Archaeological Testing of the Burleson Homestead at 41HY37 Hays County, Texas

At the request of Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University-San Marcos), the Center for Archaeological Studies (CAS) conducted an archaeological excavation of the historic Burleson Homestead (41HY37). The excavation was conducted in June and July of 2000 under Texas Antiquities Committee Permit No. 2406. Artifacts collected during the project were processed and curated at CAS. In addition, CAS conducted archival research on structures located within the project boundaries. Upon completion of the excavation and archival research, a great deal has been learned concerning the Burleson ownership and use of the San Marcos Springs. Unfortunately, little intact evidence survives. CAS determined that the original cabin had been completely dismantled and a replica cabin was assembled nearby, but not on the original foundation . Most of the deposits on the ridge top have been disturbed and most of the recorded features relate to the construction of the replica cabin in the 1960s. The one early feature that does survive, Feature 4, should be preserved and used to provide a more accurate and full understanding of the locale when Edward Burleson settled the site and helped establish the community of San Marcos. CAS therefore recommends that no further archaeological investigations are necessary and that the site should be used to further the public education of the early history of the San Marcos Springs and the City of San Marcos

Cultural Implications of Late Quaternary Environmental Change in Northeastern Texas

Northeastern Texas is one of the most intensely studied archaeological regions of the state, principally for the two reasons that (1) archaeologically-rich Caddoan manifestations have long attracted interest and (2) many large land-modifying projects, such as reservoirs and strip mines, have occasioned environmental studies which include investigations of cultural resources. This greater amount of activity relative to other regions in the state has generally prevailed for more than a century (Guy 1990) and prospects are good that archaeologists will continue to intensely research the area in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, however, they will be hard-pressed to keep pace with the destruction of archaeological sites. The region is growing in population and developing economically which inevitably results in land modifications destructive of archaeological evidence. Also, many sites are being willfully destroyed by commercial dealers in antiquities and by relic collectors. This contribution to historic preservation planning is concerned with gaining a better understanding of the past environmental factors that stimulated responses by past inhabitants of Northeastern Texas, and the natural environmental context of the archaeological record in Northeastern Texas. The area has some overall environmental similarities--such as being in a single physiographic section, and falling within a single climatic region--that might be misconstrued to imply a uniformity of conditions critical in pre-industrial human adaptations. In fact, the conditions important in human ecology vary significantly across space and have varied equally significantly over time

National Register Evaluation of Eight Sites at Camp Swift Army National Guard Training Center, Bastrop County, Texas: Swift V

The Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG) conducts military training on Camp Swift, an approximately 11,500-acre tract in northern Bastrop County, Texas. The TXARNG is responsible for complying with federal legislation regarding the assessment and management of environmental and cultural resources. An earlier cultural resources assessment by the Center for Archaeological Studies (CAS), Texas State University-San Marcos, conducted under compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NRHP), identifi ed 11 sites deemed potentially capable of contributing meaningful information on the record of prehistoric human occupation at Camp Swift. In particular, Criterion D of National Park Service Rule 36 CFR Part 60, addressing sites or properties that have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history, is often used for assessing the potential NRHP eligibility of Camp Swift prehistoric sites. These 11 sites were shown by survey and shovel tests to contain or potentially contain signifi cant cultural deposits including intact burned rock features. Eight of these sites (41BP105, 41BP111, 41BP113, 41BP118, 41BP121, 41BP471, 41BP491, 41BP528), containing robust deposits but no specifi c features, were selected for more extensive examination before recommendations for additional research could be fi nalized. This work was carried out by CAS archaeologists in October of 2005. The remaining three (41BP91, 41BP100, 41BP471) will be examined in more detail through a combination of hand-excavated units and backhoe trenching in a future effort. The current report describes the results of work carried out at the eight sites, evaluates those fi ndings in a local and regional culture historical framework, and provides recommendations to the TXARNG for treatment of those sites so that they can fulfi ll their Section 106 obligations

Spatial Dynamics of U.S. Cultural Resource Law

The American Antiquities Act, Historic Sites Act, Archeological and Historic Preservation Act, National Historic Preservation Act, American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Archeological Resources Protection Act, Abandoned Shipwreck Act, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act comprise the basis of our exploration of cultural resource legislation in the United States. Since the passage of the American Antiquities Act in 1906, 1086 cases have challenged these statutes in U.S. courts. We investigate temporal and regional patterns of the case law to establish whether these laws are uniformly prosecuted throughout the U.S. Our findings suggest that case law is complex and controlled by many factors, including unequal application

Archaeological Investigations at the Landa Park Golf Course, New Braunfels, Texas

In April 1996, the Center for Archaeological Research of The University of Texas at San Antonio was contracted by the city of New Braunfels to perform monitoring and testing to determine the impact of planned construction on cultural resources in Landa Park. The work was conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 1682. The planned development called for the construction of a golf cart bam, and subsurface excavations for one electrical line and two waterlines to supply the bam with power and water. Shovel testing was performed on the proposed site of the golf cart bam and along transects for the utility lines. Monitoring was also conducted when the utility transects were trenched. The testing and monitoring operations uncovered various prehistoric and historic artifacts, including platform and nonplatform flakes, mussel shell, fire-cracked rock, glass, nails, and wire. The prehistoric material also included bifaces, unifaces, diagnostic projectile points (Scottsbluff, Hoxie, Montell, and Marcos), two Clear Fork tools, and one grooved grinding stone of ferruginous sandstone. In addition, a burned rock featurepossibly a large hearth-was discovered along one of the utility transects. Geological observations confirmed the contextual integrity of the artifacts. This new data expands the site boundaries of a previously recorded site, 41CM175, along the flanking edge of the T1 terrace. The results of the testing and monitoring concluded that there is a long history of human occupation in the project area-starting from the Late Paleoindian period, through the Archaic, and into the Historic-and that cultural materials exist in good geological as well as archaeological contexts. The site, 41CM175, is recommended as eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places

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

Cultural resources management (CRM) reports represent a rapidly growing proportion of our knowledge associated with archaeological undertakings in the United States. Historically, these reports were printed in limited numbers and distributed to a few libraries and individuals, and few were distributed beyond the political boundaries of any given state. Libraries on the distribution list are reticent to allow patrons to check out these reports due to the fact that they have—and will only ever have—a single copy. Late in 2009, the Texas Historical Commission (THC) permitting guidelines for CRM reports were updated, requiring CRM contractors to submit a digital copy of a redacted (no site locations or photographs of human remains) report before their permits could be closed. These reports, the lion’s share of which were funded with public monies, were meant to be made publicly accessible and should be available, and now are, through the Index of Texas Archaeology

Excavations for the Upper Labor Dam Site, Brackenridge Park, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Upon notification, in 1995, that a portion of a Spanish Colonial acequia had been exposed in Brackenridge Park, the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of San Antonio entered into a contract with the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of the University of Texas at San Antonio to investigate and document the structure. In September of 1996, a team from CAR, utilizing a backhoe and operator provided by Parks and Recreation, began a limited investigation of the structure. The structure proved to be the dam for the Upper Labor and displayed two distinct construction periods, Spanish Colonial and post -1860. It was further documented that the structure acted as a diversion device rather than a full empoundment structure

Prehistoric Archeology and Paleoenvironments in Hidalgo and Willacy Counties, South Texas: Results of the Phase II Test Excavations

In May 1989 through July 1989, archeological and geomorphological investigations were conducted at five prehistoric archeological sites impacted by drainage ditch construction in Hidalgo and Willacy counties. These investigations were sponsored by Hidalgo County Drainage District No. I and Willacy County Drainage District No. I as part of a continuing program of cultural resources studies along the drainage ditch construction right-of-way. One site, 41WYI40, is situated on a low rise adjacent to a main channel of the ditch and lacks sufficient Holocene sediments to contain archeological materials in good context. However, a tortoise, cf. Gopherus hexagollarus, was recovered, and the inorganic fraction was assayed by radiocarbon to 9360 ± 415 B.P. If correct, this date indicates that these now-extinct tortoises could have been coeval with Paleoindian occupations in South Texas. The other four sites are in or on the edges of small deflationary basins. Based on the radiocarbon chronology obtained from these sites, soils formed on many of the deflationary basins during the late Pleistocene. Between ca. 12,000 B.P. and 5000 B.P., these soils were removed by wind erosion, and in the last 5,000 years, a modem soil formed. At all sites, this modem soil has been disturbed by historic farming, land clearing, and ditch construction. The prehistoric archeological remains at 41HGI28, 41WY1l2, 41WY1l3, and 41WYl34 are sparse, reflecting a continuing record of nonintensive use by mobile hunter-gatherers. In order to assess the National Register eligibility of individual sites, three models of hunter-gatherer resource and territorial exploitation patterns were developed and a preliminary test of these models was conducted with the regional archeological data base. The first model assumes unrestricted access to all major resource areas in the region; the second model assumes that prehistoric territories focused on resources along the Rio Grande floodplain; and Ole third model assumes that hunter-gatherer territories were organized in response to coastal resources. The results of the test were inconclusive, but important exploitation patterns were recognized and invalid assumptions of the models identified. In light of the recovered materials from the sites. the analysis of the regional data base, and the assessment of the models, none of the five sites reported here are judged eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and no further work at these sites is recommended

Prehistoric Archeology and Paleoenvironments in Hidalgo and Willacy Counties, South Texas: Results of the Phase II Test Excavations

In May 1989 through July 1989, archeological and geomorphological investigations were conducted at five prehistoric archeological sites impacted by drainage ditch construction in Hidalgo and Willacy counties. These investigations were sponsored by Hidalgo County Drainage District No. I and Willacy County Drainage District No. I as part of a continuing program of cultural resources studies along the drainage ditch construction right-of-way. One site, 41WYI40, is situated on a low rise adjacent to a main channel of the ditch and lacks sufficient Holocene sediments to contain archeological materials in good context. However, a tortoise, cf. Gopherus hexagollarus, was recovered, and the inorganic fraction was assayed by radiocarbon to 9360 ± 415 B.P. If correct, this date indicates that these now-extinct tortoises could have been coeval with Paleoindian occupations in South Texas. The other four sites are in or on the edges of small deflationary basins. Based on the radiocarbon chronology obtained from these sites, soils formed on many of the deflationary basins during the late Pleistocene. Between ca. 12,000 B.P. and 5000 B.P., these soils were removed by wind erosion, and in the last 5,000 years, a modem soil formed. At all sites, this modem soil has been disturbed by historic farming, land clearing, and ditch construction. The prehistoric archeological remains at 41HGI28, 41WY1l2, 41WY1l3, and 41WYl34 are sparse, reflecting a continuing record of nonintensive use by mobile hunter-gatherers. In order to assess the National Register eligibility of individual sites, three models of hunter-gatherer resource and territorial exploitation patterns were developed and a preliminary test of these models was conducted with the regional archeological data base. The first model assumes unrestricted access to all major resource areas in the region; the second model assumes that prehistoric territories focused on resources along the Rio Grande floodplain; and Ole third model assumes that hunter-gatherer territories were organized in response to coastal resources. The results of the test were inconclusive, but important exploitation patterns were recognized and invalid assumptions of the models identified. In light of the recovered materials from the sites. the analysis of the regional data base, and the assessment of the models, none of the five sites reported here are judged eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and no further work at these sites is recommended

Archeological Survey of Wildlife Mitigation Lands, Justiceburg Reservoir, Garza County, Texas

In order to fulfill its obligations in conjunction with the proposed Jnsticeburg Reservoir project, the City of Lubbock, Texas, is considering the purchase of 2,240 acres in Garza County to serve as wildlife mitigation lands. Prior to the City\u27s final decision to acquire the land, an archeological survey was conducted. The ca. 1,000 acres of incised canyonland and upland margin and ca. 215 acres of selected upland rises were intensively surveyed, while the remaining 1,025 acres of upland flat and low-lying areas were spot checked. Subsurface geomorphic investigations (i.e., backhoe trenching) of the uplands were also conducted. The survey resulted in the documentation of 1 historic and 32 prehistoric archeological sites (1 previously recorded). Of these, the historic site is recommended as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and eight prehistoric sites are of unknown eligibility. These nine sites will need special management considerations to prevent impacts from wildlife mitigation use of the land. Historic use of the project area is associated with late nineteenth/early twentieth-century cattle ranching, while all of the prehistoric occupations that can be temporally defined are late Archaic or Late Prehistoric. Most of the cultural activity is clustered around three major freshwater spring complexes. There appears to have been intensive use of these areas during the late Holocene but only ephemeral prehistoric use of the uplands more than 0.5 km away from the springs and stream channels. Geomorphic evidence indicates that extensive root-plow disturbance occurred in many upland areas, but well-preserved archeological deposits are present in portions of the eroded upland margin. Three unique upland depositional environments (playas with associated dunes, channels, and pond deposits) have the potential for preserving buried cultural remains of considerable antiquity as well as providing paleo-environmental data which is lacking at this time