Test Excavations at Mission Concepcion Courtyard, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Abstract

In December 1990, the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, conducted limited test excavations at Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de Acuna (41 BX 12) for the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The purpose of the excavations was to locate wall footings in the courtyard area, to increase the accuracy of maps from previous investigations so that future drainage and landscape work can proceed with greater confidence about where cultural material is located below the surface. The excavations showed the eastern arcade wall of the second con vento to apparently be an uninterrupted wall, since arcade footings were not present. The western granary wall and the associated buttress were located. The excavations showed conclusively that the northern wall of the first convento did not extend eastward beyond the eastern arcade wall of the second convento, as had been previously projected. No traces of occupation surfaces were found. Our recommendation is that since the subsurface structural remains continue to offer complicated and sometimes surprising features, additional careful testing should be conducted before any potentially damaging work is begun