Bison bones question

[SemitaVitae]

Hello Fossil Enthusiasts!

I recently found a large group of Bison bones. They were found all together. They have not been cleaned as I believe the soil may contain some clues as to the age. (Including a little clam shell in the skull.) There are multiple animals here; one skull, three adult horns, one baby horn, shoulder blade, ribs, tibia, teeth, etc. A rough estimate is that they are Bison Bison. 

Thank you in advance!

[Ludwigia]

It would be easier to at least determine their value if you could first establish their stratigraphical position.

[JarrodB]

Killer find. 

[SemitaVitae]

7 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

It would be easier to at least determine their value if you could first establish their stratigraphical position.

They were at the bottom of a large river bed, that was very low due to a dry fall, on a "bone dump." I was playing with the bones last night and one thing I found intriguing was the perpendicular nature of the large spinus process. From the drawings and skeletons, the bison bison has more of a swept-back process on the vertabrae, and the antiquus is straight up. 

[SemitaVitae]

2 hours ago, JarrodB said:

Killer find. 

Thanks Jarrod! 

[Xiphactinus]

2 hours ago, SemitaVitae said:

They were at the bottom of a large river bed, that was very low due to a dry fall, on a "bone dump." I was playing with the bones last night and one thing I found intriguing was the perpendicular nature of the large spinus process. From the drawings and skeletons, the bison bison has more of a swept-back process on the vertabrae, and the antiquus is straight up. 

It depends upon where in the skeleton the vertebrae lie as to the degree of angle. This is consistent with all species of bison. The angle really can't tell you the species. Really cool find! (image from Wikipedia)