Panhandle culture is a prehistoric culture of the southern High Plains during the Middle Ceramic Period from AD 1200 to 1400. Panhandle sites are primarily in the

panhandle A salient (also known as a panhandle or bootheel) is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on ...

and west central Oklahoma and the northern half of the

Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...

. The culture was likely an outgrowth of the Woodland phase or a migration of people from north-central Kansas.Gibbon, Guy E.; Ames, Kenneth M
''Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia''.
1998. p. 20. .

Panhandle focus divisions

Antelope Creek focus is the primary, and to some the only, cultural tradition of the Panhandle culture. The Optima focus was defined for sites in west central Oklahoma, but after further study, these sites were defined as Antelope Creek focus. In 1975 Robert G. Campbell defined the

Apishapa culture The Apishapa culture, or Apishapa Phase, a prehistoric culture from 1000 to 1400, was named based upon an archaeological site in the Lower Apishapa canyon in Colorado.Gibbon, Guy E.; Ames, Kenneth M. (1998''Archaeology of Prehistoric Native Americ ...

of southeastern Colorado's Chaquaqua Plateau as a Panhandle culture, which is disputed by other noted archaeologists.Gunnerson, James H. (1987)
''Archaeology of the High Plains.''
Denver: United States Forest Service. p. 87. The Panhandle and other cultures of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles are sometime grouped together in the Upper Canark variant within a broader range of cultures called the Southern Plains villagers.

Difficulty defining Panhandle culture

Several contributing factors have made it difficult to define the Panhandle culture, such as discrepancies in reporting

carbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was de ...

of artifacts, variations in interpretation of dating information, spotty information, and a lack of published material about the Panhandle culture.

Distinctive traits

While it has been difficult to define the time periods and foci of the Panhandle culture, there are some distinguishing characteristics: * Great similarity to the Central Plains complexes * Some, but much less, evidence of trading or influence of

Southwestern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

pueblo cultures. Their material goods also indicated other trading influences, such as plains pottery, sea-shells, and Smoky Hill Jasper from northwestern Kansas. * Single or multi-roomed stone structures, often with altars at the back of the structures and posts at four corners of the structure for support. People also camped or used sites with limited purposes. * People were

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fung ...

s of large and small mammals and wild plants, nuts and fruit. Some farmed. A primary good for trade for the Panhandle culture was Alibates agatized dolomite, such as that found at the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument.

Location of Panhandle sites

Most of the sites are centered on the

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .North Canadian River The North Canadian River is a river, long, in Oklahoma in the United States. It is a tributary of the Canadian River, draining an area of U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset/Watershed Boundary Dataset, area data covering North ...

or its tributaries, primarily Antelope Creek and also Cottonwood Creek, Dixon Creek, and Tarbox Creek. Panhandle culture sites were also found on the Archie King Ranch.

References

{{Reflist Archaeological cultures of North America Archaeological sites in Oklahoma Archaeological sites in Texas Archaeology of the United States Native American history of Colorado Plains Village period Post-Archaic period in North America Prehistoric cultures in Colorado