The Saga of Winkler-1: A Midland Site in Southeast New Mexico

Abstract

ABSTRACTWinkler-1 is a unique late Pleistocene campsite. The site deposit was found eroding from a buried sandy matrix in Lea County, New Mexico. It was systematically mapped and collected over a period of more than two decades. Chipped stone tools, lithic debris, large mammal bone fragments, and an eyed bone needle comprise the artifact assemblage. Forty-eight Midland point bases, reworked points, and fragments were recovered from the eroding surfaces throughout the site. Edwards chert makes up approximately 85 per cent of the chipped stone assemblage. Three different radiocarbon labs have determined that burned bone fragments date from the mid-10,000s to the mid-9000s 14C yr BP. Unlike other sites where Midland and Folsom artifacts are found mixed together or barely superimposed, Winkler-1 is the only known pure Midland site assemblage that has been thoroughly studied and reported.