84 research outputs found

    Archaeological Survey of Upper Leon Creek Terraces, Bexar County, Texas

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    In June and July 1994, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducted an archaeological survey on a 147-acre tract of land along Leon Creek in northern San Antonio for Pape-Dawson Engineers. The archaeological work was needed for compliance with U. S. Army Corps of Engineers permit requirements before construction of a water storage facility. Four archaeological sites (41BX40, 4IBX47 , 4IBX48, and 4IBX50) had been recorded within this area in 1970 by avocational archaeologists. Additionally, CAR staff members conducted a brief reconnaissance over a 60-acre portion of the property in 1992. Fieldwork consisted of pedestrian survey, 222 shovel tests, one 1-x-1-m test unit, backhoe trenches, plowing, and a geomorphological study by Lee Nordt of Texas A&M University. Evidence from this work suggests that two of the previously recorded sites, 4IBX40 and 4IBX47, are actually part of a single, largely intact, Early and Middle Archaic period site covering approximately 30 acres of the project area. The single site will retain the trinomial 4IBX47. The site contains three components: a Middle Archaic one in the upper 50 cm of the northern part of the site; an Early Archaic component, also in the upper 50 cm, found in the western part of the site; and a component of unknown age buried approximately 80-120 cm below the surface in the central part of the site. A transitional Archaic projectile point was found outside the boundaries of 4IBX47. Further investigation of this site is recommended before construction of the water storage facility. A series of simulated sampling experiments was also conducted with the shovel test data to evaluate the effectiveness of different sampling designs

    Archaeology at the Alamodome: Investigations of a San Antonio Neighborhood in Transition, Volume II: Excavations and Artifact Distribution Analysis

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    Because of the tremendous scope of the archaeological work and the associated analysis and write-up, the results of the Alamodome Project are presented in three volumes. Volume I contains the background research results, including chapters on the historical setting, the architecture present before demolition began, the oral histories, a study of the black community, and a summary of the structural evolution of the area. This volume, the second of the series, contains a complete description of the archaeological excavations and a distributional analysis of the results, written by Kenneth Wright, the archaeologist in charge of the fieldwork. Also included in Volume II are a study of the site formation processes, undertaken by Kevin Gross, and a geomorphic description of the project area, by Michael Collins. Volume III is comprised of individual reports on the description and analysis of various types of artifactual materials recovered during the project, including ceramics, glass, kitchen and tablewares, dolls and toys, marbles, clothing and personal items, and building materials. Also included in this volume are descriptions and discussions of excavated wells, acequias, and privies and an analysis of the faunal materials. The temporal scope of these studies is the 100-year period from 1850 to 1950. This time frame encompasses the period directly after the end of SpanishlMexican control and the gradual rise of Anglo/German control of the local economy and sociopolitical structure. It is also the time during which the first wave of the Industrial Revolution arrived in Texas, dramatically impacting the history of San Antonio. One goal of the project was to study this impact on the economic and cultural life of one small sector of the city. Scope of Volume II The primary objectives of Volume IT are threefold: 1) To describe excavations carried out within the construction area for the Alamodome. Within this objective will be covered structural and stratigraphic evidence to support changes in the use of space, and development of activity areas on the various sites examined over time. 2) To observe the frequencies of major artifact groups derived from the excavation of these sites and, through a pattern recognition process, to develop models relating to the socioeconomic status of the people living within the area and to the site formation processes operating there. 3) To evaluate the effectiveness of Sanborn maps as archaeological tools

    Archaeology at the Alamodome: Investigations of a San Antonio Neighborhood in Transition, Volume III: Artifact and Special Studies

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    On March 15, 1990, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio entered into a contract with the City of San Antonio\u27s Multipurpose Domed Stadium Development Advisory Committee and Via Metropolitan Transit Authority to undertake cultural resource investigations of a 17-square-block (65 acre) area in downtown San Antonio, Texas (Figure F-l). From mid-March to early July 1990, and periodically thereafter, intensive archival and historical research on the entire project area was carried out by CAR staff members. Architectural recording and assessment of all standing buildings was done by Andrew Perez and Associates. Thirteen oral history interviews with residents, former residents, and officers and employees of business establishments in the general area were recorded and transcribed by E. L. Fly and Associates. This was the first phase of a multiple-phase Figure F-l. Alamodome Project area. Vlll project that also included archaeological test excavations during 1991 and 1992 to verify or identify the locations of sites and features within the project area, and detailed investigations of a selected sample of those sites and features. The project was conducted under Texas Antiquities Committee permit numbers 900, 932, and 982. The artifacts recovered from the investigations were processed, cataloged, and sorted into categories for identification and analysis. Then followed over a year of intensive study of the products of the research and excavations. Because of the tremendous scope of the archaeological work and the associated analysis and write-up, the results of the Alamodome Project are presented in three volumes. Volume I contains the background research results, including chapters on the historical setting, the architecture present before demolition was begun, the oral history, a study of the African-American community, and a summary of the structural evolution of the area. Volume n contains a complete description of the archaeological excavations and a distributional analysis of the results, written by the archaeologist who was in charge of the field work on the project. Included are numerous maps, drawings, and photographs of the work in progress. Also included in Volume n are a study of the site formation processes, undertaken by Kevin Gross, and a geomorphic description of the project area, by Michael Collins. This volume, the last of the series, is comprised of individual reports on the description and analysis of various types of arifactual materials recovered during the project, including ceramics, glass, kitchen and tablewares, dolls and toys, marbles, clothing and personal items, and building materials. Also included in this volume are descriptions and discussions of excavated wells, cisterns, acequias, and privies, and an analysis of the faunal materials. The temporal scope of these studies is the l00-year period from 1850 to 1950. This time frame encompasses the period directly after the end of SpanishlMexican control and the gradual rise of Anglo/German control of the local economy and sociopolitical structure. It is also the time during which the first wave of the Industrial Revolution arrived in Texas, seriously impacting the history of San Antonio. One goal of the project was to study this impact on the economic and cultural life of one small sector of the city. Scope of Volume III This volume presents the results of research by CAR staff members into the developmental history of the numerous types of artifacts used to analyze and date deposits on the archaeological sites investigated during the Alamodome Project. Comparatively little research has been done on artifacts of the post-1900 period in Texas. Authors have spent hours of patient research in sometimes obscure publications and long distance phone calls to chase down and interview manufacturers wherever possible. We hope this volume will be a resource to others doing the same sort of research. As the years pass and 1900 recedes farther into the past, more and more archaeologists and historians will be looking for this sort of information

    Archaeology at the Alamodome: Investigations of a San Antonio Neighborhood in Transition, Volume I: Historical, Architectural, and Oral History Research

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    Because of the tremendous scope of the archaeological work and the associated analysis and write-up, the results of the Alamodome Project are presented in three volumes. This volume, the first of the series, contains the background research results, including chapters on the historical setting, the architecture present before demolition was begun, the oral history, a study of the African-American community, and a summary of the structural evolution of the area. Volume n contains a complete description of the archaeological excavations and a distributional analysis of the results. Included are numerous maps, drawings, and photographs of the work in progress. Volume ill is comprised of individual reports on the description and analysis of various types of arifactual materials recovered during the project, including ceramics, glass, kitchen and tablewares, dolls and toys, marbles, clothing and personal items, and building materials. Also included in this volume are descriptions and discussions of excavated wells, cisterns, acequias, and privies, and an analysis of the faunal materials. The temporal scope of these studies is the lOO-year period from 1850 to 1950. This time frame encompasses the period directly after the end of SpanishlMexican control and the gradual rise of Anglo/German control of the local economy and sociopolitical structure. It is also the time during which the first wave of the Industrial Revolution arrived in Texas, seriously impacting the history of San Antonio. One goal of the project was to study this impact on the economic and cultural life of one small sector of the city. Scope of Volume I The chapters in this volume contain the results of research into the history of the Alamodome area and the people who lived there. This compiled information was used to make informed decisions about which areas would yield information of importance in understanding and reconstructing on paper the neighborhood that was about to be eliminated, so that its history would not be completely lost. It has also been invaluable in understanding the results of the archaeology reported in Volumes II and III

    Archaeological Survey of Laughlin Air Force Base, Val Verde County, Texas

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    During the spring of 1994, the Center for Archaeological Research of The University of Texas at San Antonio conducted a 100-percent pedestrian survey of Laughlin Air Force Base and the Air Force Recreation Area and Marina in Val Verde County, Texas. In addition to the survey, limited paleontological and geomorphological evaluations were made. One historic site, eight prehistoric sites, and one large site with both prehistoric and historic components were recorded. Additionally, three pre viously recorded sites (De Vore 1993) were revisited. Diagnostic projectile points representing Late Paleoindian through Late Prehistoric occupations were recovered from five of the prehistoric sites. Late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artifacts were recovered from the Historic-period sites. Eleven of the 13 total sites are recommended as eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places

    Una Investigación Arqueológica de los Sitios Cerros con Trincheras del Arcaico Tardío en Chihuahua, México

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    Spanish Este fue el cuarto año de las investigaciones y se realizo durante el mes de junio de 2000, bajo la autorización del Consejo de Arqueología (CA 401-36/0669 y CA 401-36/0710), Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), y con la concurrencia de los Municipios de Janos, Casas Grandes, Ascención y Galeana, y los Ejidos de Casas Grandes, Hidalgo, y Janos. Este estudio fue auspiciado por la National Science Foundation (SBR- 97086210; SBR-9809839), y dirigido por el Dr. Robert J. Hard y el Arqlgo. John R. Roney. English This was the fourth year of research and was conducted during the month of June 2000 under the authorization of the Board of Archaeology (CA 401-36 / 0669 and CA 401-36 / 0710), National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH ), and with the concurrence of the Municipalities of Janos, Casas Grandes and Galeana Ascención, and Ejidos of Casas Grandes, Hidalgo, and Janos. This study was funded by the National Science Foundation (SBR 97,086,210; SBR-9809839), and directed by Robert J. Hard and John R. Roney

    Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Emergence of Partitioned Land Use Among Human Foragers

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    Taking inspiration from the archaeology of the Texas Coastal Plain (TCP), we develop an ecological theory of population distribution among mobile hunter-gatherers. This theory proposes that, due to the heterogeneity of resources in space and time, foragers create networks of habitats that they access through residential cycling and shared knowledge. The degree of cycling that individuals exhibit in creating networks of habitats, encoded through social relationships, depends on the relative scarcity of resources and fluctuations in those resources. Using a dynamic model of hunter-gatherer population distribution, we illustrate that increases in population density, coupled with shocks to a biophysical or social system, creates a selective environment that favors habitat partitioning and investments in social mechanisms that control the residential cycling of foragers on a landscape. Our work adds a layer of realism to Ideal Distribution Models by adding a time allocation decision process in a variable environment and illustrates a general variance reduction, safe-operating space tradeoff among mobile human foragers that drives social change

    Interference suppression in HO fluorescence detection

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    In this Letter we report preliminary results on a sampling method that greatly reduces the above interferences relative to hydroxyl fluorescence

    Pressure dependence of ozone interference in the laser fluorescence measurement of OH in the atmosphere [comment]

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    The authors comment on the paper by Shirinzadeh et al. (Applied Optics, vol. 26, p. 2102, 1987). They point out three errors which caused the overprediction of spurious HO data

    Evolutionary consequences of fishing and their implications for salmon

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    We review the evidence for fisheries-induced evolution in anadromous salmonids. Salmon are exposed to a variety of fishing gears and intensities as immature or maturing individuals. We evaluate the evidence that fishing is causing evolutionary changes to traits including body size, migration timing and age of maturation, and we discuss the implications for fisheries and conservation. Few studies have fully evaluated the ingredients of fisheries-induced evolution: selection intensity, genetic variability, correlation among traits under selection, and response to selection. Most studies are limited in their ability to separate genetic responses from phenotypic plasticity, and environmental change complicates interpretation. However, strong evidence for selection intensity and for genetic variability in salmon fitness traits indicates that fishing can cause detectable evolution within ten or fewer generations. Evolutionary issues are therefore meaningful considerations in salmon fishery management. Evolutionary biologists have rarely been involved in the development of salmon fishing policy, yet evolutionary biology is relevant to the long-term success of fisheries. Future management might consider fishing policy to (i) allow experimental testing of evolutionary responses to exploitation and (ii) improve the long-term sustainability of the fishery by mitigating unfavorable evolutionary responses to fishing. We provide suggestions for how this might be done
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