Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Evidence For A Long-Distance Trade In Bois D'Arc Bows In 16th Century Texas (Maclura Pomifera, Moraceae), Leslie L. Bush

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

A piece of wood charcoal identified as bois d’arc (Maclura pomifera) was recovered from the Janee site (41MN33) in Menard County, Texas. The specimen has been directly dated to 400 ± 30 B.P., a period when no naturally-occurring bois d’arc stands are believed to have been present within 400 miles of the site. Bois d’arc ecology, economic uses of bois d’arc wood, and historical accounts of bois d’arc trade indicate the specimen is best interpreted as part of a trade item related to Caddo bow-making traditions in Northeast Texas and adjacent areas of other states.

Post Of Lampasas: Forgotten Reconstruction Era U.S. Army Post (1867-1870), Richard S. Jones

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

While it is well known that troops were stationed in and around Lampasas during the Reconstruction era (1865-1877), the existence of an army post in Lampasas County, Texas, has been rediscovered through the recent digitization of army post returns. The post returns, available through the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and Ancestry.com, indicated that the post operated between 1867 and 1870. These post returns are utilized to highlight significant events that occurred in this area during the Reconstruction era. Circumstantial evidence obtained while conducting this research has identified the actual location of the post within the City of Lampasas.

Deflation Troughs, Water, And Prehistoric Occupation On The Margins Of The South Texas Sand Sheet, Juan L. González, Russell K. Skowronek, Bobbie L. Lovett

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Within the South Texas Plains, the area broadly defined by the Rio Grande to the south and the Nueces River to the north, a distance of ca. 175 km, evidence of open human occupation is remarkably abundant. Because it is predominantly a region of loose, sandy soils and active and relict sand dunes where wind processes dominate, the area is known as the South Texas Sand Sheet (STSS). There is no running water within the STSS and all streams are ephemeral. Existing drainage systems are small, localized, and not integrated, carrying water for a few days and up to two …

Archival Research Of The History Of The Francisco Flores Ranch, Adriana Munoz Ziga

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Francisco Flores Ranch, located northwest of Floresville, Texas, encompassed five sitios of land and one labor on the west bank of the San Antonio River at the paraje known as Chayopines. The Flores Ranch is one of the last surviving privately owned colonial ranches that have been identified in the San Antonio River valley containing standing structures possibly dating to the original date of occupation. I outline previous research on the property and offer new interpretations on the farm and ranch complex.

Negative Findings Phase I Survey Report Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area Brazoria County, Texas, Jeff Turpin

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

During October of 2014, Turpin and Sons Inc. (TAS) conducted a cultural resource assessment of two potential horizontal directional drill (HDD) locations and one additional baseline trench location along Jones Creek within the Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The area of interest is located along an existing pipeline corridor between the San Bernard and Brazos rivers in southwest Brazoria County, Texas. The project was sponsored by Gremminger and Associates Inc., acting as agents for Air Liquide Large Industries U.S. LP, and conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit Number 7029 issued to Dr. Jeff …

Archeological Investigations At The Kitchen Branch (41cp220), B. J. Horton (41cp20), And Keering (41cp21) Sites, Big Cypress Creek Basin, Camp County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mason Miller, R. Bo Nelson, Leslie L. Bush, Leslie G. Cecil, Linda Scott Cummings, Chase Earles, Rachel Feit, Jeffrey R. Ferguson, Michael D. Glascock, Melissa K. Logan, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Leeanna Schniebs, R. A. Varney, Chester P. Walker, Mindy Bonine

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This report details excavations at the Kitchen Branch site (41CP220) in Camp County, Texas. Working on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, archeologists from AmaTerra Environmental, Inc., Archeological and Environmental Consultants, LLC, Hicks & Company Environmental, Archeological, and Planning Consultants, Inc, and Coastal Environments Inc., completed National Register of Historic Places and State Antiquities Landmark eligibility testing and later data recovery investigations of components of the Kitchen Branch site. Work was conducted for compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended) and the Antiquities Code of Texas (13 TAC 26) between 2004 …

Data Recovery Investigations At The Tank Destroyer Site (41cv1378) At Fort Hood, Coryell County, Texas, Douglas K. Boyd, John E. Dockall, Karl W. Kibler, Gemma Mehalchick, Laura M. Short

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Data recovery investigations at the Tank Destroyer site (41CV1378) were conducted in August 2007 for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This work was required because of potential impacts to the site from TxDOT’s planned improvements of Tank Destroyer Boulevard and State Highway 9. The investigations focused on a burned rock mound (Feature 1), one-half of which has been destroyed by an adjacent tank trail. The mound contained two internal features: an off-centered earth oven and a small cluster of Rabdotus sp. shells. With the exception of the location of its earth oven, the mound at the Tank Destroyer is …

Barrett Site (41mm382) Assessment, Milam County, Texas, J. Michael Quigg, Paul M. Matchen, Charles D. Frederick, Brittney Gregory, Robert A. Ricklis

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Bryan District of Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) proposes to replace the existing bridge at the San Gabriel River along a farm-to-market road and expand the width of the existing two-lane roadway in Milam County (CSJ: 0590-05-027). In response to that proposed development, TxDOT staff archeologists from the Archeological Studies Program in Austin reviewed the Texas Historical Commission (THC) Archeological Sites Atlas, a database which contains previously documented cultural resource sites, and conducted an intensive archeological field survey with mechanical trenching along the proposed area of potential effect (APE) in February 2012. During that survey a buried prehistoric site …

Eligibility Testing At 41bu75, Burleson County, Texas, Jennifer K. Mcwilliams, Karl W. Kibler, John E. Dockall, Eloise Frances Gadus, Ross C. Fields

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted test excavations at site 41BU75 in Burleson County, Texas, to determine its eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as a State Antiquities Landmark. The work was performed in 2007 under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 4525 for the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division, in conjunction with a planned widening of FM 60, which will require up to 45 m of new right of way. The excavations consisted of six Gradall trenches and five 1x1-m hand-dug test units totaling 6.9 m3, all on state-owned land. Excavations yielded a small …

Relocation Of The Salvador Camarena Burial: Historical And Bioarcheological Investigations Of A Mexican Migrant Worker Grave (41mv372) In Maverick County, Texas, Douglas K. Boyd, Amy E. Dase, Christopher W. Ringstaff, M. Katherine Spradley, Catrina Banks Whitley

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

F rom 2011 through 2014, the Texas Department of Transportation collaborated with Prewitt and Associates, Inc., to investigate an isolated grave in a remote area alongside FM 481 in Maverick County, Texas. An initial archeological investigation confirmed that the location was a historic grave, and archival records revealed that it contained the remains of Salvador Camarena, a Mexican citizen who died in Texas in January 1950. Additional research identified Camarena’s son and other family members living in Mexico, California, and Texas. With the family’s permission, the burial remains were exhumed, examined, and reinterred at La Marque Cemetery in Galveston County, …

Historic Archeological Investigations At Roberts Cemetery Near Troy, Bell County, Texas, Jennifer K. Mcwilliams, Catrina Banks Whitley, Jeremy W. Pye, Terri Myers, James T. Abbott, Douglas K. Boyd

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

A preliminary archeological investigation was conducted in 2008 at Roberts Cemetery near Troy, Texas, as part of the Texas Department of Transportation’s planned expansion of Interstate Highway 35. Mechanical trenching discovered one unmarked grave near the highway right of way, and this led to an extensive mechanical search of the eastern edge of the cemetery in 2012. Following the removal of the southbound access road and thick layer of artificial fill, five additional unmarked graves were discovered. Of the six unmarked graves, two are located in the cemetery property and were left in place, but the four burials inside the …

Eligibility Testing At Three Prehistoric Sites At Lynch Creek, Lampasas County, Texas, J. Michael Quigg, Paul M. Matchen, Robert A. Ricklis, Shannon Gray, Charles D. Frederick, Jason Barrett

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In August 2004, archeologists from the Cultural Resources Section of the Planning, Permitting and Licensing Practice of TRC Environmental Corporation’s Austin office conducted National Register eligibility testing and geoarcheological documentation at three previously unrecorded prehistoric sites, 41LM49, 41LM50, and 41LM51, at two separate bridge crossings over Lynch Creek (TxDOT Project CSJ: #0231-15-032; designated East and West) by Farm to Market Road 580W (FM 580W) in western Lampasas County, Texas. This archeological investigation was necessary under the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the implementing regulations of 36CRF Part 800 and the Antiquities Code of Texas …

A Precise Chronology Of Middle To Late Holocene Bison Exploitation In The Far Southern Great Plains, Jon C. Lohse, Brendan J. Culleton, Stephen L. Black, Douglas J. Kennett

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In regions on the margins of the Great Plains grasslands, documenting the intermittent history of bison exploitation has presented challenges to archeologists. Chronologies based on archeological associations have long been useful in regional research, but can be imprecise and of inadequate resolution for constructing precise sequences of prehistoric events. Here, we present a record of directly dated bison from archeological contexts spanning the last 6000 years on the very southern extent of the Great Plains. This study includes 61 specimens from archeological contexts that were dated by XAD purified AMS radiocarbon, with reported errors of only 15-20 14C years for …

Archeological Investigations For The Fm 270 Shared Use Path From Henderson Avenue To South Of The Hl&P Hot Water Canal, Harris And Galveston Counties, Texas, Julian A. Sitters, Rachel Feit

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In June of 2014, AmaTerra Environmental, Inc. (AmaTerra) carried out an intensive archeological investigation of the Texas Department of Transportation’s proposed bicycle and pedestrian shared use path along Farm-to-Market (FM) 270 in Harris and Galveston Counties, Texas (CSJ: 3312-01-008 and 3312-02-012). The proposed project extends from Henderson Avenue to approximately 1,000 feet south of the Houston Light & Power (HL&P) Hot Water Canal and entails the construction of a 16-foot wide shared use path, which includes two bridges: one over Clear Creek and a second bridge over the HL&P Hot Water Canal. The total project length is approximately 1.1 miles …

Cultural Resources Survey Of Forest Stewardship Area 1 For The City Of Tyler Smith County, Texas, Victor Galan

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Deep East Texas Archaeological Consultants (DETAC) conducted a cultural resource management survey for the City of Tyler, Texas of approximately 104.6 hectares (258.5 acres) in four tracts of Forest Stewardship Area 1 around Lake Tyler East. Timber will be thinned in the project area and hauled off the property. The pedestrian survey was conducted with a combination of visual examination in floodplains and shovel testing across upland ridges. A total of 232 shovel tests were excavated across the shovel tested areas. No new archaeological sites were recorded, but one isolated find was found in Tract 3 and a road cut …

Archeological Investigations Of The Proposed Leon Creek Emergency Bank Stabilization Project San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, Melanie Nichols

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

On April 8, 2013, Atkins North America, Inc. (Atkins) conducted an emergency archaeological survey for the proposed City of San Antonio (COSA)-sponsored Leon Creek Emergency Bank Stabilization project in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. The project will include the removal of concrete that has been dumped along the north side of the Leon Creek channel as well as approximately 500 feet of immediate stabilization improvements along Leon Creek’s south channel wall. The project area is defined as the footprint of the proposed stabilization improvements along the north and south channel walls of Leon Creek. The proposed project is located on …

A Cultural Resources Survey Of The Proposed Herff Road Re-Alignment Project, Kendall County, Texa, David L. Nickels, Tierras Antiguas

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Klotz Associates of Houston, Texas contracted with Tierras Antiguas Archaeological Investigations to conduct a cultural resources survey of 700 linear meters of road right-of-way on the outskirts of the city of Boerne, in Kendall County, Texas. The total Area of Potential Effect is 700 meters long x 45 meters wide, for a total of 7.78 acres. Texas Antiquities Permit #6708 was issued in order to proceed with the archaeological investigations.

Tierras Antiguas conducted a thorough pedestrian survey and dug 17 shovel tests on May 23 and 25, 2014, resulting in the discovery of no evidence of either prehistoric or historic …

Intensive Archaeological Survey Of The East Crystal Falls Parkway (Cr 272) Improvements Project, From Us 183 To Us 183a, Williamson County, Texas, Christian T. Hartnett, Abigail Peyton

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

PROJECT TITLE: Intensive Archaeological Survey of the East Crystal Falls Parkway (CR 272) Improvements Project, From US 183 to US 183A, Williamson County, Texas

LOCATION: The project is located in southwestern Williamson County roughly 1.5 miles east of the City of Leander, Texas. The project begins at US 183 and runs northeastward terminating at US 183A. The project area is located on the Leander, Texas USGS 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle map.

PURPOSE OF WORK: The project sponsor is fulfilling regulatory requirements in compliance with the Texas Antiquities Code and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

PROJECT SPONSOR: Texas Department …

Final Report On The Archeological Investigations Of The Jacob's Well Natural Area Hays County, Texas, Samantha Walden Champion, Josh Haefner, Shannon Smith

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In January 2014, Hicks & Company completed an intensive areal survey of the Jacob’s Well Natural Area in Wimberley, Hays County, Texas. The survey was completed for Hays County under Texas Antiquities Permit #6732 in preparation for redevelopment of the 81.5-acre area as detailed in the Jacob’s Well Development Master Plan finalized in July 2012. The improvements will be constructed on land that is owned and controlled by Hays County, a political subdivision of the State of Texas, and is therefore subject to the requirements of the Antiquities Code of Texas. Furthermore, since the proposed project is funded through an …

State Loop 195 Between Farm To Market 755 And Us 83, Starr County, Texas, Kristen Atwood, Steve Carpenter, Christopher Shelton, Jessica Uimer, Ken Lawrence, Christopher Ringstaff

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Over the course of two field sessions in May 2016 and in May 2018, SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey along the proposed State Loop (SL) 195 from Farm-to-Market (FM) 755 to 1.4 miles west of the intersection of U.S. Highway (US) 83 and Loma Blanca Road in Starr County, Texas. This work augmented previous investigations by Cox-McClain and Hicks and Company. This management summary addresses the cumulative work completed, resources identified, eligibility recommendations, and what remains to be completed.

SWCA’s work was conducted in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 …

Linking Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (Inaa) With Geology In The Ancestral Caddo Region, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

CRHR: Archaeology

This poster illustrates the success of a novel method of INAA that was employed to reveal geochemical signatures in Caddo ceramic vessel sherds that correlate with local surficial geology. The geochemical data from the sherd assemblage were used within an exploration of potential ceramic provenance, which was successful at demarcating sherds from ceramic vessels made from clays in either the Claiborne or Wilcox Groups. Further geochemical segregation was also apparent between the Recklaw Formation in the Claiborne Group, and the Weches Formation in the Wilcox Group. These results point to a high degree of geochemical variability within the East Texas …

Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (Inaa) Of Shell-Tempered Ceramics In The Ancestral Caddo Region: Rethinking Methods, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Timothy K. Perttula

CRHR: Archaeology

The geochemical analysis of shell-tempered ceramics in the ancestral Caddo region has been a matter of confusion since the mid-1990s. While Caddo archaeologists have long perceived most or all of the shell-tempered ceramics in East Texas to have originated from two different areas within the Red River basin, the geochemical data and interpretations remain inconsistent with that idea. This poster takes another look at this dataset, and considers an approach that was initially put forth by MURR, and then seemingly abandoned. Using only the geochemical data from shell-tempered sherds, we take a closer look at the contributions of calcium (Ca), …

Toward A Morphometric Phylogeny Of Caddo Ceramics: A Test Of 3d Geometric Morphometrics, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Timothy K. Perttula, Michael J. O'Brien

CRHR: Archaeology

In this poster we use 3D geometric morphometrics as an exploratory tool for examining diversity in vessel form (or shape) among 27 whole or reconstructed Caddo vessels from the Vanderpool site in Smith County, Texas. Forty-one landmarks from each vessel were exported to version 2.5 of Morphologika for generalized Procrustes analysis and principal components analysis and were then exported to R for cluster analysis (depending on sample size). Despite the small sample size, results indicate that 3D geometric morphometric analysis is an avenue of ceramic research where substantive analytical gains can be realized.

At The Confluence Of Gis And Geochemistry: Identifying Geochemical Correlates Of Ripley Engraved Caddo Ceramics, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Timothy K. Perttula

CRHR: Archaeology

In this poster, we discuss a new approach to the identification and definition of spatial trends in archeologically-recovered ceramics associated with geochemical results produced using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Using all of the Ripley Engraved INAA samples, we posit that clays in the Claiborne and Wilcox Groups can be successfully demarcated by sodium (Na), cerium (Ce), and zinc (Zn). Using a subset of those data from the Big Cypress Creek basin, we find that ceramics manufactured in three different Caddo political communities can be successfully demarcated based upon differential concentrations of arsenic (As), iron (Fe), and vanadium (V) found …

Advances In Documentation, Digital Curation, Virtual Exhibition, And A Test Of 3d Geometric Morhpometrics: A Case Study Of The Vanderpool Vessels From The Ancestral Caddo Territory, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Timothy K. Perttula, Michael J. O'Brien

CRHR: Archaeology

Three-dimensional (3D) digital scanning of archaeological materials is typically used as a tool for artifact documentation. With the permission of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, 3D documentation of Caddo funerary vessels from the Vanderpool site (41SM77) was conducted with the initial goal of ensuring that these data would be publicly available for future research long after the vessels were repatriated. A digital infrastructure was created to archive and disseminate the resultant 3D datasets, ensuring that they would be accessible by both researchers and the general public (CRHR 2014a). However, 3D imagery can be used for much more than documentation. To …

Documentation Of Cemeteries And Funerary Offerings From Sites In The Upper Neches River Basin, Anderson, Cherokee, And Smith Counties, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

CRHR: Archaeology

No abstract provided.

A Catalog Of Selected Caddo Ceramic Vessels In The Buddy Jones Collection At The Gregg County Historical Museum, Timothy K. Perttula, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Bo Nelson

CRHR: Archaeology

No abstract provided.

Beyond Documentation: 3d Data In Archaeology, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Bernard K. Means, Jon C. Lohse, Charles Koenig, Stephen L. Black

CRHR: Archaeology

As the costs associated with the collection of 3D data continue to plummet, there is little doubt that the number of available archaeology-related 3D datasets will increase dramatically in the coming decade. While our analytical procedures continue to evolve as new applications are contemplated, analyses of 3D data are increasing in frequency within the archaeological literature. In this article, we seek to provide a brief overview of a few examples from our own research and explore some possibilities that may add value to existing collections. In the following pages, we discuss some of the ways that 3D data have been …

From The Past (1854): A Chapter On Necklaces, Old And New, Mrs. White

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Originally published in Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book in 1854 (pp. 213-216), this article presents a brief history of necklaces among the classic Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, as well as the British, from the perspective of an educated English lady. It is an instructive early study of strung adornments based on antiquarian, historical, and literary sources.

Archaeometrical Analysis Of Glass Beads: Potential, Limitations, And Results, Adelphine Bonneau, Jean-François Moreau, Ron G.V. Hancock

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Over the past few decades, several new analytical techniques have been used to determine the composition and the likely production centers of glass beads found at archaeological sites around the world. Made since antiquity, glass beads are important artifacts which can provide much more information than their small size suggests. This article reviews the most common analytical techniques used to study glass beads - optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and Raman spectroscopy - and discusses their potential, limitations, and what results may be …