Climate change and the origin of split-twig figurines in Grand Canyon, Arizona

Hundreds of split-twig figurines have been recovered from caves in Grand Canyon and are associated with a hunting ritual that dates from 4200 – 3100 ¹⁴C yrs before present (B.P.).  The caves chosen for this ritual all contain Pleistocene remains of big game animals and presumably Archaic hunter-gatherers identified these sites as entrances to the Underworld.  We examine the known chronology for these sites in Grand Canyon and postulate that the origin of this ritual is correlated with a period of rapid climate change that occurred on both global and regional scales beginning at 4200 B.P.  Warmer and drier conditions at that time probably negatively affected productivity for big game species such as bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and the caves became foci for a hunting ritual with figurines serving as an offering.  This hypothesis can be tested with additional radiocarbon dates on figurines.