75 Years of Discovery: Museum Celebrates Anniversary of Lubbock Lake Landmark

To celebrate 75 years of discovery, organizers at the Lubbock Lake National Historic Landmark will host several events each month during 2011.

A unit of the Museum of Texas Tech University, the Lubbock Lake Landmark is an archaeological and natural history preserve at the northern edge of the city of Lubbock. The Landmark contains evidence of almost 12,000 years of occupation by ancient people on the Southern High Plains, said Eileen Johnson, director of the landmark.

“For thousands of years, people on the Southern High Plains used the water resources in the draw until those resources went dry in the early 1930s,” Johnson said. “Years of sediment covered the traces of human activity until 1936, when the city of Lubbock dredged the meander in an effort to revitalize the underground springs. And that led to the discovery of the largest, most complex and longest continuously inhabited hunter-gatherer site in the New World.

“The Lubbock Lake Landmark exhibits a virtually complete cultural sequence from the Clovis Period to historic times,” she said. “The periods are easily distinguished due to the separation of sediment layers containing cultural material by sterile layers where sediment lacks artifacts.”

Each layer represents a different time period, water regime, suite of plants and animals, group of peoples, and climate and environment covering the past 12,000 years of history and prehistory.

The first explorations of the site were conducted in 1939 by the West Texas Museum (now the Museum of Texas Tech University). By the late 1940s, several Folsom Period (10,800-10,300 years ago) bison kills were discovered. In a location of an ancient bison kill from a then unidentified Paleoindian group, charred bison bones produced the first-ever radiocarbon date (currently the most accurate form of dating) for Paleoindian material (9,800 years old).

The Lubbock Lake Landmark currently serves as a field laboratory for geology, soils, and radiocarbon dating studies, as well as being an active archaeological and natural history preserve.

All events will be held at the Landmark, located on Landmark Drive at North Loop 289 and U.S. 84. Events include:

• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 22). Pleistocene: An Ancient Ecosystem focusing on animals. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … The Pleistocene – 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday (Jan. 23). Presentation on discovery and introduction to archaeology and research on the plains. For young adults to adults.


The Lubbock Lake Landmark exhibits a virtually complete cultural sequence from the Clovis Period to historic times.

• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 19. Paleoindians: First Peoples focusing on the hunter/gatherers of the area. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … Paleoindians – 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 20. Presentation on ancient Paleoindian territories and landscapes. For young adults to adults.
• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 19. Natural Environment. Focusing on the natural environment and environmental awareness. Also features a night hike starting at dusk during Landmark After Dark. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … Our Environmental Issues – 2 to 4 p.m. March 20 Presentation on organic and heirloom gardening and landscaping with native plants. For young adults to adults.
• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 16. Creepy Crawlers: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly. Focusing on insects, spiders and snakes of the landmark. Also features a night hike starting at dusk during Landmark After Dark. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … Creepy Crawlers – 2 to 4 p.m. April 17. Presentation on entomology and herpetology. For young adults to adults.
• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 28. Winged Residents. Focusing on skimmers, tree-dwellers, nesting birds, bats and predators. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … Winged Residents – 2 to 4 p.m. May 29. Presentation on damsel flies and dragonflies. For young adults to adults.
• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 18. Natives: Native Plants and Wildflowers. Focusing on the medicinal and edible plants. Participants will create nature journals. Also features a night hike starting at dusk during Landmark After Dark. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … Medicinal and Edible Plants – 2 to 4 p.m. June 19. Presentation on the role of plants on the Plains. For young adults to adults.


The Lubbock Lake Landmark currently serves as a field laboratory for geology, soils, and radiocarbon dating studies, as well as being an active archaeological and natural history preserve.

• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 16. Archaeology in Action. Focusing on archaeology at the landmark and includes a tour of the research lab and excavation site. Also features a night hike starting at dusk during Landmark After Dark. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … Archaeology – 2 to 4 p.m. July 17. Presentation on the public’s perception of archaeology. For young adults to adults.
• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 20. Middle Archaic – Another Climate Change. Focuses on the Archaic period and how animals and plants survived the climate changes. Also features a night hike starting at dusk during Landmark After Dark. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.

• Discover … The Middle Archaic Traditional Cooking – 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 21. Presentation on Middle Archaic climate change, traditional cooking methods and the features of the fire hearth. For young adults to adults.
• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 17. Pastores & Ciboleros. Focusing on Hispanic shepherding traditions. Also features a night hike starting at dusk during Landmark After Dark. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … The Pastores – 2 to 4 p.m. Sept. 18. Presentation on the Hispanic shepherding traditions. For young adults to adults.
• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 15 and 16. Fall Fest 2011. Focusing on buffalo soldiers, Native American and Mexican traditions and cultures, storytelling workshops and demonstration. Also features a night hike on Saturday during Landmark After Dark. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 19. Settlement, 19th Century. Focuses on George W. Singer, trails and oral histories. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … Oral Histories – 2 to 4 p.m. Nov. 20. Presentations on the art of oral history. For young adults to adults.
• Life on the Plains Series – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 17. Finale. Focusing on history in the making, modern archaeology and the future of the Lubbock Lake Landmark. Family day for all ages with hands-on activities.
• Discover … Continues – 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 18. Presentation on the preserve, land management and research. For young adults to adults.