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The Archeology collection is well-focused on prehistoric Indian artifacts of the Southern Plains. Artifacts include material documenting 14,000 years of habitation in the Texas Panhandle. From Clovis and Folsom Big-Game hunters following large, extinct mammoth and bison; through later foragers exploiting a wide variety of foods; to Southern Plains Villagers living in semi-permanent houses, hunting bison, farming corn, beans, and squash, and mining and trading Alibates Flint for making stone artifacts; these collections document the activities and behaviors of Indians living in the region.
Numerous artifacts define the culture types used to describe the different individual groups living in the Panhandle at different times and places, and consequently, represent rare and important scientific collections. Although much of this material was acquired by museum personnel, Federal projects added to the collections during the 1930s and early 1940s. The museum also curates historic archeological collections including objects from the Second Battle of Adobe Walls as well as from many of the Red River War sites, and owns and maintains the sites at Adobe Walls and Buffalo Wallow.
Perishable archeological material from a dry rock shelter in the Texas Panhandle is also unique among museum collections. Recent efforts by Federal and museum personnel have almost all Southern Plains Villager material recovered from the Texas Panhandle, including artifacts from Lake Meredith, Chimney Rock, Alibates, and Antelope Creek ruins in the museum. This allows researchers the opportunity to study all related artifacts at a single repository in the vicinity from which it was found. The museum serves as a local repository for State and Federal archeological collections. |
