Bison and Central American civilizations

The enigma of the bison in Central America

   The American bison currently distributed in northern Mexico, parts of Canada and the United States is a fascinating creature that was once on the brink of extinction due to human action, I feel symbolism of strength and vital importance for the Native Americans, these animals represent very well the ancient fighting spirit and the survival of the indigenous peoples, and was an icon of the conquest of the west.

It is known that these bovids lived throughout North America until not long ago and Central America during much of their natural history, but they became extinct for unknown reasons at some point after humans arrived, but recent little-known theories might say otherwise.

It is theorized based on paleontological and archaeological findings, as well as stories about the existence of bison in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, eh even times as recent as 150 AD contemporaneously with the first societies in these places.

The first evidence of this theory came from an archaeological exploration of the Brujo River, in Costa Rica, in 1982, where a possible pre-Columbian sculpture was found, which appears to be from a bison since it has a clear shape similar to this animal, with its characteristic hump, horns curved backwards and a large head in proportion to the body with even a chin similar to theirs, whose chronology according to dating would be around the years 700 to 1500 A.D, in addition to a set of footprints found at the site of El Recreo, Nicaragua, whose plasma images are today kept in the Chicago museum, dating back 2100 years.

Another notable fact is the fact that in the southern region of Costa Rica as well as in other places in Central America there are large grasslands, It has always been discussed about the existence of current and past savannahs during the Pleistocene, the types of fossil vegetation as current, seem to suggest without a doubt the existence of savannahs to this day, which could provide an ideal habitat for these beasts, I leave a gallery:

                         

Likewise, there is an even more disconcerting fact that occurred in the 19th century, when researchers discovered a talisman made of what appeared to be a bison horn, in Argentine Patagonia, whose origin was never deciphered before being lost (there will already be an article about it).

Another strange fact is the one mentioned by the first settlers of the central volcanic mountain range of Costa Rica, especially the regions of Toro Amarillo, where it is said that in those times of the 19th century, an animal similar to a bull grazed, its color was yellowish, horns turned back, pointed snout, loud moo and their hooves left a mark different from that of cattle, This animal caused fear among the first inhabitants, many of whom tried to hunt it, but over time they realized that it was not dangerous and grazed with the newly introduced cattle, but it is not known their identity or if this story is true.

In addition to the stories of bison in Montezuma's menagerie and other legends of the Mesoamerican natives give us evidence to believe that these giants lived until not long ago in Central America, the only thing left is for this enigma to be more studied and to be clarified. all hypotheses, although due to various political situations this will until then remain a mystery pending to be solved, If the bison lived in historical times in Central America, eh even, if they had contact with the Spanish when they arrived.

As an additional: in the south of Guatemala during the last century there was talk of the sighting of a woolly beast, known as the anthrax, which was described as a woolly bull with large horns and shiny, which was very famous in those years.

Perhaps this was one of the last sightings of bison in Central America, and it conveniently appeared in Huehuetenango, an area known for its vast grasslands..

[[[Reading links]]]

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/El-gran-cinturon-de-maxima-abundancia-del-bisonte-en-Eurasia-y-en-Norteamerica-y-maxima_fig3_280985757