Often characterized by distinctive chipped-stone technology, the Calf Creek cultural horizon made its first appearance in the central and southern plains of North America some six thousand years ago. Distributed over a known area of more than 500,000 square miles, it is one of the largest post-Paleoindian archaeological cultural complexes identified to date.

One of the most notable aspects of Calf Creek culture is its distinctive, deeply notched bifaces, many of which show evidence of heat-treating. Recent targeted dating suggests that these unique traits, which required exacting knapping and other techniques for production, arose in a relatively narrow window, sometime around 5,950-5,700 calendar years before the present. Given the wide geographical distribution of Calf Creek artifacts, however, researchers surmise that these technological innovations, once adopted, spread fairly quickly throughout the associated cultural groups.

Editors Jon C. Lohse, Marjorie A. Duncan, and Don G. Wyckoff have collected in this comprehensive volume much of what is currently known about the Calf Creek cultural horizon. In a collaboration involving professional and academic archaeologists, landowners, and avocationalists, The Calf Creek Horizon brings together for the first time in a single source fine details of geographic distribution, regional variability, typology, and technological aspects of Calf Creek material culture. This first-ever "big picture" view will inform and direct related research for years to come.

Author: Jon C. Lohse
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Published: 12/31/2021
Pages: 900
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 5.07lbs
Size: 11.10h x 8.60w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9781623499624

About the Author

JON C. LOHSE is senior associate with Terracon Consultants, Inc. in Houston and a board member for the Gault School for Archaeological Research. MARJORIE A. DUNCAN retired as an archaeologist with the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey in 2017. She is adjunct professor of archaeology with the University of Oklahoma. DON G. WYCKOFF is curator emeritus of the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History and David Ross Boyd Professor Emeritus at the University of Oklahoma.

The Calf Creek Horizon: A Mid-Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation in the Central and Southern Plains of North America