On May 21, 2014 Frank Binetti and John Benedict were invited to visit and record a burned rock midden (=BRM) site, HCAA KE-14, outside of Sisterdale not far from the Guadalupe River. These BRM sites are the remains of hot rock and soil ovens used to cook plants. They were used repeatedly over 1000′s of years and gradually the accumulation of fire cracked rock, ash and soil make a moun
d that is commonly called an “Indian mound” by locals.
This site was discovered several years ago by Frank Binetti and not recorded at that time. The BRM was partially destroyed during the construction of the home and all artifacts uncovered at that time were taken by various construction workers. Thus the owner does not have any diagnostic tools in her possession. John and Frank collected significant artifacts and mapped the BRM and the perimeter of the fairly large camp site that circles the BRM. The campsite is oval and measures 83 meters north-south by 120 meters east-west. In the photo, Frank is in the middle of the midden, which is about 20 meters in diameter and located at 1,500 feet in elevation, with a good view of the area. The BRM is about a meter deep.
The campsite is littered with chert flakes from tool making and some broken tool fragments. On the surface we found and bagged a couple of possible diagnostic tool fragments. The owner has agreed that a test pit can be dug with the purpose of discovering additional diagnostic tools to determine dates when this site was occupied and other information. No date has been set to perform the excavation (Frank Binetti, 5-21-2014).