery. This to Renaud and other archaeologists of the 1930s was indicative of primitive farmers above the stage of nomadic hunting and gathering but below the level of farmers who made pottery. The prehistoric people who lived in this region were on their way to becoming full-time farmers but had not quite made the transition from their hunting and gathering way of life.
Since that time (1929) until recently there has been a lot of speculation concerning this assessment. Some believed in the Basketmaker origin of the people who occupied the caves. However, others were more skeptical. All of the ideas concerning the origin of the prehistoric people were based on Renaud's observation that pottery and projectile points were absent from the caves. A recent re-examination of the artifact collections, however, revealed that projectile points and pottery were recovered from the caves during subsequent excavations.
On the basis of these points and pottery, it is now possible to say that the caves have been occupied for several thousand years by more than one group of people. It is uncertain at this time whether the Basketmaker of the Southwest was one of these groups. The types of projectile points which have been identified: (1) unidentified fish-tail point; (2) Williams, 500 B.C. - A.D. 300; (3) Catan, 100 B.C. - A.D. 1450; (4) Scallorn, A.D 270 - A.D. 1150; (5) Washita, A.D. 900 - European contact; (6) Harrell, A.D. 1200 - A.D. 1700; (7) Fresno; (8) Scraper; (9) Knife. These projectile points are made of the locally available quartzite. Only a few examples of other type materials, such as jasper and flint, are represented in the collections. Although quartzite is inferior in terms of its workability when compared to flint or obsidian (volcanic glass), it was made into good quality, razorsharp projectile points, knives, and scrapers by the prehistoric inhabitants of the region.
The pieces of pottery found in the caves are cord-marked pottery typical of the plains region. As yet no date has been assigned to these.
The artifacts including the projectile points and pottery were recovered from the Kenton caves between 1929 and 1941 by various groups ranging from professional archaeologists to picnickers. The artifacts are located at various museums across the state: No Man's Land Historical Museum in Goodwell, Oklahoma; the Woolaroc Museum near Bartlesville; the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City; and the Stovall Museum at the University of Oklahoma. The artifacts taken by Renaud's party are located at the Department of Anthropology on the University of Denver campus.
Due to the dry condition of the caves, artifacts which would normally rot (clothing, wood, baskets, food, etc.) when exposed to moisture are preserved. This is a very special circumstance and rarely occurs on the plains.
These artifacts can be divided into three categories: by materials such as stone, shell, wood, bone, and vegetable materials; by use—hunting implements, garden implements, personal apparel and adornment items, and household items; and many items fall into the third category which is of unknown use.
Collectively, the artifacts from the caves tell a story of how the prehistoric people of the area took advantage of the natural resources of the area in obtaining food and shelter.
Items recovered from the caves indicate that the people utilized a wide range of wild plants and animals found in the area in their quest for food. In addition to the wild foods utilized, crops such as corn and squash were grown and stored in the caves.
Animals which were hunted ranged from the small crayfish found in the local streams to the antelope and bison which roamed the plains. In addition to these animals, deer, elk, jackrabbit, cottontail, coyote, wildcat, badger, various rodents, birds, eagles, and turkeys were also hunted by the prehistoric people of the Kenton (Renaud, 1930 b). The hunting implements used to obtain the game include the spear thrower, the bow and arrow, the snare, and a type of nonreturnable boomerang or throwing stick.
Wild fruits and berries were also used as a food source. Some were pressed into cakes and dried for later use, perhaps on hunting trips. In a similar manner parched corn might have also been used. These are light, nourishing, and easily transported.
In addition to the wild food utilized, crops such as corn and squash were planted and harvested which were used to supplement their diet. Complete ears of corn as well as bags of seeds were found in the caves. These were used during the winter for food and the following spring for planting.
Shelter from the elements must have been of considerable importance to the native inhabitants since temperatures in the region typically drop into the zero-degree range in the winter. In addition to providing shelter from the rain, snow, wind, and cold, they also served as excellent natural storehouses due to their dryness.
Little is known of the clothing of the prehistoric people of this area. No complete article of clothing was found in any of the shelters or caves. Only one piece of woven cloth, similar in appearance to burlap, was found.
Cave paintings in the area, however, illustrate human figures with kilts or mantas (Lintz, Zabawa, 1981 n.d.). Although no clothing was recovered, feather-wrapped twine, hide, and hundreds of fragments of cordage and twine indicate that blankets and similar articles were being manufactured. No loom or other such device has been recognized thus far.
Although little is known of the clothing worn by these people, sandal fragments are commonly found in the various collections. These are woven of yucca leaves and padded with bark and grass. They appear to be durable, comfortable, and well suited to the type of rough terrain found in the Black Mesa area.
Three burials were reportedly unearthed from the larger Basketmaker 1 cave by picnickers May 1933. Although three were reported, only one has been located.
It is now on display at the No Man's Land Historical Museum in Goodwell, Oklahoma. The body, which has been called a mummy, is a naturally desiccated (dried up) body of a three-year-old child. Recent examinations of the body by a representative of the State Medical Examiners office failed to reveal any apparent cause of death.
From X rays it was determined that the body was a shell of skin and bone with no internal organs present. However, the outside was so well preserved that a partial footprint was obtained. The child was bound buried in a semi-flexed position with a shell necklace and corn which were presumably for use on the child's journey into the afterlife.
Conclusion
The artifacts found in the Kenton caves represent various groups of people who lived in the area over a period of several thousand years. It is impossible at this time to tell what people made what items. Generally, the prehistoric Kenton people, although self-sufficient, were poor in the material aspects of life. They did not make elaborate projectile points or pottery as did the people to the east and west. Whether this was due to lack of time or inclination is not certain.
The above description reflects only generally the use of the natural resources of the area by several groups of people. This pattern certainly varied through time as different people with different ideas entered the area and the transition was made from a nomadic hunting and gathering existence to a more sedentary life-style of the farmer.
Day in the Life?
What was it like to live in this area before the arrival of Europeans? The following story is a fictional account of what might have been. “A day in the life of one individual”
"It had been a good day. The weather was clear and crisp with the hint of fall in the air. The harvest had been bountiful, and the storehouses in the caves on the cliffs were full. The corn and squash should get them through the hard times in the winter. The thought of the caves, where her child was buried, brought back painful memories of the cold winter day when her youngest child died of the high fever in spite of all that they did. She was at least prepared for the journey into the afterlife for she had sent with her some corn. The shell beads around her neck would also help ward off the demons on her perilous journey. Well, there was nothing she could do now but continue. Still, the pain she felt for her loss, she knew, would always be with them. As she approached the cave where her mother was grinding corn in the prepared mealing bin in the rocks, the baby in the cradleboard on her back began to cry. She saw her husband skinning the rabbit which would be roasted for dinner.
"The boy children were chasing a small lizard with their play bows while the girl children were sorting and shredding the yucca and bark which were to be made into sandals, baskets, and cloth. With winter coming on she thought that it was a lucky time when her husband and the other men had managed to guide a small group of bison into a box canyon for an easy kill. This would mean extra smoked and dried meat for the winter and robes to keep them warm during the cold winter nights.
"Now that the work of planting and harvesting was over, her thoughts turned to the work which was still to be done for the fall celebration when all the people met for one last time before winter. There were gifts to make for the exchange and food to gather for repayment. The cloth bag she was handweaving for her husband's brother, even though tedious work, was little in repayment for his help when her husband had injured himself in a fall.
"As she began to talk to her mother, who was mealing corn, about the coming celebration, the baby on the cradleboard began to cry but ceased as it contentedly began to nurse."
Acknowledgments:
The author is greatly indebted to many individuals and institutions which aided me during my efforts to gather information concerning the Kenton caves.
These include Ele Baker; Helen Pustmueller, Department of Anthropology, University of Denver; Lynn Barnes and Martha Blaine, Oklahoma Historical Museum; K. D. Meek, Woolaroc Museum; and Candice Green and Robert Bell, Stovall Museum. Many thanks are extended to Christopher Lintz who was instrumental in organizing the new information into a usable form.
Christopher Lintz and Leon G. Zabawa
The Kenton Caves of Western Oklahoma
Manuscript on file at the Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma
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