Lubbock Lake Landmark, also known as Lubbock Lake Site, is an important

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

site and natural history preserve in the city of

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the nort ...

. The preserve is 336 acres and is a protected state and federal landmark. There is evidence of ancient people and extinct animals at Lubbock Lake Landmark. It has evidence of nearly 12,000 years of use by ancient cultures on the

Llano Estacado The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the Nort ...

. It is part of the Museum of Texas Tech University. Visitors can watch active archeological digs. Volunteers from around the world help with the ongoing excavations each summer, and local people can volunteer also, making the site accessible for non-scientists. There are both guided and self-guided tours offered throughout the year. The landmark's hours of operation are Tuesday-Saturday from 9am-5pm, and Sunday from 1pm-5pm. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a designated National Historic and State Archeological Landmark.

History

Lubbock Lake is located in a

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ban ...

of the Yellow House Draw also known as "Punta de Agua", a tributary of the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 11th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...

, near ancient springs. People on the

used the water resources in the draw until those resources went dry in the early 1930s. In 1936, the City of Lubbock dredged the meander in an effort to make it a usable water supply. These efforts were unsuccessful, but brought to light the archeological significance of the site. Today, there is very little standing water and no actual lake at the site. The first explorations of the site were conducted in 1939 by the West Texas Museum, now the Museum of Texas Tech University. In 1936, Clark Kimmel and Turner Kimmel found projectile points from the Firemen's Reservoir. In the late 1940s, several

Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jerse ...

Period (10,800-10,300 years ago) bison kills were discovered. At one location of an ancient bison kill from a then unidentified Paleo-Indian group, charred bison bones produced the first ever radiocarbon date, which is still the most accurate form of dating for Paleo-Indian material (about 9,800 years old).

Geology

The bedrock of Lubbock Lake is part of the Blanco Formation, which is a subset of

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

deposits. Here, it is composed mostly of a large deposit of lake sediments about two million years old. Above the Blanco Formation is the Blackwater Draw Formation, a sheet of wind-deposited sediment that covers most of the region. This deposit slowly accumulated between 1 million and 50,000 years ago. The dune, in the northeastern section of Lubbock Lake, contains sediments and buried soils from at least 36,000 years ago. Yellow House Draw had developed by 20,000 years ago, cutting through the Blackwater Draw Formation and into the Blanco Formation. By about 12,000 years before the present (10,000 BC), the draw had cut a bend about 15 meters (49 feet) deep in the area of the Landmark. Evidence points to a drying trend occurring at Lubbock Lake over the last 11,000 years. The geologic record begins with stream deposits, followed by lake sedimentation, and finishes between 6,500 and 4,500 years ago with the deposit of windblown sediments during a period of severe drought. After 4,500 years ago, the climate became much like it is now, with only minor changes in the past 2,000 years.

Archaeology

The site clearly shows many levels of cultural deposits that can be dated accurately due to the presence of clear geological stratigraphy (layers of various sediments representing different periods of time). From these deposits, nearly 175 radiocarbon dates are available. The Lubbock Lake Landmark exhibits a virtually complete cultural sequence from the Clovis Period to historic times. These periods are easily distinguished due to the separation of sediment layers containing cultural material by

sterile Sterile or sterility may refer to: *Asepsis Asepsis is the state of being free from disease-causing micro-organisms (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses, pathogenic fungi, and parasites). There are two categories of asepsis: medical and surgi ...

layers where sediment lacks artifacts. Each layer represents a different time period, water regime, group of plants and animals, group of peoples, and climate and

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

covering the past 12,000 years of history and prehistory. The time of people in North America generally is divided into five cultural periods, all of which are represented at Lubbock Lake Landmark.

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός '' palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

Cultural Periods: The Paleo-Indian Period: * Clovis (11,500-11,000 years ago) *

(10,800-10,300 years ago) * Plainview (10,000 years ago) * Firstview (8,600 years ago)

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

Modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

Cultural Periods: * Archaic (8,500–2000 years ago) *

Ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, ...

(2,000–500 years ago) *

Protohistoric Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, ...

(500–300 years ago) *

Historic History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

(300 years ago to modern times)

Cultural periods represented

Paleo-Indian 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 A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks an ...

, two types of horse, camel, ancient

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North A ...

, giant short-faced bear, and giant

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, alo ...

-like Pampatheriidae. This material has been recovered from an area where secondary butchering of parts of carcasses took place and mammoth bones were broken to secure pieces to use or make into tools. Folsom and later Paleo-Indian 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. Hunters were known to disguise themselves as wolves, and slowly creep up on the bison before springing up and attacking. Archaic The Archaic Period of the

is poorly understood. Several bone beds containing bison and

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

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 Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, 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 Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

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

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...

s. Excavation of processing stations from this period have produced the remains of modern

, coyote, wolf, and pronghorn. 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

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...

s are known to have been in the area from at least 1450 to the mid-18th century. Historic The Historic Period begins when contact with Europeans was established. Excavated Historic deposits indicate the presence of modern horse, as well as metal and glass. The Apache were displaced from the area by the

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in ...

s who roamed the

from the mid-18th century 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. Evidence of Anglo-American habitation has been found in the most recent archaeological deposits. Some of these artifacts reflect the use of this area by the buffalo hunters in the 1870s. Artifacts such as

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

cartridges, metal hardware, square nails,

button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...

s, and a ginger beer bottle represent George Singer's store and home of the early 1880s. The Singer Store was the first commercial business for the area. Located at the edge of what was then called Long Lake and the crossing of two military trails, the store was built near the springs as a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

for early settlers and cattle ranchers in the area. It was in operation from 1881-1886 when it burned down; the store was rebuilt further downstream. The Singer Store was the beginning of the modern city of Lubbock.

References

External links

Museum of Texas Tech UniversityLubbock Lake National Historic and State Archeological Landmark
* {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Texas History of North America Pleistocene National Historic Landmarks in Texas Texas Tech University History of Lubbock, Texas Museums in Lubbock, Texas Native American museums in Texas University museums in Texas Natural history museums in Texas Archaeological museums in Texas Protected areas of Lubbock County, Texas Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Lubbock, Texas Paleontology in Texas