Late Quaternary Bison Utilization at Lubbock Lake:1 Southern High Plains of Texas

Abstract

The history of bison utilization at the Lubbock Lake Landmark is a long one, spanning thousands of years and many cultures. Bison kill/butchering locales are known for the Paleoindian through Middle Archaic periods, when small cow/calf herds were butchered around or near the waterway in the valley axis. Game animal processing stations containing modern bison remains are common from the Late Archaic through Historic periods, also centered along the waterway. These two modes of the procurement pattern represent primary butchering activities (locales and secondary activities (stations). The basic butchering tool kit appears similar through time, composed primarily of amorphous lithic flake tools and bone expediency tools. The role of bison in the subsistence base varied through time, ranging from a component of a broad-based, meat-related subsistence, to a targeted large-game animal, to a component of a mixed meat-plant subsistence. The repeated use of Lubbock Lake through time and available seasonality data indicate the Landmark to have been a well-known location within a seasonal round of activities regardless of social organization or climatic regime. The Lubbock Lake record acts as the regional model, but additional research is needed to assess the model and reshape it where necessary.