Archeological Survey and Testing of Selected Prehistoric Sites along FM 481, Zavala County, Texas

Between April 1981 and December 1982, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) personnel conducted archeological fieldwork along an approximately 13-km segment of FM 481 in northwest Zavala County. The work was part of an evaluation of the impacts of road improvements to a series of sites along the right-of-way. All of the sites but one (41ZV202) were found not to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and not to warrant designations as State Archeological Landmarks. Additional work, not reported here, was later conducted at 41ZV202. As part of Work Authorization #57015PD004, the Environmental Affairs Division of TxDOT contracted with the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio to report on the fieldwork carried out at the sites during the early 1980s, identify data types warranting additional research, and conduct the appropriate analyses. The current document provides descriptions of the work undertaken along FM 481, assesses the analytical utility of the data types recovered, and reports the results of limited new research of selected data types. Note that all documentation of the project, including notes, photographs, and a sample of recovered artifacts are curated at the Center for Archaeological Research. The sample includes all projectile points, as well as other chipped and ground stone tools, and the debitage recovered for a 10% sample of proveniences

Archeological Significance Testing at 41BX17/271, the Granberg Site: A Multi-Component Site along the Salado Creek in Bexar County, Texas

The Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio conducted archeological significance testing at 41BX17, the Granberg Site, from January to March 2006. The testing was conducted for the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT-ENV). The Granberg Site sits on the eastern flood terrace of the Salado Creek south of Loop 410 in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. Planned road improvements including installation of a storm sewer line and a water main prompted the need to assess whether (1) cultural deposits including human remains still exist after previous testing and (2) if the deposits contribute to the site’s National Register of Historic Places eligibility. The archeological work was conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 4010. Steve A. Tomka served as Principal Investigator and Jennifer Thompson served as Project Archeologist. Fieldwork included mechanical auger boring and backhoe trenching to determine the horizontal extent of the site boundaries within the median of Loop 410 eastbound. Sixteen 1-x-1-m units were excavated to determine the distribution and integrity of the cultural deposits and to locate any possible burials that may still exist at the site. Materials recovered included burned rock features, chipped stone artifacts, animal bone, snail and mussel shell and charred plant remains. The distribution of the artifacts, the geomorphic investigations, the radiocarbon assays, and temporally diagnostic artifacts indicate the presence of Middle and Late Archaic archeological materials with good stratigraphic integrity. The Granberg Site was determined to be ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Following the completion of eligibility testing efforts, the TxDOT directed the CAR to develop a research design linking the data recovered from the various excavations at the Granberg Site with research goals. The CAR developed the research design (Munoz et al. 2007) under Work Authorization No. 57513SA005 with Cynthia M. Munoz serving as Project Archeologist. At roughly the time of the research design implementation, the CAR was the recipient of a donation of a collection of commingled human skeletal remains recovered from the Granberg Site. These remains were recovered from 41BX17/271 in 1962 by Harvey Kohnitz, an avocational archeologist, without knowledge or permission from the Texas Highway Department. The remains were stored at the Kohnitz home until his son, Mark Kohnitz, donated them to the CAR in 2007. An osteological analysis was conducted at the CAR laboratory during February 2008 for TxDOT, under Work Authorization No. 57513SA005 Supplemental Work Authorization No. 4. The results of this analysis are reported in Appendix H of this report. The commingled remains will be curated the CAR and all required documents, including an inventory, will be submitted to the National Park Service National NAGPRA Program to fulfill all obligations pertaining to the NAGPRA laws. All artifacts collected during this project and all project-associated documentation are permanently curated at the CAR according to Texas Historical Commission guidelines

Archeological Testing and Data Recovery at 41ZV202, Zavala County, Texas

At the request of the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT-ENV), the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducted archeological significance testing at 41ZV202, a prehistoric site located in northwestern Zavala County, in March of 2003. The work, conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3071 issued to Dr. Steven A. Tomka, was done in anticipation of the potential widening by TxDOT of FM 481. While materials dating to the Archaic were also present, the testing demonstrated the presence of significant Late Prehistoric (Austin Interval) deposits with good integrity within a portion of the TxDOT right-of-way (ROW). As TxDOT construction could not avoid these deposits, and as both the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and TxDOT concurred with CAR’s recommendations that the deposits were eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under criterion d of 36CFR 60.4, data recovery investigations were initiated. CAR began that work in July and August of 2003. The testing permit was amended to include the data recovery efforts. Dr. Russell Greaves served as project archeologist for both the testing and data recovery effort at 41ZV202. The testing and data recovery work consisted of the excavation of a 53-m-long Gradall trench, exposing and profiling a 75-m-long road cut, and the hand excavation of 52 1 x 1 meter units that removed approximately 34.6 m3 of soil. Testing identified two large, dark stained areas designated Features 4 and 5, an associated hearth (Feature 7), and a small cluster of FCR (Feature 6). Just over 1,000 chipped stone items were recovered, including several Scallorn points, one reworked dart point, several bifaces, and two flake tools. Eleven AMS radiocarbon dates were submitted from deposits, with eight clustering around 1000 BP. Data recovery efforts defined FCR features 8 through 13. In addition, 24 arrow points, several dart points, a variety of unifacial and bifacial tools, a small number of cores, roughly 6,000 pieces of debitage, and a variety of burned sandstone, were recovered. We also collected small quantities of bone and mussel shell along with about 14,350 gastropod shells, and a variety of soil samples. Finally, all calcium carbonate nodules were retained from the screens. Following the completion of data recovery efforts, the CAR was directed by TxDOT to develop a research design for the analysis of the material from 41ZV202. TxDOT and THC accepted that research design in November of 2004, at which time the CAR began analysis and report production. Unfortunately, by 2005 project archeologist Russell Greaves had left the CAR. At that point, CAR assistant director Dr. Raymond Mauldin took over the project. The analysis of the 41ZV202 Late Prehistoric data outlined in this report is conducted in the context of a large-scale, theoretically driven model of adaptation for hunters and gatherers loosely based on aspects of Optimal Foraging Theory. In addition to 41ZV202, the approach relies on comparative data sets from Late Archaic and other Late Prehistoric sites from South and South-Central Texas to investigate shifts in subsistence, technology, and mobility across this broad region. At this time, discard decisions have not been made. However, all artifacts and associated samples collected and retained during this project, along with all project-associated documentation, are to be permanently curated at the CAR according to Texas Historical Commission guidelines

Dynamic variation in agricultural practices during the Classic period in the Tonto Basin, Arizona

The Classic period farmers living in the Tonto Basin, Arizona faced a diverse and rapidly fluctuating physical and social environment. The archaeological evidence is presented for changing adaptive strategies implemented by the inhabitants.The resulting account of variation in prehistoric agricultural practices depicts the range of options available to farmers in the Tonto Basin during the Classic period,to farmers in the Tonto Basin during the Classic period,explores the choices they made, and examines the results and consequences of those choices. The core of the research is the niacrobotanical analysis of 617 flotation samples from 54 archaeological sites. At least 62 different plant taxa were identified, including I I cultigens and 51 gathered wild plants. Three very different crop systems were identified, the warm-season annuals, cool-season grasses, and agave, a succulent rosette perennial. Each of these has a distinct, yet complementary growth history. Two fundamental adaptive strategies were identified, upland dry farming and irrigated alluvial terrace agriculture. Plant production dominated the subsistence economy throughout the Classic period. During the time span covered by the study, alternating droughts and heavy floods struck the basin around A.D. 1275, 1320, 1380, and 1455. A review of botanical, environmental, and settlement data indicated that the farmers began to depend more heavily on irrigation agriculture as the population grew. Variation in agricultural practices was reduced as emphasis was placed on irrigation agriculture. The commitment to a single adaptive strategy destabilized the agricultural system. During the first periods of environmental disaster, the populations aggregated around integrative architecture. The last period, however, resulted in the collapse of the communities and permanent abandonment of farming villages in Tonto Basin