WY: ALBANY CO. 2379 M.
General Description.— and Walker 1974: A limestone cave in Wall Rock Canyon, western slope of the Laramie Mts., 18 mi N Laramie. Elevation is 7800 ft, 100 ft below the canyon rim and 400 ft above the floor.
Horned Owl Cave is directly across the canyon. The stratigraphy of the two appears similar, but there are differences in cultural and faunal remains. Gebhard et al. (1964) identified an Altithermal layer in Horned Owl Cave, but a similar deposits in Bell Cave yields a pre-Altithermal fauna. In Bell Cave, cultural material is in the upper 12 inches, in dry, powdery deposits. Age runs from Late Middle Period to very Late Prehistoric. A reworked Folsom point was recovered.
Comments.— (1985) reexamined the avifauna and did not find several taxa reported in the preliminary list by Zeimans and Walker (1974), including: Anas platyrhynchos, Buteo regalis/lagopus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Bonasa sp., and "quail, indet. sp." Age.—14C date of 12,200 BP (Emslie 1985).
Environment.— Rock Creek is intermittent.
Paleoenvironment.— and Walker 1974: Shows cold-climate similarities with Little Box Elder Cave and Chimney Rock Animal Trap.
Publications.— 1974; (*Emslie 1985c); Gebhard, Agogino, and Haynes 1964; Harris 1985; Kurt‚n and Anderson 1980; Walker 1974, 1982b; (*Zeimens and Walker 1974).
Last Update: 15 May 1998.