Anthropology Commons^™

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 …

Ecotourism In The Galápagos Islands: A Case Study In The Anthropology Of Tourism, Claire Wellbeloved-Stone

Anthropology Department Honors Papers

This project originated my sophomore year as my application to the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA). In my search for a project that would relate to anthropology and the Galápagos Islands I discovered the potential to study the tourism industry and its effects on society. Over the course of three years the project developed from a proposal as part of my application to CISLA to an internship and an honors thesis.

The focus of this thesis is the study of ecotourism in the Galápagos Islands, with a concentration on the interaction between tourists and …

‘The Hole’ Exposed: Voices On Solitary Confinement In The American Prison System, Sarah Schnitman

Anthropology Department Honors Papers

Solitary confinement, as practiced within the United States penal system, is a form of imprisonment that is rarely studied within the field of anthropology due to the nature of isolated prisoners as highly inaccessible subjects. Details about the physical appearance of such isolation units and the range of effects reported over the years by inmates and activist organizations have been largely veiled to the general public. However, scholars, political bodies, and the press began to pick up conditions of solitary confinement as an issue of inhumane treatment and torture. Although forms of isolated imprisonment have been used in the United …

"Manufacturing” Community: Solidarity, Profit, And The Bar Owner, Timothy Hartshorn

Anthropology Department Honors Papers

The following study examines the potential of eight independently run bars in New London, Connecticut to “manufacture” community. This process is examined with particular focus on the tension felt by bar owners, who must continually attract new patrons while still keeping their current “regulars” content. Inherent to this study is the reexamination of “community” as an analytically useful term in anthropological scholarship, with particular emphasis on disproportionate feelings of belonging and commitment as manifested by individual interpretation of collectively rendered symbols.

This data for this study was collected by virtue of semi-structured interviews as well as ethnographic field observation. The …