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

The Calf Creek cultural horizon, characterized by distinctive chipped-stone technology, emerged in North America around six thousand years ago, covering over 500,000 square miles. Its notable notched bifaces, some of which show evidence of heat-treating, suggest technological innovations that spread quickly throughout associated cultural groups. This comprehensive volume provides a first-ever "big picture" view of Calf Creek material culture, informing and directing future research.

Format: Hardback
Length: 900 pages
Publication date: 30 March 2022
Publisher: Texas A & M University Press

The Calf Creek cultural horizon, renowned for its distinctive chipped-stone technology, emerged approximately six thousand years ago on the central and southern plains of North America. Spanning over a vast area of more than 500,000 square miles, it stands as one of the largest post-Paleoindian archaeological cultural complexes identified to date. One of the most striking features of the Calf Creek culture is its unique and intricately notched bifaces, many of which exhibit signs of heat-treating. Recent targeted dating indicates that these distinctive traits, requiring precise knapping and other specialized techniques, emerged within a relatively narrow timeframe, sometime around 5,950–5,700 calendar years before the present.

Despite the widespread geographic distribution of Calf Creek artifacts, researchers believe that these technological innovations spread rapidly throughout the associated cultural groups. To consolidate and present the current knowledge about the Calf Creek cultural horizon, Editors Jon C. Lohse, Marjorie A. Duncan, and Don G. Wyckoff have compiled this comprehensive volume. This collaborative effort involved professional and academic archaeologists, landowners, and avocationalists, resulting in The Calf Creek Horizon. This groundbreaking publication brings together for the first time in a single source detailed information on the geographic distribution, regional variations, typology, and technological aspects of Calf Creek material culture. It serves as a valuable resource that will inform and guide future research in this field for years to come.

Weight: 2300g
Dimension: 279 x 216 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781623499624