Ramifications of late Holocene hide-processing geographies along the lower Medina River, Texas

Abstract

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references: 139-158.Issued also on microfiche from Lange Micrographics.This thesis identifies and describes the importance of late Holocene hide processing along the lower Medina River, Texas within a contextual framework of human ecology and land use on the Texas inner Gulf Coastal Plain. Toyah sites in Texas indicate a marked increase in bison exploitation between A.D. 1300 and 1650, and yield significantly more end-scrapers and other hide-processing tools than earlier sites. Hide-processing assemblages from the Pampopa-Talon Crossings Site (41BX528) and several others in south-central Texas differ from most Toyah sites in that middle and late hide-processing stages are unusually well-represented. Selection of places on the landscape for intensive hide-processing activities is examined in the context of ecological, ethnohistorical, geographical, and lithic-analysis studies. The project area setting along major travel corridors suggests that trade may have been an important factor for the presence of these distinctive hide-processing assemblages