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

Houston Archeological Society Meeting, Thursday, May 19th, 2022
Dr. Jon C. Lohse
"The Calf Creek Horizon: A Mid-Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation in the Central and Southern Plains of North America”

The Thursday, May 19th meeting of the Houston Archeological Society features a presentation by professional archeologist Dr. Jon Lohse on the Calf Creek cultural horizon.

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 in North America.

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.

This talk presents some of the highlights and recent lessons from work on the Calf Creek Horizon. The recently published volume (TAMU Press) 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.

Dr. Jon C. Lohse is a Senior Associate with Terracon Consultants, Inc. where he manages a team of natural and cultural resources experts and consultants. He is the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Gault School for Archaeological Research, and an affiliated researcher in the Anthropology Department at Rice University. He has been a professional practicing archaeologist for what feels like a very long time; he received his MA (1994) and PhD (2001) from UT Austin. He’s a native Houstonian and seventh generation Texan. He lives about a quarter of a mile from the HAS meeting hall with his wife, archaeologist Dr. Molly Morgan Lohse, their two children, and his mother, former HAS member Margie Elliott. His latest publication is the edited volume titled “The Calf Creek Horizon: A Mid-Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation in the Central and Southern Plains of North America” (Texas A&M University Press, 2021).