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Presenter
Mary Jo Galindo
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Date
Saturday, May 16, 2026
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Time
12:30–2:00 pm
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Location
Comfort Public Library
701 High St, Comfort, TX 78013 |
The Hill Country Archeological Association invites you to join us to hear Mary Jo Galindo present on the 2025 Texas Archeological Society (TAS) Field School Survey of Natom Samox (Red Mountain) and Long Mountain at our general meeting on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at the Comfort Public Library, in Comfort, Texas. The doors open at 12:30pm with a short meeting at 1:00pm, followed by the presentation.
From the Field
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Presentation Title
2025 Texas Archeological Society (TAS) Field School Survey of Natom Samox (Red Mountain) and Long Mountain
The Project
In 2025 TAS was privileged to survey the origin place of the Tonkawa people; Natom Samox or Red Mountain (41MM253). Because the El Camino Real de los Tejas is the road to the Mountain, the National Historic Trail Association became involved assisting the Tonkawa Nation to obtain the most important part of that league of land they were promised but never received. Once obtained plans were made to create a public space with associated infrastructure. For these improvements the Tribe needed a place without cultural integrity. Ninety-seven shovel tests were excavated by the TAS and two truncated burned rock middens, a spring, and a historic road east of the 1980’s well pad and overflow ditch were located. West of this impact was determined to be the best option for the construction. There are, however, eighteen more acres to survey.
Site 41MM444 (Long Mountain) represents a very significant multicomponent site, with continuous and repeated occupation spanning from the Early Archaic through the Late Prehistoric ceramic period. The site’s strategic setting overlooking the Little River floodplain combined with access to a ridge top spring and diverse ecological zones created perfect conditions for sustained human habitation for a very long time. The size of this site, the extensive evidence of buried and intact thermal activity, and diagnostics that show a continued use through time, are all indications that 41MM444 is a significant archeological site that played a major role in regional prehistory.
About the Speaker
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Dr. Mary Jo Galindo is a regional archeologist for the Texas Historical Commission, covering South Texas. Her dissertation was about the Spanish Colonial Ranching Communities along the Lower Rio Grande Valley. She has been co-captain (with Ruth Mathews) of the TAS Survey Team since the 2022 Kerrville field school. At THC she is also involved with spreading archeological awareness through Texas Archeology Month activities like archeology fairs and distributing pinch-pot kits.
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The Hill Country Archeological Association is a group of avocational and professional archeologists working together to study and preserve the Texas Hill Country’s prehistoric and historical heritage and to educate the public about archeology. Find out more at hcarcheology.org.