Some sinkholes have highly alkaline soils that rapidly destroy bone.

Others, like Bering Sinkhole itself, offer somewhat better preservation through the stability of the underground environment.

The preservation of DNA in these conditions is uncertain — the Texas climate works against ancient DNA survival — but even without DNA, the physical remains and the associated artifacts provide significant information about the people who used these spaces.

The karst landscape of the plateau is, in this sense, still being read.

Each new discovery adds to the picture of Archaic life on the plateau, filling in the outlines of populations that otherwise leave few visible traces on the landscape.