As a cultural area, the Southern Plains is bounded by the Arkansas River on the north, the Balcones Escarpment on the south, the Mississippi River on the east, and the Rocky Mountains on the west. The area presently known as Texas covers much of the Southern Plains. In general, this is a grassy area with forests found along the streams.
American Indians lived in Texas for many thousands of years prior to the European invasion. The period of time prior to 8,000 BCE is often called the Paleo-Indian Period by archaeologists. During this time period, American Indian groups were primarily nomadic hunters. Since there were very few plant foods with nutritional value for humans, these early Indian groups depended largely on hunting for their subsistence. Archaeologist Susan Vehik, in her chapter in the Handbook of North American Indians, reports:
“Large and small animal resources were utilized prehistorically. Bison are commonly assumed to be the primary animal resource, but the Southern Plains experienced pronounced fluctuations in the size and distribution of bison herds.”
Susan Vehik also reports:
“Bison herds are a clumped and unpredictable resource compared to deer and other small animals that tend to be dispersed. This distinction has implications for the size and distribution of human social groups.”
With regard to the stone technology used on the Plains during the Paleo-Indian Period, Douglas Bamforth, in his entry on the Plains in The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, reports:
“The Paleo-Indian period on the Plains is also well-known for the sophistication of its stoneworking: Projectile points in particular are extremely well-crafted, aesthetically pleasing, and difficult to produce, and Paleo-Indian flint knappers tended to manufacture them from very high-quality stone.”
One important thing to understand about stone tools is that not all stone can be used in tool making. In flintknapping, Indian people needed stones that would break in a predictable fashion and would provide a sharp edge. During the Paleo-Indian eriod, one of the important stone quarries was the Alibates site near Fritch, Texas. In his book Ancient Ruins of the Southwest: An Archaeological Guide, David Noble writes:
“Besides its fine flaking qualities and hardness, Alibates flint had another characteristic that made it a popular tool-making material: its rainbow colors.”
In her book Secrets in the Dirt: Uncovering the Ancient People of Gault, Mary Black writes:
“The beautiful Alibates stone was highly prized by Clovis people and others, and has been found as far away as Idaho.”
Briefly described below are some of the Texas Paleo-Indian sites.
Hall’s Cave
By about 18,000 BCE, Indian people were occupying Hall’s Cave in present-day Kerr County.
Petronila Creek
By 16,000 BCE, Indian people were occupying a hunting and fishing camp on Petronila Creek. They were hunting mammoth, ground sloth, camel, horse, peccary, antelope, coyote, prairie dog, and alligator. They were fishing for catfish, gar, and other fish.
Gault Site
By about 16,000 BCE, Indian people were occupying the Gault site on Buttermilk Creek as a seasonal campsite. Archaeologists have recovered about 150,000 piece of human-modified rock, 80 tools, and nearly 150,00 chert flakes at the site which were made at that time. At least two of the points appear to have been hafted—that is, attached to a wooden or bone shaft with glue and probably animal sinew. Mary Black writes:
“There are two different base shapes, which have been ground. Grinding dulls the edge of the point so it will not cut through the sinew for halfting.”
With regard to the people who used this site, Mary Black reports:
“They evidently were processing a lot of food and hides. They used sharp chert flakes to cut meat off bones, and probably cut it into strips to dry. They scraped remains off animal hides to clean them before drying and tanning for use. They cut plants of various kinds, perhaps reeds that grew along the stream, to make shelters or matting. They scraped wood, perhaps to make spears or for other uses.”
Dating of this material was done by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) in which in which the last exposure to sunlight of the mineral grains in the soil can be dated. Mary Black writes:
“Because the technique uses the physics of ionizing radiation, the results are considered accurate, though not precise. There is a fairly large margin of error with this methodology.”
Levi Rockshelter
By about 11,750 BCE, Indian people were using the Levi Rockshelter (41TV49) west of present-day Austin.
Gault site (Clovis)
By 11,000 BCE, Clovis Indian people occupied the Gault site in Central Texas. Mary Black writes:
“The Gault site is the largest Clovis-era manufacturing workshop ever found, at least in terms of the number of artifacts. At least nineteen Clovis spearpoints have been found, all showing signs of wear and resharpening by ancient hunters.”
The distinctive Clovis points are found at sites throughout North America. Mary Black writes:
“The Clovis cultural period is distinguished by unique manufacturing techniques for stone spearpoints in particular. Clovis spearpoints have a certain lanceolate shape, like the leaves of walnut and butternut trees, somewhat oval and pointy at the tip. Distinctive, shallow grooves, called ‘flutes,’ extend from the base toward the tip of most Clovis points. These flutes may have aided ancient Americans in attaching the point to the end of a spear.”
Indian people at the Gault site were making adzes for woodworking.
With regard to art, more than 120 engraved or incised stones have been recovered at Gault. Archaeologists Dennis Stanford and Bruce Bradley, in their book Across Atlantic Ice: The Origins of America’s Clovis Culture, write:
“Small, incised stones have been recovered from the Clovis level at the Gault Site in Central Texas. These stones are mostly thin limestone slabs that are natural in the area. The incising is mostly geometric designs, especially hatching and crosshatching, but at least two stones may be etched with animal representations.”
Mary Black reports:
“Some have engravings in the cortex, or exterior of limestone or chert, and then flaked along the edges. Most of the faint lines of engraving are straight or parallel or checkerboard.”
In a report in American Archaeology, Tamara Stewart writes:
“The confirmation of such artifacts at the Gault site raises the possibility that there could be evidence of ancient art at other Paleo-Indian sites in North America.”
Kincaid Shelter
Indian people at the Kincaid Shelter on the Sabinal River about 225 miles south of the Gault Site are making art. Mary Black writes:
“Engraved stones, much like the ones found at Gault, were found at Kincaid, suggesting similar lifestyles of the groups who lived at each place.”
Mary Black also reports:
“The people at Kincaid ate turtles, frogs, fish, and maybe even an alligator or two from the nearby river. The people also had to contend with large Pleistocene animals that were there in Clovis times as well.”
Lubbock Lake Landmark
By 11,000 BCE, Indian people were hunting mammoth as well as other mammals at the Lubbock Lake Landmark site.
Yellowhouse Draw
By 10,000 BCE, Indian people were hunting mammoth, bison, giant armadillo, horses, and camels in the Yellowhouse Draw area in present-day Lubbock. This appears to have been a temporary campsite used by Clovis people for hunting and butchering.
Horn Shelter Number 2 site
About 9200 BCE, two Indian people—a middle-aged man and a girl of about 12—were buried together in the Horn Shelter Number 2 site. The man was buried on his left side with his head resting on a stack of turtle shells. The girl was buried so that she was nestled against his back. More than a hundred offerings were placed in the grave.
At the time of his death, the man was 35-44 years old, stood about 5’5” tall, and weighed 150 pounds. Overall, he was very muscular. His teeth were heavily worn, some were broken, and some were missing.
Both individuals had been subject to starvation and/or disease during childhood. Both appear to have had an infection at the time of death. According to anthropologist James Chatters, in his book Ancient Encounters: Kennewick Man and the First Americans:
“This evidence of infection and frequent malnutrition may give us a hint about the cause of these people’s simultaneous deaths: infections made worse by starvation, perhaps during an unusually harsh winter.”
Wilson-Leonard site
At about 9,000 BCE, a young woman – probably in her 20s – was buried in a shallow grave at the Wilson-Leonard site near present-day Austin. She was buried in a flexed position on her right side with her head oriented toward the north. She was 5’1” tall and had heavily worn front teeth which suggests that she used her teeth for some repetitive task. Buried with her were a fossil shark tooth, a sandstone mano that had been flaked and used as a chopper, and a limestone cobble.
More Ancient America
Ancient America: The Marmes Rockshelter
Ancient America: The Halliday Site in Illinois
Ancient America: Occupation of Paisley Caves in Oregon
Ancient America: The Old Copper People
Ancient America: Wyoming Before 6000 BCE
Ancient America: Coastal Oregon, 13,000 to 7,500 Years Ago
Ancient America: Idaho Prior to 6000 BCE
Ancient America: Alaska Before 6000 BCE