Twelve thousand years of history are buried in the dust of the Texas Panhandle—and the bones are finally ready to speak.
Hidden within the Yellowhouse Draw on the edge of Lubbock, Texas, lies one of the most significant archaeological sites in North America. The Lubbock Lake Landmark was a secret kept by the earth, a silent witness to the extinction of giants and to the relentless endurance of the peoples who have lived there.
In The Story the Bones Tell, veteran journalist Sally Logue Post takes readers on a journey through deep time. From the icy winds of the Pleistocene, where massive Columbian mammoths and ancient bison once gathered at the water's edge, to the arrival of the first hunter-gatherers and the eventual settling of the modern West, this is more than a book about archaeology. It is a biography of a place.
Post weaves together the high-stakes drama of scientific discovery with the intimate stories of the people who lived, hunted, and died on these grounds. Guided by the pioneering work of Dr. Eileen Johnson and generations of researchers, the narrative transforms dusty excavation pits into a vivid time machine. Readers will stand alongside Clovis hunters tracking prey, witness the environmental shifts that reshaped the American Southwest, and discover how a single location can hold the continuous record of 12,000 years of life.
Engaging, accessible, and profound, The Story the Bones Tell is an essential chronicle of our connection to the land and a reminder that under our feet, a vast and ancient world is waiting to be remembered.
Table of Contents:
Illustrations
Foreword by Eileen Johnson
Preface
Author's Note
Chapter 1: It's All About the Water
Chapter 2: Layers of History
Chapter 3: Politics and Preservation
Chapter 4: Digging Up History
Chapter 5: Lions, Buffalo Hunters, and a Giant Tortoise
Chapter 6: Regional Context
Chapter 7: Fire and Flowers
Chapter 8: Lessons from the Landmark
Chapter 9: Past, Present, and Future
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
Sally Logue Post spent twenty-five years at Texas Tech University, including in leadership roles in the Office of Communications and Marketing, the Museum at Texas Tech University, and the Office of the Vice President for Research. She also worked as a journalist for two decades at Texas newspapers and television stations. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Texas Tech. She is now retired.
