Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1979 - 30

a broad area, leaving all materials in place. In this
way, we hoped to obtain behavioral information
such as the size of the living area, how this
space was used, and the specific aboriginal
activities that took place.
Near the bottom of the cave deposits, James
H. Word of Floydada, Texas, who had led
amateur archaeologists here in the early 1960's,
had found a distinct occupational stratum containing lithics, fauna and other cultural debris.
Among the lithics was a late Palaeoindian projectile point form associated with the Golondrina
complex. Two radiocarbon dates of 6960 and
7080 b.c. were secured from the stratum. More
than a decade later, the late Robert F. Heizer and
I led an expedition to the cave. Two major areas
of Baker Cave were excavated and the new information began to create a clearer picture of
prehistoric occupation here. The first excavation
area, called Operation 2, measured roughly 4.5 by
6. 1 meters. The upper deposits in this area in the
rear of the cave had been removed during the
1968 excavations led by John W. Greer, then a
graduate student at The University of Texas at
Austin. Although this partially excavated area had
already yielded considerable occupational materials down to the 2600 b.c. level, the full range of
early deposits still awaited exposure. The second
excavation area, called Operation 3, was located a
few meters to the north where occupational strata
were exposed over a broad area. In Operation 2,
an intensive occupation typified by Pandale-type
projectile points dating to about 2600 b.c. was
found. One of the most interesting cultural features in this area was a pit filled with burned rock,
plant remains, discarded fiber artifacts and lithics.
Could this have been an ancient "garbage pit" or
a specialized cooking pit?
Underlying the Pandale occupation was slightly
more than a meter of loose, unconsolidated deposits. In these lower deposits were isolated lenses
- localized remains or refuse resulting from
human activities - and patches of rotted fiber.
One well-preserved textile fragment was recovered
and a charcoal sample associated with it proved to
be more than 8,000 years old. This unit is therefore chronologically associated with the preArchaic period (ca. 6000-3500 b.c.). Cornernotched dart points have also been uncovered in
parts of the cave; they resemble a series of points
found at other sites from this period in southwestern, central and southern Texas. Triangular
dart points reflect a similar spatial and temporal
distribution. The upper part of this stratigraphie
unit has been radiocarbon dated to 3350 ±140
b.c., while the lower part is dated to 6130 ± 80 b.c.
Immediately below the pre-Archaic fill is a distinc-

ARCHAEOLOGY

tive gray stratum which can be attributed to a
Palaeoindian occupation belonging to the Golondrina complex. Lithic artifacts include the basal
fragment of a Golondrina point, a tool made on a
blade (probably a knife or scraper), and a bifacial
gouge-like implement. The gouge is particularly
significant because until its discovery, such tools,
known as Clear Fork tools, had only been found
on the ground surface or in inconclusive association with Golondrina points in northeastern
Mexico and southern Texas. The presence of a
gouge implement at Baker Cave represents the
first time this type of prehistoric tool has been excavated in the region in association with Golondrina points, demonstrating that this tool form is
definitely part of the Golondrina complex tool kit.
The implement was covered with residue from
processing desert plants, and had apparently been
resharpened only a short time before the blade
snapped from its shaft. Additionally, we now
know that the use of the Clear Fork tool form
began at least 1,000 years earlier as indicated by
the data found at the St. Mary's Hall site.

Profile of Golondrinacomplexhearth showingthe
differentlayersof ash and charcoalconcentrations.
Amongthe ashesand charcoalwerethe abundant
remainsof charredplants, especiallyseeds,and animal
bones.Thesematerialshave providedextensivenew
informationon the dietaryregimeat Baker Cave 9,000
years ago.
T he most significant find in the Golondrina
stratum, however, was a large basin-shaped hearth
or cooking pit filled with ash and charcoal and
covered with a dome-shaped pile of burnt rock.
This proved to be a particularly rich discovery at
Baker Cave. The hearth has a maximum diameter
of 1.20 meters and a depth of 30 centimeters.
After the pit had been recorded and photographed, all of the fill was removed for controlled
fine-screening in the laboratory. The 200 pounds
of hearth fill contained thousands of fish, mammal and reptile bones, seed remains, flint flakes
and other debris. A preliminary pollen scan at the
University of California at Berkeley led to the
identification of sunflower, grasses, oak, Mormon

Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1979

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1979