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Paleoindian Material from the Clovis Period has been found on a gravel bar of the once active stream in the ancient river valley. Excavations have uncovered the remains of several extinct animals: mammoth, two types of horse, camel, ancient bison, giant short-faced bear, and giant pampathere (armadillo-like animal). This material has been recovered from an area where secondary butchering of parts of carcasses tool place and mammoth bones were broken to secure pieces to use or make into tools. Folsom and later Paleoindian peoples hunted and killed ancient bison around the ponds and marshes in the draw. Locations where bison were both killed and butchered are called kill/butchering locales. Archaic The Archaic Period of the Southern High Plains is poorly understood. Several bone beds containing bison and pronghorn antelope remains have been found in the windblown and stream deposits of this stratum at the Landmark. A bison kill dating from the Early Archaic and a baking "oven" dating to the Middle Archaic have been discovered. This oven actually was a large oval pit that contained burned rock and ash. The absence of bone has led researchers to believe it was used for processing vegetal matter. Radiocarbon dating has determined the oven to be about 5,000 years old. Several Late Archaic camps have been uncovered. A camp generally is represented by hearths (campfires), scattered hearthstones, discarded tools, and scattered remains of small animals consumed as food. Ceramic Broken Puebloan and Mogollon tradeware pottery have been found in the Ceramic levels. Archaeological features include camp sites with scattered stone tools, flakes (small segments of stone that are the result of tool making), broken bones, and hearths. Excavation of processing stations from this period have produced the remains of modern bison, coyote, wolf, and pronghorn antelope. Protohistoric The Protohistoric Period is a transitional one. It extends from the time just prior to contact through first contact with Europeans. Spanish explorers were in the area during the later Protohistoric Period, but their presence had no detectable influence on the native cultures or archaeological remains. The Apaches are known to have been in the area from at least 1450 to the mid-1700s. Historic The Historic Period represents the time of full contact
with, and influence by, Europeans. Excavated Historic deposits indicate
the presence of modern horse, as well as metal and glass. The Apache
were displaced from the area by the Comanches who roamed the Southern
High Plains from the mid-1700s to the 1870s. Information derived
through excavation of sites from these time periods can be compared
to historical records to provide a clearer understanding of the
lifeways and population movements of these native peoples. |
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