Why We're Important

The Paleoindian Period is divided into:

• Clovis (11,500-12,800 radiocarbon years / 13,350-12,675 calendar years ago)
• Folsom (10,800-10,300 radiocarbon years / 12,675-12,100 calendar years ago)
• Plainview (10,000 radiocarbon years / 11,475 calendar years ago)
• Firstview (8,600 radiocarbon years / 9,560 calendar years ago)

Then follows the:

• Archaic Period (8,500-2,000 radiocarbon years / 9,500-1,950 calendar years ago)
• Ceramic (2,000-500 radiocarbon years / 1,950-530 calendar years ago)
• Protohistoric (500-300 radiocarbon years / 530-380 calendar years ago)
• Historic (300 radiocarbon years / 380 calendar years ago to modern times)

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 remains of several extinct animals including mammoth, two types of horse, camel, ancient bison, giant short-faced bear, and giant pampathere (an armadillo-like animal).

This material has been recovered from an area where secondary butchering took place, and mammoth bones were broken to secure usable tool material. Folsom and later Paleoindian peoples hunted and killed ancient bison around 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 less understood than other periods. Several bone beds containing bison and pronghorn remains have been found in windblown and stream deposits at the Landmark. A bison kill dating to the Early Archaic and a baking "oven" dating to the Middle Archaic have been discovered.

The oven was a large oval pit containing burned rock and ash. The absence of bone suggests it was used for processing plant matter. Radiocarbon dating places the oven at about 5,000 years old. Several Late Archaic camps have also been uncovered, represented by hearths, scattered hearthstones, discarded tools, and remains of small animals consumed as food.

Ceramic

Broken Puebloan and Mogollon trade-ware pottery has been found in Ceramic levels. Archaeological features include campsites with scattered stone tools, flakes (small stone segments from toolmaking), broken bones, and hearths. Excavation of processing stations from this period has produced remains of modern bison, coyote, wolf, and pronghorn antelope.

Protohistoric

The Protohistoric Period is transitional, extending from just before 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 native cultures or archaeological remains. The Apache are known to have been in the area from at least 1400 to the mid-1700s.

Historic

The Historic Period represents full contact with, and influence by, Europeans. Excavated Historic deposits indicate modern horses, metal, and glass. The Apache were displaced from the area by the Comanche, who roamed the Southern High Plains from the mid-1700s to the 1870s. Information from sites of these periods can be compared to historical records to better understand lifeways and population movement.

Evidence of Anglo-American habitation has been found in the most recent archaeological deposits. Artifacts such as rifle cartridges, metal hardware, square nails, buttons, and a ginger beer bottle represent George Singer's store and home of the early 1880s.

The Singer Store was the first commercial business in the area. Located at the edge of what was then called Long Lake at the crossing of two military trails, the store was built near springs as a trading post for early settlers and cattle ranchers. It operated from 1881 to 1886 when it burned down; the store was rebuilt farther downstream. The Singer Store represents the founding of the Lubbock community.