The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

KUBIK SITE.

The Kubik Site (34KA354) in Kay County, Oklahoma, is a relatively undisturbed campsite occupied by Archaic foragers that used distinctive basally-notched Calf Creek-style points. Discovered in 1992, the deeply buried site is on a low terrace of a permanent creek in the Flint Hills area of north-central Oklahoma. Outcrops of high-quality Florence chert, used for stone tools, are found less than one-half mile from the site and most likely influenced the selection of this camping location.

Test excavations at the Kubik Site over several seasons exposed faunal remains, stone tools, and some charcoal fragments. Occupational depths of the Calf Creek materials ranged from about four to six feet below the ground surface. These recovered faunal and floral remains provide clues about a hunting-and-gathering group with a diet of bison, deer, nuts, and possibly wild onions. Charred wood samples and a charred black walnut husk, recovered from the levels most likely associated with the Calf Creek-style tools, also provided environmental information and six radiocarbon dates. The radiocarbon results indicate an occupation of this site between about 5,000 and 5,800 years ago or roughly 3000 to 3850 B.C.

Prior to the testing of the Kubik Site, Calf Creek sites were primarily represented by surface collections of stone tools. Very little was known about the people's subsistence practices. Radiocarbon dating and preserved faunal and floral remains were also limited to only a few sites. The excavations at the Kubik Site have increased archaeologists' understanding of this group of prehistoric foragers, more accurately placing them in time and providing information about environmental conditions and diet.

Marjorie A. Duncan