Intensive Cultural Resources Survey of the Proposed Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project from Blanco Road to Wetmore Road, Bexar County, Texas

SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), of the proposed Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project in San Antonio, Texas. TxDOT proposes to extend the existing Wurzbach Parkway approximately 5.3 miles between Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 2696 (Blanco Road) and Wetmore Road. The undertaking involves the new construction of a four-lane divided roadway within an approximately 250-foot right-of-way (ROW) that is state-owned property. Overall, the Area of Potential Effects (APE) is 27,984 feet long, 250 feet wide, and maximally 10 feet deep. Additionally, the APE covers roughly 51.77 acres of permanent and temporary easements. SWCA’s investigations of the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE included a background review, and an intensive pedestrian survey with shovel testing and backhoe trenching of selected areas within the APE. The background literature review determined that 21 surveys of varying magnitude have been conducted within or adjacent to the APE. These surveys are related to roadway construction or expansion, as well as park development. Fourteen archaeological sites have been documented within or adjacent to the APE and 44 additional archaeological sites have been previously recorded within 1 mile of it. The APE traverses a portion of the Walker Ranch National Register District, but the undertaking does not affect any contributing resources besides those that were previously mitigated by TxDOT in the 1990s. SWCA archaeologists conducted field investigations within the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE between May 1 and June 21, 2007. The pedestrian survey established that the majority of the APE has been disturbed by previous residential, commercial, and dam construction. Of the 14 previously recorded sites within or immediately adjacent to the APE, seven were determined during the current survey not to extend into the APE (41BX181, 41BX183, 41BX194, 41BX203, 41BX209, 41BX222, and 41BX223). Two of the seven sites within the APE had been successfully mitigated through prior data recovery efforts (41BX184 and 41BX228), while landforms associated with site 41BX202 were found to have been completely destroyed. Current investigations included a reconnaissance survey of site 41BX949, shovel testing at site 41BX948, and backhoe trenching at site 41BX947. Right of entry was denied at two properties, including the Coker United Methodist Church, which precluded a revisit to 41BX1062. The portions of sites 41BX184, 4BX202, 41BX228, and 41BX949 that remain in the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE are not considered eligible for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or for designation as a State Archeological Landmark (SAL); therefore, SWCA recommends no further work at these sites. Survey-level excavations at 41BX947 and 41BX948 revealed no cultural materials, temporally diagnostic artifacts, features, or intact buried deposits. Thus, 41BX947 and 41BX948 have little to no research value. As such, neither 41BX947 nor 41BX948 is considered significant or eligible for inclusion in the NRHP or for designation as an SAL. Based on the extent of previous investigations and the results of the current survey, SWCA recommends no additional archaeological investigations for 41BX184, 4BX202, 41BX228, 41BX947, 41BX948, 41BX949, and 41BX1062. Subsequent to the SWCA survey, TxDOT conducted an impact evaluation of the additional 51.77 acres of easements associated with the project. No cultural resources were documented as part of this effort. This TxDOT work was submitted with the SWCA draft report to the Texas Historical Commission (THC) who concurred with the findings in both reports. This report combines the results of both investigations into a final report to satisfy the Texas Antiquities Code (TAC) permit requirements. In accordance with Section 106, 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 800.4, SWCA and TxDOT have made a reasonable and good faith effort to identify archaeological historic properties within the APE. As no properties were identified that meet the criteria for listing on the NRHP according to 36 CFR 60.4 or for designation as an SAL according to 13 TAC 26.12, no archeological historic properties are affected and SWCA recommends no further work for the 5.3-mile Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE. Artifacts were collected as part of the undertaking and will be curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory

The Gatlin Site (41KR621): Investigating Archaic Lifeways on the Southern Edwards Plateau of Central Texas

From May 2004 through the summer of 2008 and on behalf of the Environmental Affairs Division (ENV) of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) undertook extensive archaeological investigations and analyses on the Gatlin site, 41KR621, located on the Guadalupe River, Kerr County, Texas. Work at the site was necessitated by the planned 1.15-mile extension of Spur 98 from its current limits to cross the Guadalupe River and terminate at FM 1338. As the project included both state and federal funding, TxDOT was required to comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the implementing regulations of 36CFR Part 800, and the Texas Antiquities Code. In the case of 41KR621, since the archaeological site was determined eligible for listing under Criterion D and since impacts could not be avoided, a plan to mitigate the project effects was developed. The subsequent work in the form of data recovery is the primary basis of this report. SWCA initially conducted the survey and site testing investigations along the Spur 98 corridor in May 2004. TxDOT then contracted SWCA to conduct the data recovery excavations under THC Antiquities Permit 3532. Data recovery excavations at 41KR621 spanned September through November 2004 and included the re-excavation of several backhoe trenches from the testing phase, excavation of new control trenches, removal of overburden in two areas of the site, and hand excavating roughly 145 m3 of the site in broad horizontal exposures. Combined, the testing and data recovery work resulting in the recovery of 37 burned rock features (including a buried burned rock midden), close to 50,000 pieces of debitage, 409 projectile points, 1,085 bifaces, 343 cores, over 400 flaked and non-chipped tools, and a modest amount of ecofacts. The investigations documented four cultural occupations. The earliest of the Gatlin site’s components, Occupation Zone (OZ) 1, contained Gower points and dates from approximately 6,800 B.P. to possibly as late as 6,000 B.P., falling within the Early Archaic. OZ2, a younger and more extensive Early Archaic occupation with mainly Gower and Martindale points, covers the period of ca. 6,100–4,500 B.P. The third zone, OZ3, a more compressed transitional phase between the Early to Middle Archaic dominated by Early Triangular diagnostic artifacts, is a component that produced dates of ca. 4,500–3,850 B.P. The youngest occupation, OZ4, which contained a burned rock midden but proved to be an admixture of broad temporal and cultural components, spans the Middle through Late Archaic periods, as evidenced by numerous diagnostic point types. Utilizing one of the largest excavated samples of Early and Middle Archaic cultural deposits in the southern Edwards Plateau, the results of the study provide a unique look at human adaptation and basic lifeways at the site and surrounding region. Evidence indicates the Gatlin site was primarily utilized by small groups of foraging hunter-gatherers for short periods of time to acquire and process game, replenish their stocks of raw materials, and gear-up for future forays. The abundant game, plant foods, fuel, chert resources, and overall comfort of the riparian setting likely served as major draws for continuous occupation over thousands of years. Utilizing the projectile point sequence and suite of radiocarbon dates from 41KR621, the Early–Middle Archaic chronology of south Central Texas is revised and refined. Comparisons to other excavated sites in the region reveal new and important patterns regarding human adaptation during the Early and Middle Archaic on the southern Edwards Plateau. All artifacts and project related materials will be curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory

An Unusual Hydrogen Migration/C−H Activation Reaction with Group 3 Metals

A novel hydrogen migration from the phenyl ring to the pyridine ring of an yttrium pyridyl complex supported by a 1,1′-ferrocene diamide ligand is reported. Density functional theory calculations were instrumental in probing the mechanism for this transformation

Correlated X-ray and Optical Variability in Mkn 509

We present results of a 3 year monitoring campaign of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Markarian 509, using X-ray data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and optical data taken by the SMARTS consortium. Both light curves show significant variations, and are strongly correlated with the optical flux leading the X-ray flux by 15 days. The X-ray power spectrum shows a steep high-frequency slope of -2.0, breaking to a slope of -1.0 at at timescale of 34 days. The lag from optical to X-ray emission is most likely caused by variations in the accretion disk propagating inward.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Intensive Cultural Resources Survey Of The Proposed Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project From Blanco Road To Wetmore Road, Bexar County, Texas

SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), of the proposed Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project in San Antonio, Texas. TxDOT proposes to extend the existing Wurzbach Parkway approximately 5.3 miles between Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 2696 (Blanco Road) and Wetmore Road. The undertaking involves the new construction of a four-lane divided roadway within an approximately 250-foot right-of-way (ROW) that is state-owned property. Overall, the Area of Potential Effects (APE) is 27,984 feet long, 250 feet wide, and maximally 10 feet deep. Additionally, the APE covers roughly 51.77 acres of permanent and temporary easements. SWCA’s investigations of the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE included a background review, and an intensive pedestrian survey with shovel testing and backhoe trenching of selected areas within the APE. The background literature review determined that 21 surveys of varying magnitude have been conducted within or adjacent to the APE. These surveys are related to roadway construction or expansion, as well as park development. Fourteen archaeological sites have been documented within or adjacent to the APE and 44 additional archaeological sites have been previously recorded within 1 mile of it. The APE traverses a portion of the Walker Ranch National Register District, but the undertaking does not affect any contributing resources besides those that were previously mitigated by TxDOT in the 1990s. SWCA archaeologists conducted field investigations within the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE between May 1 and June 21, 2007. The pedestrian survey established that the majority of the APE has been disturbed by previous residential, commercial, and dam construction. Of the 14 previously recorded sites within or immediately adjacent to the APE, seven were determined during the current survey not to extend into the APE (41BX181, 41BX183, 41BX194, 41BX203, 41BX209, 41BX222, and 41BX223). Two of the seven sites within the APE had been successfully mitigated through prior data recovery efforts (41BX184 and 41BX228), while landforms associated with site 41BX202 were found to have been completely destroyed. Current investigations included a reconnaissance survey of site 41BX949, shovel testing at site 41BX948, and backhoe trenching at site 41BX947. Right of entry was denied at two properties, including the Coker United Methodist Church, which precluded a revisit to 41BX1062. The portions of sites 41BX184, 4BX202, 41BX228, and 41BX949 that remain in the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE are not considered eligible for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or for designation as a State Archeological Landmark (SAL); therefore, SWCA recommends no further work at these sites. Survey-level excavations at 41BX947 and 41BX948 revealed no cultural materials, temporally diagnostic artifacts, features, or intact buried deposits. Thus, 41BX947 and 41BX948 have little to no research value. As such, neither 41BX947 nor 41BX948 is considered significant or eligible for inclusion in the NRHP or for designation as an SAL. Based on the extent of previous investigations and the results of the current survey, SWCA recommends no additional archaeological investigations for 41BX184, 4BX202, 41BX228, 41BX947, 41BX948, 41BX949, and 41BX1062. Subsequent to the SWCA survey, TxDOT conducted an impact evaluation of the additional 51.77 acres of easements associated with the project. No cultural resources were documented as part of this effort. This TxDOT work was submitted with the SWCA draft report to the Texas Historical Commission (THC) who concurred with the findings in both reports. This report combines the results of both investigations into a final report to satisfy the Texas Antiquities Code (TAC) permit requirements. In accordance with Section 106, 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 800.4, SWCA and TxDOT have made a reasonable and good faith effort to identify archaeological historic properties within the APE. As no properties were identified that meet the criteria for listing on the NRHP according to 36 CFR 60.4 or for designation as an SAL according to 13 TAC 26.12, no archeological historic properties are affected and SWCA recommends no further work for the 5.3-mile Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE. Artifacts were collected as part of the undertaking and will be curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory