Site occupation spans at Middle Ceramic Antelope Creek phase sites in the Southern Plains of Texas

Abstract

Twenty-one AMS radiocarbon and optical stimulated luminescence assays from Early Ceramic (Plains Woodland) and Middle Ceramic (Antelope Creek) periods are reported from sites on the Cross Bar Ranch in Potter County, Texas including the first direct date on Phaseolus sp. remains in the Southern Plains. Calibrated radiocarbon dates and a single luminescence assay are used to evaluate site occupation spans during the Middle Ceramic Antelope Creek phase (ca. AD 1150–1450). A method for determining occupation sequences between sites using combined probabilities is presented for Antelope Creek occupations on the Cross Bar Ranch and the entire period of occupation at the Cross Bar Ranch is compared to other direct dates on cultigens from the greater Antelope Creek phase in the Southern Plains of Texas.