The Impact of Grassland Fires on the Archaeological Record—A Case Study Along the Eastern Escarpment of the Southern High Plains of Texas

Stance Hurst (), Doug Cunningham, Eileen Johnson and Glenn Fernandez-Cespedes
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Stance Hurst: Heritage and Museum Sciences, Texas Tech University, Museum of Texas Tech, Campus Box 43191, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Doug Cunningham: Lubbock Lake Landmark, 2401 Landmark Drive, Lubbock, TX 79415, USA
Eileen Johnson: Heritage and Museum Sciences, Texas Tech University, Museum of Texas Tech, Campus Box 43191, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Glenn Fernandez-Cespedes: Lubbock Lake Landmark, 2401 Landmark Drive, Lubbock, TX 79415, USA

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: Fires are an essential aspect of the grassland ecosystem across the Great Plains of North America. Wildfires can also transform surrounding rocks to appear like hearths or hearthstones used by prehistoric people. A grassland fire that swept through part of a historic ranch located along the eastern escarpment of the Southern High Plains of Texas has created surface features that mimicked the appearance of hearths. Fourteen wildfire features resembling hearths have been documented, and thermally modified rocks from the surface of three of these features were analyzed to investigate the impact of natural fires on the landscape. The results demonstrate that wildfires can create features resembling hearths when an adjacent shrub is burned. An excavation and detailed analysis, however, suggest that (1) the tops of thermally modified rocks from a wildfire will often have a relatively darker Munsell color value in comparison to their bottom halves, and (2) wildfire features will likely have a thinner cross-section of ash and larger pieces of charcoal produced from the incomplete combustion of the nearby shrub and deadfall. The broader implications are useful for understanding site formation processes within temperate grassland settings in other places.

Keywords: grassland fires; hearths; Southern High Plains; thermal features; site formation process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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