Past General Meetings

PRESENTATION TITLE: Crying Woman Ranch Fieldwork, 2023-2024 Update
10,000 Years of Ancient People in the Hill Country: 2023-2024 Excavations at Crying Woman Ranch (41KR754), Kerr County, Texas

SPEAKER: Mike McBride

Since the summer of 2018, the Hill Country Archeological Association (HCAA) has done continuous fieldwork investigations at Crying Woman Ranch (CWR), 41KR754, in western Kerr County, Texas. This presentation will review the past 2 years of HCAA’s work, including new flint artifacts recovered and new evidence of ancient Native American occupations at the site. This includes new evidence of earth oven cooking technology older than 9,000 years before the present day. These stone and dirt ovens, used for cooking wild bulb plants like Sotol and Agave, are possibly the first earth oven cooking facilities in central Texas. Adding cooked plants to the typical Hunter-Gatherer diet was the basis of the “Carbohydrate Revolution,” allowing ancient populations to grow rapidly and spread throughout Central and West Texas.

Also, several mysterious flint spear points and tools have been discovered that have rarely been reported in Texas archeology. Our research to identify these artifacts has been like detective work on evidence over 9,000 years old.

Additionally, new trenching operations have shown evidence of occupations even older than our previously recorded dates of 10,000 years ago.

MIKE’S BIO: A lifelong Texan, Mike dedicated over 45 years to pharmacy practice and management and retired in 2018. He was President of the Hill Country Archeological Association from 2017 to 2023. Previously, he was President and Board Chairman of the Dallas Archeological Society (now merged with NTAS) from 2000 to 2005. Mike is on the Board of Directors of the Gault School for Archaeological Research.

Mike has been the Principal Investigator for archaeological field projects in Dallas, Kerr, and Gillespie counties in Texas and is currently the Principal Investigator for HCAA’s Crying Woman Ranch Project in Kerr County, focusing on Paleoindian Period occupations at the site. His other current and prior work since 1984 centers around ancient Mesoamerican cultures in the Yucatan Peninsula, Central Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. He is a co-developer with Dr. Jon Lohse of the Pine Ridge Preceramic Project in Northern Belize.

Mike lives near the beautiful Pedernales River in Fredericksburg, Texas, with his wife, Connie.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “HCAA 25th Anniversary Celebration”

We celebrated 25 years of archeology with cake and refreshments. Attendees were treated to demonstrations of Flintnapping, Cording, and Paintmaking. There were exhibits and pictures (shown below) from the past 25 years.

(Click on the image to view a larger version.)

PRESENTATION TITLE: “A Deeper Understanding Through Collections”

SPEAKER: Aina Dodge, Archeology Laboratory Director and Collections Manager, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD)

Aina Dodge discussed the responsibilities of an archeological collections manager and how collections can contribute to a deeper understanding of Texas’s history and prehistory. Whether processing new collections or diving into legacy collections, there are always hidden clues to help researchers refine their understanding of those who lived here before us. Aina talked about finding answers to researchers’ questions and unveiling answers to questions they didn’t even think to ask. She also discussed the roles of State and Federal collections repositories and private collections.

AINA’S BIO: Aina Dodge is a native Austinite who first became interested in archeology while exploring the 1845 Davis Cemetery behind her childhood home. Aina graduated from UT with a degree in Anthropology and worked as a contract archeologist before starting at TPWD in 1993. When not working on collections management projects, Aina collaborates with TPWD exhibit planners and park interpreters to tell the story of the prehistoric and historic occupants of what are now Texas State Parks. She is also very involved with the Texas Archeological Society and has managed the field lab during the annual field school for the last four years.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “19th Century Foodways in Texas”

SPEAKER: Amanda Maloney, the Creative Assistant Producer at the Texas Center at Schreiner University

Texas has long been an intersection of people from various backgrounds. With extensive experience in historical foodways, Amanda Maloney will be presenting on 19th-century foodways in Texas, a time of rapidly changing technology and food. Amanda will discuss and demonstrate period recipes and methods throughout the lecture.

The audience had the opportunity to “taste” Texas history.

AMANDA’S BIO: Since 2005, Amanda has worked in education at natural landmarks, historic sites, schools, and museums in Texas, including sites managed by the Texas Historical Commission and The Alamo. As a Historic Farm Manager and Museum Educator, she produced various educational programs for children and adults, connecting them with history through unique, immersive historical experiences. Amanda is passionate about heritage tourism, combining her love of historic sites and immersive education with travel. Amanda has served on the board of the Texas Living History Association and the San Antonio Living History Association. She is also a member of the Association for Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums.

Amanda holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed training as a music educator. She maintains Texas Teaching Certification in History and Music. Amanda enjoys volunteering at historic sites, music, gardening, cooking, and spending time with her husband and three children. She believes in lifelong learning. Currently, she is learning farm animal husbandry by owning heritage-breed animals.

PRESENTATION TITLE:  “Recent Advances in Vertebrate Paleontology, Jackson School Museum of Earth History”

SPEAKER:  Dr. Steve May, Research Associate in the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin, Jackson School Museum of Earth History.

The talk included an introduction to the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory within the Jackson School Museum of Earth History at UT-Austin. Steve presented his research on some new Jurassic vertebrate fossils from the Malone Mountains in western Texas.  These fossils are the first Jurassic-age vertebrates to be described from Texas and represent marine reptiles known as plesiosaurs. Additional recent research projects have included the description of Anchiteriomys buceei, a 15 million-year-old fossil beaver from Texas, and an analysis of the Lapara Creek Fauna from the 11 million-year-old Goliad Formation, including the history of excavation by the WPA.

STEVE’S BIO: Dr. May spent weekends during his high school years volunteering in the vertebrate paleontology department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.  He received his Ph.D. in geoscience from the University of Arizona in 1985, after which he worked at ExxonMobil as a research geologist until he retired in 2014 as Chief Research Geoscientist. He then joined the Jackson School Museum of Earth History, The University of Texas at Austin, as a Research Associate in the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory.

PRESENTATION TITLE:  “From Paleo-Indians to Henry Rifles: 10,000 years of Kerr County Archeology”

SPEAKER:  Mike McBride, HCAA President

HCAA held a fun and educational afternoon for everyone who was interested in the Hill Country’s rich history.

HCAA President Mike McBride told the story of our archeological research preserving Texas History. We also displayed artifacts from the times of early settlers who braved perilous frontier times, all the way through the lifeways of ancient Native Americans who first arrived over 10,000 years ago. HCAA always invites our members, friends, and the public to learn more about our work researching the archeology of the Hill Country and meet our experts in the region’s history at our meetings.

PRESENTATION TITLE:  “Early African American Families in Gillespie County and The Colored People’s Cemetery of Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Texas”

SPEAKER:  Dr. Paul Phillips III MD COL (ret) US Army

In the early 1850s, there was only one farm/plantation with slaves, The Doss Plantation, east of Fredericksburg, Texas. About 100 slaves/Africans were brought west to begin farming in Gillespie County. The story of these remaining families is “Lost History” in the Fredericksburg and Gillespie County communities. This presentation reveals the presence of a culture that was integrated into the community before and after the Civil War and whose story is yet to be fully told.

PAUL’S BIO:  Dr. Paul Phillips III was born and raised in Fredericksburg. He graduated from Fredericksburg High School with Honors. He went on to serve his country in the U.S. Army: in addition to serving several years in the Army Reserve, he deployed overseas ten times over a 16-year period until finally retiring as Colonel from the U.S. Army in 2018, with a service record of 24 years. Dr. Phillips was awarded the Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine and did his Orthopedic Residency at MLK/Drew. He is currently an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hand and microvascular surgery with a practice in Fredericksburg while maintaining membership in a number of orthopedic surgery societies. Dr. Phillips’ current work with sites of historical significance to Fredericksburg’s African-American community has him involved with the restoration of the Colored People’s  Church of Gillespie County and with the newly designated Colored People’s Section of Der Stadt Friedhof in Fredericksburg. He and his wife have two sons and two daughters and are residents of Fredericksburg.

PRESENTATION TITLE:  “Excavations at the Crane Dune Site (41CR61), a Prehistoric Habitation, Lithic Cache, and Burial Site in Crane County, Texas.”

SPEAKER: Robert Lassen, Ph.D.

The Crane Dune site (41CR61) was identified by archaeologists working for AmaTerra, an environmental consulting firm, during a survey on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) before the widening of Highway 385 in Crane County, Texas. The site is primarily Late Prehistoric in age, but a diffuse Archaic component and a possible Paleoindian occupation were also encountered. The site is centered on stabilized sand dunes, and the densest cultural occupation spans a 40-50 cm thick dark anthrosol layer consisting of charcoal-stained sand with abundant cooking features. Also identified at the site was a lithic cache of flake blanks and two human burials. Other artifacts from the site include dart and arrow points, occasional groundstone and ceramic sherds, chert and quartzite debitage, occasional obsidian flakes and tools, faunal material ranging from rodents to bison, and kaolinite and turquoise pendants and beads from the burials. The Crane Dune site provides a wealth of archaeological data in an under-studied region of West Texas.

ROBERT’S BIO: Dr. Lassen earned an MA in anthropology from Texas A&M and a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. He is currently Principal Investigator for AmaTerra Environmental, Inc., an Austin-based company that deals with cultural resources such as archaeology and historical architecture as well as biology and hazardous materials, to assist with construction projects that have state or federal involvement and therefore have to account for archaeology, historic buildings, and endangered species. Robert specializes in lithic analysis, particularly in Paleoindian lithics and the peopling of the Americas.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “Rancid Rumors or Native Wisdom? Evaluating the Efficacy of Insect Repellents Attributed to Historic Period American Indians”

SPEAKER: Dr. Gus Costa

Little is known of Native American adaptations to mosquitos before and following the swap of Old and New World culture, flora, fauna, and microbes. Some accounts allege that rancid animal fats were employed by Gulf Coast native peoples as a mosquito repellent. Although many ethnobotanical remedies for biting insects have been recorded, the use of animal products for this purpose is less well-known. Moreover, few, if any, supposed traditional Native American repellents have been examined using controlled modern laboratory methods that test for repellency. Dr. Costa will share the results of an experimental archaeology study that tested the efficacy of four kinds of rancid animal fats (alligator, bear, shark, and fish) as mosquito repellents. The results of these experiments are considered more broadly and in light of the historical record of colonialism and ecological imperialism in North America. The adoption of repellent by American Indians may reflect a novel adaptation to the introduction of Old World mosquito-vectored disease. (Picture above provided by the CDC).

GUS’ BIO: He is an independent consulting archaeologist who provides specialist support in geoarchaeology, artifact, and faunal analysis. Gus earned a doctorate focusing on paleoanthropology at Indiana University. Gus is an adjunct lecturer at Rice University, where he has taught courses in geoarchaeology, paleontology, paleotechnology, and Asian Prehistory, and an independent consultant primarily in Geoarchaeology working for various CRM firms in Texas and across the south.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “An Update on Bonfire Shelter: Research and Restoration”

SPEAKER: Dr. David Kilby

Bonfire Shelter is famous for preserving evidence of the oldest and southernmost “bison jump” in North America and

includes additional archaeological deposits ranging through the Archaic and Late Prehistoric periods. The Ancient Southwest Texas Project (ASWT) at Texas State University is currently wrapping up field research at the site that began in 2017 and is starting to formulate some conclusions. Equally important, ASWT is taking measures to restore the Bonfire Shelter and preserve this important site for the future. This presentation will review some tentative results of our field research, including a possible connection to nearby Eagle Cave and an overview of our preservation efforts.

DAVID’S BIO: Dr. Kilby is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University and Director of the Ancient Southwest Texas Project. His research focuses on the archaeology of the earliest inhabitants of the Americas, with particular emphasis on the relationship between Ice Age foragers and the changing physical environment of the North American Southern Plains, West, and Southwest.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “Arrowheads, Guns, and Fossils: Stories of Hill Country History”

In partnership with the RNC, HCAA held a fun and educational afternoon for all those interested in the rich history of the Hill Country; all the way from the age of the dinosaurs millions of years ago, through the lifeways of ancient Native Americans, and stories of settlers and lawmen who braved the perilous frontier times.

The afternoon began with a brief opening presentation by HCAA President Mike McBride describing the history of HCAA archeological work, and invitations to join our membership. We will feature a raffle featuring a replica flint Corner Tang Knife and Pedernales point, a hand-carved wood bowl, books, and New Mexico Turquoise and silver jewelry.

After the opening presentations, guests visited exhibits set up on the grounds of the RNC, including:

• Arrowheads, stone tools, artifacts, and stories of Ancient Native Americans with local archeologists and historians.
• Guns and ammo of the Civil War and Frontier-era, and stories of “Frontier-Style” justice, with a local historical weapons expert.
• A flintknapping demo showing the manufacture of ancient stone tools with a Master Flintknapper.
• A book fair featuring history, archeology, and geology titles.
• In coordination with RNC, presentations on their new exhibit “Fossils: Clues to the Past” with Karen Clint, Program Director at Riverside Nature Center.

PRESENTATION TITLE: Hill Country Archeological Assn: Discovery of 10,000 Year-Old Paleo-Indian Occupations in Kerr County

The PowerPoint lecture presented over 20 years of HCAA’s work in the Hill Country. We have researched and documented over 10,000 years of occupation of the region, ranging from historic cemeteries and settler homesteads to ancient hunter-gatherer Indian sites. Our current work at the Crying Woman Ranch Project has uncovered some of the oldest evidence of Native Americans’ presence at over 10,000 years ago.

Invite your friends to learn about Hill Country archeology.

• It’s time to join or renew your membership for 2023.
• Raffle for a beautiful Biface created by our President, Mike McBride.
• Archeology books for sale to benefit our organization’s work.
• An opportunity to tell us what you want to see and do in 2023.
• See examples of points, tools and other artifacts found in the hill country.
• Nominate new board members for 2023 and meet your fellow members.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “Life and Research in a Box Canyon of the Rio Grande”

SPEAKER: Dr. Steven L. Black, former Associate Professor at Texas State University. Currently Director of Texas Beyond History, the Virtual Museum and Cultural Legacy Center for Texas Archaeological Society.

Eagle Nest (or Mile) Canyon, a small box canyon draining into the Rio Grande near Langtry, Texas, is the best-studied archaeological locale in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands, starting with pioneering excavations and rock art illustrations in the 1920s and 1930s. During the most recent era, Texas State University’s Ancient Southwest Texas Project (ASWT) and the Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center have taken a tag-team approach employing state-of-the-art excavation, multidisciplinary sampling, and rock art documentation methods.

ASWT researchers, TxState students, and volunteers have carried out extensive field investigations at six sites in the canyon, five of them rock shelters, the largest being Eagle Cave and the most famous Bonfire, following the mantra “Low Impact, High Resolution.” The resulting data are still pouring in, so to speak, through ongoing analyses, including graduate student and specialist studies.

Speaker Dr. Steve Black highlighted what is being learned about the Box Canyon’s 13,000+ year human record and brought fellow HCAA members up to date on ASWT research and conservation efforts. On January 22nd, Steve will be “fresh” from the 2022 Bonfire Restoration session with new tales to tell.

STEPHEN’S BIO: He has been an archaeologist since the mid-1970s. He holds a BA from UT-Austin, an MA from UTSA, and a PhD from Harvard University. Most of his career has focused on hunter-gatherer archaeology in the southern half of Texas, especially hot rock cooking. Steve retired from teaching at Texas State University at the end of 2019 but remains a research professor there. Steve is also the lead editor of TexasBeyondHistory.net, the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory public education website at UT Austin.

PRESENTATION TOPIC: Nature, Power, and Maya Royals

The HCAA November General meeting was a field trip to the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) to view the fascinating new exhibit, “Nature, Power, and Maya Royals.” There was a lecture and walking tour led by Dr. Bernadette Cap, an archaeologist on this project in Belize and curator of the exhibit we saw. Click here to view the exhibit information.

PRESENTATION TITLE: TAS Field School, 2021: A Report by HCAA Participants

SPEAKERS: HCAA Board members Terry Farley – Vice President, Françoise Wilson – Board Director, and Mike McBride – President presented a program reporting on all the exciting events of the Field School.

After a year hiatus, the annual Texas Archeological Society Field School returned in full force in June 2021. With excavations and research projects located throughout Kerr County, the event was a huge success. The event drew more than 360 participants from all over Texas and several other states. This included over 250 avocationals, 25 professional archeologists, over 30 college students, and a youth group of over 35 elementary and middle school students. Research projects included prehistoric and historical excavations, a three-day Cemetery Workshop, expert laboratory analysis, and field surveys on numerous ranches in Kerr County. We enjoyed social gatherings every evening with great food, educational programs, dancing with a live band, and other unique entertainers.

HCAA members were key participants in helping prepare for the event, as well as serving as organizers, crew chiefs, surveyors, and excavators.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “Locating and Recording Lost Cemeteries of the Hill Country”

SPEAKER: Jenny McWilliams, Cemetery Preservation Program Coordinator, Texas Historical Commission

Site identification is at the very core of preservation. Small family cemeteries are scattered throughout the Texas Hill Country. They will be lost to land clearing and development without identification and assessment. Archeologists are trained to observe the landscape and look for clues of the past. This skill will be needed to save forgotten isolated graves and small family plots. I invite you to learn more about the needs and procedures involved in finding, recording, and preserving these historic sites of the Texas Hill Country.

JENNY’S BIO: Jenny works as the Cemetery Preservation Program Coordinator for the Texas Historical Commission. Her position includes answering inquiries about cemetery law, access issues, cemetery maintenance, preservation, protection, and recording. As the Cemetery Program Coordinator, Jenny also manages the Historic Texas Cemetery designation program as well as the THC’s online Historic Sites Atlas.

Prior to her work at the THC, Jenny was an archeologist for Cultural Resource Management firms in Texas. As part of her 20-year archeological career, Jenny traveled extensively throughout Texas, often excavating graves for relocation for clients such as TxDOT, lignite mining companies, and a reservoir project.

Jenny received her undergraduate degree from Southwest Texas State University and her Master’s Degree from Texas Tech University. Jenny was raised in College Station, where her father was a professor at Texas A&M, and she currently lives in Austin.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “CWR, A Newly Discovered Paleo Indian and Multicomponent Site In Kerr County, Texas”

SPEAKERS: Françoise Wilson and Steve Stoutamire, Principal Investigators, HCAA

The Hill Country Archeological Association first investigated the CWR site in July 2018 at the request of the owner of the private ranch containing the site. After surface traverses of the property were conducted, the HCAA team concluded that at least two archeological sites were present, one a rock shelter and two an occupation area with middens.

Controlled excavations of the occupation area started in December 2018 and began to reveal a rich assemblage of dart and arrow points and well-preserved animal remains, including bison bone and teeth. Also unique to this site are trade items such as Caddo pottery and cultural obsidian flakes, which are not native to Central Texas.

In August 2019, an accidental discovery of a Paleo-Indian point on the site led to the recovery of 8 Paleo-Indian points to date. The temporal span of these points ranges from at least the Middle to Late traditional Paleo-Indian period. Because almost all of the Paleo-Indian lithics have come from a relatively small area, the only one investigated thus far may hold potential for additional and even older Paleo-Indian materials.

BIOS:

Françoise Wilson is a retired foreign language educator with Master’s Degrees in Comparative Linguistics and Foreign Language Education. She is a Texas Master Naturalist in the Hill Country Chapter, a Board Member of HCAA, a Texas Archeological Society’s Education Committee member, and the CWR site’s Principal Archaeologist<

Steve Stoutamire is a retired petroleum geologist. He received a BA in Anthropology (1972) from Florida State University and an MS in Geology (1975) from Texas Tech University. Since retirement (2007), he has become an active avocational archeologist, regularly working to educate the public through archeological classes and lectures and working with private land owners to help them understand archeological sites on their property. He is a member, past president, and current field committee chairman of the Hill Country Archeological Association, a member of the Texas Archeology Society, and a member of the Center For The Study Of First Americans. He serves as a director on the Gault School of Archeological Research board at the University of Texas, Austin, and as a Texas Archeology Steward for the Texas Historical Commission.