The Archaic Record At Lubbock Lake

The Lubbock Lake site, on the Llano Estacada of Texas, is best known as a Paleo-Indian locality, but it also has produced a considerable Archaic record. Archaic materials, from substratum 2e and strata 3 and 4, were found by all investigators at the site since excavations began in 1939. Substratum 2e is a sandy eolian unit deposited sometime between 8500 and 6400 years B.P. One Early Archaic feature was found in substratum 2e. Stratum 3 contains valley-margin eolian deposits, valleyaxis lacustrine sediments, and the Yellowhouse Soil. Sedimentation and soil formation occurred from 6400 to as late as 5000 years B.P. The beginning age of soil formation is unknown. Stratum 3 yielded six Middle Archaic features representing probable camping events. Stratum 4 consists of marsh sediments accumulated from 5500 to 1000 years B.P. and eolian material deposited between about 5000 and 4500 years B.P. The Lubbock Lake Soil formed in stratum 4 from 4500 to 1000 years B.P. andlocally is still forming. Stratum 4 contained at least 22 Middle Archaic features, including several Bison bison bone beds, numerous camping areas and hearths, and a large oven probably used for vegetal processing. The Late Archaic is represented by nine features composed of camping debris and a hearth found within the buried A horizon of the Lubbock Lake Soil. However, because this horizon represents a stable land surface that existed well into the Ceramic period, Archaic and later materials probably are mixed. Available data indicate that during the period 6400 to 4500 years B.P., two severe droughts occurred throughout at least the central Llano Estacada. The record at Lubbock Lake demonstrates that at least that area was not abandoned during this time of climatic stress, probably because water always was available. A proposed model for the Archaic on the Llano Estacada includes five shifts in the general mixed economy of plant and animal resources coinciding with climatic events. The model is one of in situ development with its basis in late Paleo-Indian times and continuing into the following period.