Archeological Survey of a Portion of Old Velasco (41B0125) for the Village of Surfside Beach Proposed Boat Ramp Facility, Brazoria County, Texas

In February 2006 Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted an archeological survey of a 5.5-acre property slated for development as a boat ramp and parking lot by the Village of Surfside Beach in Brazoria County, Texas. The property is at the southern end of the Village of Surfside Beach, between City Hall and the U.S. Coast Guard station. The tract overlaps with the western edge of the townsite of Old Velasco (41BO125), which was a prominent port city at the mouth of the Brazos River from the 1820s through 1875. Excavation of 25 trenches revealed historic artifacts associated with Old Velasco in the southern portion of the project area, but no remains were found over the northern three-quarters of the property. Most of the culture-bearing deposits were extensively disturbed and covered with a thick layer of artificial fill. Three bone clusters found in one trench probably represent intact dump features from late-nineteenth-century Velasco. Due to the disturbed nature of the deposits, no further archeological work is recommended

Historical Assessment and Archeological Survey of 4.9 Miles of FM 2092 From Menard to Fivemile Crossing, Menard County, Texas

This preliminary report describes historical research and an intensive archeological survey conducted for a 4.9-mile-long stretch of FM 2092 in Menard County by Prewitt and Associates, Inc. The work was performed for the Texas Department of Transportation in conjunction with a road improvement project beginning at the eastern Menard city limit and extending eastward to just beyond Fivemile Crossing. Crossing over Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial terraces of the San Saba River, the project area is located in a high-probability area for buried prehistoric sites and has a dynamic history of intensive use since Spanish colonial times. Investigations included geoarcheological mapping, historic research and evaluation, pedestrian survey, backhoe and gradall trenching, mechanical auger testing, and shovel testing. Archeological remains of 10 previously recorded sites and 9 newly discovered sites were documented within the FM 2092 right of way. Of these 19 sites, 6 have prehistoric components, 4 have historic components, and 9 have both prehistoric and historic components. At 14 of the 15 sites with prehistoric components, either no prehistoric remains were found within the right of way or the prehistoric remains are very low density and extensively disturbed. No prehistoric features were encountered at any of these 14 sites. The prehistoric components at these 14 sites (41MN5, 41MN9, 41MN11, 41MN12, 41MN15, 41MN23, 41MN53, 41MN54, and 41MN56–61) were recommended as not eligible for listing in the National Register, while the portion of 41MN55 inside the right of way was recommended as eligible. Site 41MN55 was subsequently tested, and the results of this work are reported separately. At 11 of the 13 sites with historic components, either no historic remains were found within the right of way or historic remains were limited to nondiagnostic artifacts (i.e., that could date to the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries) in disturbed contexts. Although intact deposits and historic features associated with these sites may be present outside the right of way, none were observed in the right of way. It was recommended that these 11 sites (41MN5, 41MN9, 41MN10, 41MN12, 41MN13, 41MN15, 41MN20, 41MN53, 41MN54, 41MN60, and 41MN61) are not eligible for listing in the National Register. During this survey, hand and mechanical excavations were conducted at 41MN23, the site of the historic Mission San Sabá. The portion of the site within the FM 2092 right of way was recommended as eligible for listing in the National Register. Intensive data recovery excavations were subsequently conducted, but these investigations are reported separately. Site 41MN21 is the Menard Irrigation Company canal and associated smaller lateral ditches that comprise the entire irrigation system. Historical research documents that construction of this canal system started in 1874 and expanded in the late 1800s. The system is still used for agricultural irrigation today. Portions of the irrigation system crossing the FM 2092 right of way were documented. The system is probably eligible for listing in the National Register, but the irrigation system will not be impacted by this road project, and no further work is recommended

Archeological Investigations for the Levi Jordan Plantation House Stabilization, Brazoria County, Texas

The Levi Jordan plantation house is one of the few antebellum plantation structures to have survived in Brazoria County. It is the only standing structure associated with the plantation, which began operating in 1848 and was occupied continually up through the 1990s. The original house, built in the early 1850s using slave labor, was a 20x60-ft two-story wooden frame structure. It was altered many times during its long occupation, often due to hurricane damage. A portion of the Levi Jordan Plantation was acquired by the State of Texas in 2002 and managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department until 2008, when the Texas Historical Commission took over its management. By then, the 160-year-old plantation house had suffered greatly and was in bad condition. The Texas Historical Commission began plans to stabilize and restore the historic house. Prewitt and Associates archeologists were contracted to conduct the archeological investigations associated with this work. The stabilization project included the permanent removal of the twentieth-century additions, hydraulic lifting of the antebellum house, removal of the original foundation piers, and installation of a new concrete perimeter foundation. The two original brick chimneys were removed and reconstructed. The investigations, conducted in 2010 and 2011, documented the following features: 2 cisterns, 2 chimney footings and 39 foundation piers associated with the plantation house; a chimney footing associated with an east wing behind the house; a chimney foundation associated with a former detached kitchen behind the main house; a brick patio and walkway associated with the original house; two large brick rubble concentrations and a small brick cluster; and a possible rain barrel brick pad. Other features examined were 15 possible piers that may be associated with the original house, the original east wing, a possible west wing, a south porch, a west porch, and an east porch. The archeological investigations revealed many details about the architecture of the original plantation house and subsequent additions. The evidence provides a better understanding of the building construction sequence and insights into the complex evolution of the Levi Jordan plantation house over its ca. 160-year existence. The most significant find is an 1853 gold coin found in the brick pad at the bottom of the southeast corner pier. This is almost certainly a date coin that was placed in this location by Levi Jordan or a master builder in a cornerstone foundation rite, and it provides an accurate date for the beginning of the house construction

Spanish Colonial Documents Pertaining to Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba (41MN23), Menard County, Texas

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is widening a 5-mile-long section of FM 2092 west of Menard in Menard County, Texas. The highway passes immediately south of the site of the Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá (41MN23). Built in 1757 and destroyed in 1758, the mission is a time capsule of Spanish colonial archeology in the northern frontier of New Spain, along with the related Presidio de las Amarillas (41MN1, popularly known as Presidio San Sabá), which was occupied from 1757 to 1768. The presidio location has long been known, but researchers did not rediscover the mission site until 1993. Texas Tech University conducted intensive archeological investigations at the mission site from 1993 through 1997. In the spring of 2006, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) contracted Prewitt and Associates, Inc., to conduct an archeological survey of this portion of FM 2092. The work included archeological testing of the portion of the mission site that extended into the road right of way. Intact and significant mission archeological remains were found, and data recovery investigations were subsequently undertaken in 2006–2007. In conjunction with the FM 2092 survey effort, TxDOT sought to locate, transcribe, and translate previously unpublished or unknown Spanish colonial documents that might add to the story of the mission and presidio and the interpretation of the archeological remains of Mission San Sabá. Many Spanish documents pertaining to the mission and presidio have been translated and made available to researchers since the mid-twentieth century, but it is certain that additional documents exist and may offer further information on the lifeways and politics of those who occupied the mission. For this study, 10 previously unpublished Spanish documents—those considered to be most relevant to Mission San Sabá—were selected and then transcribed and translated in their entirety. Each of these documents is presented here in three forms: a facsimile of the original handwritten Spanish text, a complete Spanish transcription of the document, and a complete English translation of the document

Archeological Investigations and National Register Testing at 41CV1636, Coryell County, Texas

Prewitt and Associates, Inc. (PAI), conducted archeological testing of 41CV1636 for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Environmental Affairs Division, under Contract No. 575XXSA006 (Work Authorization No. 57530SA006) and Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3980 from the Texas Historical Commission. Site 41CV1636 is situated in northwestern Coryell County, approximately 13 km east of Evant, Texas. The site was located during an archeological survey for a proposed roadway widening project along U.S. Highway 84. Proposed design plans required an additional 5 m of new right of way that would directly impact 41CV1636. Site 41CV1636 is a prehistoric site buried in Holocene alluvium of a relict channel of Cowhouse Creek. At this location, Cowhouse Creek has a ca. 1.5-km-wide stretch of Holocene alluvium. Archeological testing consisted of the excavation of two backhoe trenches and four 1x1-m hand-dug units. All sediments were water-screened. Excavations recovered a rather large lithic assemblage and two burned rock features: a partially dismantled slab-lined, basin-shaped hearth and a possible burned rock discard pile or stockpile. The recovery of Pedernales and Provisional Type 1 projectile point forms argues for a multicomponent occupation during portions of the early Late Archaic Period; however, only one analysis unit could be defined. The alluvial deposits at 41CV1636 appear correlative to the Fort Hood and West Range alluvium identified by other researchers along downstream portions of Cowhouse Creek on the Fort Hood military reservation. Soil stratigraphy at the site indicates that cultural occupations occurred as floodplain aggradation slowed and soil development began. Sedimentation via overbank flooding and colluvial deposition continued at a pace quick enough to impose some vertical separation between multiple occupations that occurred during a short time span. Poor preservation of organic remains has been a hindrance to providing good temporal control at the site. The lack of radiocarbon ages and poor preservation mean that few substantial statements can be made regarding chronology or subsistence. 41CV1636 is considered ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places or as a designated State Archeological Landmark, and no further work is warranted for this site

Archeological Investigations and National Register Testing at 41CV163, Coryell County, Texas

Prewitt and Associates, Inc. (PAI), conducted archeological testing of 41CV1636 for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Environmental Affairs Division, under Contract No. 575XXSA006 (Work Authorization No. 57530SA006) and Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3980 from the Texas Historical Commission. Site 41CV1636 is situated in northwestern Coryell County, approximately 13 km east of Evant, Texas. The site was located during an archeological survey for a proposed roadway widening project along U.S. Highway 84. Proposed design plans required an additional 5 m of new right of way that would directly impact 41CV1636. Site 41CV1636 is a prehistoric site buried in Holocene alluvium of a relict channel of Cowhouse Creek. At this location, Cowhouse Creek has a ca. 1.5-km-wide stretch of Holocene alluvium. Archeological testing consisted of the excavation of two backhoe trenches and four 1x1-m hand-dug units. All sediments were water-screened. Excavations recovered a rather large lithic assemblage and two burned rock features: a partially dismantled slab-lined, basin-shaped hearth and a possible burned rock discard pile or stockpile. The recovery of Pedernales and Provisional Type 1 projectile point forms argues for a multicomponent occupation during portions of the early Late Archaic Period; however, only one analysis unit could be defined. The alluvial deposits at 41CV1636 appear correlative to the Fort Hood and West Range alluvium identified by other researchers along downstream portions of Cowhouse Creek on the Fort Hood military reservation. Soil stratigraphy at the site indicates that cultural occupations occurred as floodplain aggradation slowed and soil development began. Sedimentation via overbank flooding and colluvial deposition continued at a pace quick enough to impose some vertical separation between multiple occupations that occurred during a short time span. Poor preservation of organic remains has been a hindrance to providing good temporal control at the site. The lack of radiocarbon ages and poor preservation mean that few substantial statements can be made regarding chronology or subsistence. 41CV1636 is considered ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places or as a designated State Archeological Landmark, and no further work is warranted for this site

Testing and Data Recovery Excavations at 41BU51, Burleson County, Texas

Prewitt and Associates, Inc. (PAI), conducted archeological testing and data recovery excavations at prehistoric site 41BU51 in Burleson County, Texas, for the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division, in three phases of investigation. The first phase of testing, conducted in Spring 2003, resulted in the discovery of a single human burial as well as diagnostic artifacts ranging from the Archaic period through the Late Prehistoric period. A second phase of testing was conducted to search for additional burials in January 2004. This work resulted in the discovery of three additional burials and two isolated human bones. Finally, data recovery to remove the human remains was conducted in June 2007. This report describes all three phases of work. Analysis of the data recovered indicates that 41BU51 has a Late Archaic component that contributed many or even most of the lithic artifacts, most of the burned rocks and burned clay, some or all of the ceramic artifacts, and probably all of the human burials. Materials representing Late Prehistoric period occupations also are present, and the possibility exists that large numbers of the lithic artifacts in the upper 60 cm of the deposits were left by these occupations. A small number of artifacts predating the Late Archaic period were recovered, but these are older items recycled into younger deposits. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the Late Archaic and Late Prehistoric use of the site occurred over perhaps 3,200 to 3,600 years. The vertical distributions of the temporally sensitive artifacts and the radiocarbon dates, while hinting at some remnant time-related stratification of the cultural materials, make it clear that there has been much mixing of the deposits, presumably through faunal turbation and other forms of disturbance. With this degree of mixing, it is impossible to segregate the remains by time period or more-discrete components. Nonetheless, the archeological remains recovered indicate that 41BU51 was used intermittently over a long span of time, probably as a residential campsite, with some occupations during the Late Archaic period perhaps being for extended periods of time

Historic Archeological Investigations at Roberts Cemetery Near Troy, Bell County, Texas

A preliminary archeological investigation was conducted in 2008 at Roberts Cemetery near Troy, Texas, as part of the Texas Department of Transportation’s planned expansion of Interstate Highway 35. Mechanical trenching discovered one unmarked grave near the highway right of way, and this led to an extensive mechanical search of the eastern edge of the cemetery in 2012. Following the removal of the southbound access road and thick layer of artificial fill, five additional unmarked graves were discovered. Of the six unmarked graves, two are located in the cemetery property and were left in place, but the four burials inside the highway right of way were exhumed. They were reinterred in a nearby plot in Roberts Cemetery. Analyses of the mortuary items and skeletal remains indicate that the three adult males and one child were interred between 1895 and the late 1930s. DNA analyses were used to try and match the four interred individuals with possible living relatives, but the results were negative or inconclusive. Archival research provided historical context for Roberts Cemetery and defined the sequence of road expansions that impacted the east side of the cemetery in the twentieth century

Eligibility Testing at 41BU75, Burleson County, Texas

Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted test excavations at site 41BU75 in Burleson County, Texas, to determine its eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as a State Antiquities Landmark. The work was performed in 2007 under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 4525 for the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division, in conjunction with a planned widening of FM 60, which will require up to 45 m of new right of way. The excavations consisted of six Gradall trenches and five 1x1-m hand-dug test units totaling 6.9 m3, all on state-owned land. Excavations yielded a small assemblage (ceramics, lithic tools, cores, and unmodified debitage) that is associated with Late Prehistoric and possibly earlier occupations. No cultural features were found. The artifacts were found throughout the sandy mantle, a mostly late Holocene colluvial depositional unit that varies greatly in thickness and is extensively bioturbated. It is recommended that 41BU75 be considered ineligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion D (36 CFR 60.4; 36 CFR 800.4, 5) or designation as a State Antiquities Landmark (13 TAC 26.2, 8) because interpretable components cannot be isolated and intact cultural features appear to be absent

Archeological Impact Evaluations and Surveys in the Texas Department of Transportation\u27s Abilene, Brownwood, Fort Worth, and Waco Districts, 2003-2006

This document constitutes the final report of work done by Prewitt and Associates, Inc. (PAI), under a contract from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to provide archeological services in four TxDOT districts—Abilene, Brownwood, Fort Worth, and Waco. Under this contract, PAI completed Impact Evaluations and Surveys to assist TxDOT in meeting the requirements of their Memorandum of Understanding with the Texas Historical Commission and a Programmatic Agreement between the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Texas Historical Commission, and TxDOT. The contract began on 26 September 2003. A total of 77 projects were conducted. The 77 projects consisted of 25 Impact Evaluations and 52 Surveys. Combined, these entailed efforts at 52 bridge replacements, 14 road realignment or widening projects (many also involving bridge replacements), 1 new road construction project, 1 hike-and-bike trail construction project, 5 projects involving upgrading or replacing existing culverts, 1 project involving construction of drainage improvements, 2 unspecified road maintenance or improvement projects, and 1 project involving replacement of an interstate highway interchange. Of the 25 Impact Evaluations done, 8 led to recommendations that survey could be needed before construction. In 4 cases, the need for survey depended on whether new right of way would be acquired, which was unknown when the Impact Evaluations were done. The other 17 Impact Evaluations resulted in recommendations that no survey be required before construction based on the limited potential for sites with good integrity. Of the 52 Surveys done under this contract, 9 investigated six newly recorded and four previously recorded sites; eight of the sites are prehistoric, and two are of historic age. Four prehistoric sites were recommended for testing to assess eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as State Archeological Landmarks, and one historic site was recommended for archival and oral history research. The other 43 Surveys did not find any archeological sites. All artifacts collected and records generated by projects done under this contract are curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL), The University of Texas at Austin. Artifacts were collected from five sites (41BQ285, 41CV1636, 41HM53, 41LT307, and 41SV4). Those from 41HM53 and 41SV4 are from State-owned lands and thus are curated in a held-in-trust status at TARL. The artifacts from 41BQ285, 41CV1636, and 41LT307 are from private lands and are curated in a non-held-in-trust status