Central Texas is rich for archeological exploration. Why is this important to us today? How can I get involved? Francoise Wilson will answer these questions and many more in her presentation.
The date is Wednesday February 16, and the time is 1pm. The location is the Riverside Nature Center in Kerrville. Francoise is a great speaker and always entertaining.
HCAA has joined forces with TAS to conduct the 2021 TAS Field School in Kerrville!
The Texas Archeological Society is hosting the 2021 annual Field School on a private ranch just west of Kerrville (TAS 2021 Field School). This private property is 88 acres in size and borders the Guadalupe River near Bear Creek. It is located on the same river terrace as the Gatlin Site (41KR621) which was accidentally discovered by TxDOT crews in 2004 when construction for the new Thompson Drive extension to the new bridge crossing the river.
Gatlin has been hailed in literature as one of the most significant Early Archaic sites ever found in Central Texas. It has a robust point assemblage and 50 carbon 14 dates in addition to animal and plant remains. Much of the Research Design for the Field School private ranch will center on increasing understanding beyond what Gatlin could provide due to limits of TxDot construction schedules and right of ways.
Based on the work that the Hill Country Archeology Association (HCAA) has done on the property over the last 5 years, most all of the 88 acres contains archeology deposits.
The HCAA has been exploring the property to identify promising areas for the 2021 field school excavations. The terrace deposits are rich in culture containing middens, abundant lithic scatters, discrete fire cracked rock (FCR) hearths and a large variety of stone tools and projectile points. Radiocarbon dating on the site has been limited but the oldest cultural material found thus far is 7280 ybp (years before present) calibrated from an FCR hearth with associated Early Archaic Projectile point. A good representation of diagnostic points cover the Early, Middle, Late and Transitional Archaic periods. Some broken points have been found which are tentatively identified as Late Paleolithic, and one Perdiz arrow point was found representing the Late Prehistoric Period. Learn more about study site.
Presentation Announcement—A Zoom Meeting—Houston Archeological Society
Date/Time:
Thursday, May 20th at 7:00 pm (Zoom doors open 6:30 pm)
Presentation Title:
“41KR754 – A New Multicomponent Site Containing Late Paleoindian Through Late Prehistoric Assemblages: Kerr County, Texas”
Speaker:
Steve Stoutamire
The next monthly meeting of the Houston Archeological Society will be held on Thursday, May 20th via ZOOM and YouTube Livestream. This month’s program will feature a presentation by Steve Stoutamire from the Hill Country Archeological Association who will speak on 41KR754 in Kerr County. Steve will also discuss the 2021 TAS Field School, hosted by HCAA, which will be held at a neighboring prehistoric site in Kerr County. HAS members will receive a link to the ZOOM meeting shortly. The business meeting will start at 7:00 but we will open the meeting to HAS members at 6:30 to offer everyone 30 minutes to socialize. The program will begin 7:15 on Zoom and will also be livestreamed to nonmembers starting at 7:15 p.m. on the HAS YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/PA_kJT1wuH8.
The Hill Country Archeology Association began investigations at 41KR754 in August, 2018 after an invitation by the owners, who had recognized ancient cultural material on the surface of a river terrace on their ranch. Initial visits by the HCAA focused on pedestrian surveys particularly in the area of two middens located within the site. These surface areas yielded a good density of chert tools and diagnostic dart points. With the encouragement of the owners to excavate and identify more cultural definition, the HCAA began controlled excavations in December, 2018.
Initial excavations revealed a robust assemblage of Middle Archaic through Late Prehistoric dart and arrow points along with various lithic tools, organics including bison bone, pottery, obsidian flakes and other apparent trade items. In July of 2019 the first Paleoindian point was found on the site after the landowner had dug a new ditch for a water line. The point was found in the soil heap which had come from the ditch and was identified as Saint Mary’s Hall. Operations then focused within that area of the site, recovering a total of 20 SMH, four Angostura and one possible Golondrina. One C14 date was obtained from bone closely associated with several of the SMH points and yielded a date of calibrated 10,248-10,193 YBP. Operations continue at the site as of April, 2021.
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. During a 32-year career in the petroleum industry he held technical, business and managerial positions in both domestic and international operations. Since retirement in 2007, he and wife Nancy have lived near Kerrville, Texas. He is an active avocational archeologist and regularly works to educate the public through teaching classes and giving archeology lectures. He works with private landowners, by their invitation, to help them understand archeological sites on their property. He is also a member, past president, and current field committee chairman of the Hill Country Archeological Association, a member of the Texas Archeology Society, the Gault School of Archeological Research and the Center for The Study of First Americans. He serves as vice chairman of the board of the Gault School of Archeological Research at the University of Texas, Austin. He also serves as a Texas Archeology Steward for the Texas Historical Commission.
Zoom Link to follow shortly! If you do not receive the link in 24 hours reply to this message!
See your there! HCAA Board of Directors
This is a fascinating and detailed archeological study of 95 African American convicts buried in a cemetery at the Bullhead Convict Labor Camp in Sugarland, Texas (41FB355). These convicts died during forced labor in sugarcane fields in the period from 1875 to 1908. The Zoom presentation is from the October 20th meeting of the Travis County Archeological Society. Lots of great detail. In the last 40 minutes the physical anthropologist gets down to the dirty story of what their living conditions and diet were like, and how this affected their heath.
EVENT - Texas Archeological Society Field School 2020 Kerrville (CANCELED/RESCHEDULED FOR 2021)
HCAA has joined forces with TAS to conduct the 2020 TAS Field School in Kerrville (June 13-20)!
The Texas Archeological Society has designated the 2020 annual Field School to be on a private ranch just west of Kerrville (TAS 2020 Field School). This private property is 88 acres in size and borders the Guadalupe River near Bear Creek. It is located on the same river terrace as the Gatlin Site (41KR621) which was accidentally discovered by TxDOT crews in 2004 when construction for the new Thompson Drive extension to the new bridge crossing the river. Gatlin has been hailed in literature as one of the most significant Early Archaic sites ever found in Central Texas. It has a robust point assemblage and 50 carbon 14 dates in addition to animal and plant remains. Much of the Research Design for the Field School private ranch will center on increasing understanding beyond what Gatlin could provide due to limits of TxDot construction schedules and right of ways.
Based on the work that the Hill Country Archeology Association (HCAA) has done on the property over the last 5 years, most all of the 88 acres contains archeology deposits.
The HCAA has been exploring the property to identify promising areas for the 2020 field school excavations. The terrace deposits are rich in culture containing middens, abundant lithic scatters, discrete fire cracked rock (FCR) hearths and a large variety of stone tools and projectile points. Radiocarbon dating on the site has been limited but the oldest cultural material found thus far is 7280 ybp (years before present) calibrated from an FCR hearth with associated Early Archaic Projectile point. A good representation of diagnostic points cover the Early, Middle, Late and Transitional Archaic periods. Some broken points have been found which are tentatively identified as Late Paleolithic, and one Perdiz arrow point was found representing the Late Prehistoric Period.
Beginning work at Kemosabe, 2014 Back Hoe Trench To Get Stratigraphic and Cultural Control
K-12 SUMMER SYMPOSIUM (2017), sponsored by Texas A&M University
Teachers practicing field methods at local prehistoric site, afternoon portion of the classes.
Steve Stoutamire teaching in morning portion of the class, classroom setting.
The HCAA recently took part in a symposium for Texas elementary and high school teachers held in Kerrville the week of July 24th. This event is sponsored by Texas A & M University and is called The K-12 Summer Institute.
It is focused on further training of teachers in science and related fields. There were over 200 teachers attending this years conference and the HCAA conducted all day classes in archeology for two of those days.
Mike McBride demonstrating flint knapping to teachers in afternoon portion of classes.
Morning sessions were in class rooms and afternoon sessions were in the field performing actual professional style excavations. The teachers learned about what archeology is, related fields of it, life ways of ancient Native Americans of Texas, tools and weapons they used, etc. including handling of a variety of lithic artifacts. A total of 30 teachers attended the HCAA classes over the two days.
Abstracts of Talks:
First Speaker - Robert Lassen's presentation is titled "History and Archaeology at Folsom, New Mexico, and Its Lasting Effects on Our Understanding of the Initial Peopling of the Americas." Essentially, he will begin with the controversy surrounding the peopling of the Americas in the start of the 20th century, and discusses how the Folsom discovery in 1928 resolved that issue (along with Blackwater Draw further refining our understanding). Then he will cover the emergence of the Clovis first model, followed by summaries of various archaeological sites that illustrate how the Clovis first model is no longer valid. Lassen will conclude by bringing it back to the original controversy surrounding the Folsom discovery and discuss that despite all we've learned, the basic arguments haven't changed all that much.
Second Speaker - Sergio Ayala's talk and power point presentation will be on the study Ayala and students did on all the various quarry blanks, etc. on a property in Gillespie County.
Bios of Speakers
Robert Lassen is currently a post-doctoral researcher working for the Gault School of Archaeological Research in its headquarters at Texas State University. He has a PhD in anthropology from the University of Tennessee, as well as an MA from Texas A&M and a BA from Southwestern University in Georgetown. Lassen has been interested in archaeology since grade school and participated in the Fort Bend County and Houston Archaeological Societies when in high school. Although his current work centers on academic research, he also worked for Hicks and Company doing CRM archaeology in 2006-2007. His interests revolve around lithic technology with focus on Paleoindian technology and has also been educating himself in Central Texas Archaic lithics as well.
Sergio Ayala is a Central Texas native and received his Bachelors of Science in archaeology from Texas State University. He is currently a graduate student at the University of Exeter, UK, under Dr. Bruce Bradley. Sergio balances his graduate study with his work as a project archaeologist for The Gault School of Archaeological Research at Texas State University, where he focuses heavily on experimental archaeology and lithic analysis. His research has developed new insights into technological behaviors of the Calf-Creek Horizon, and he is spearheading additional research that explores wider technological patterns and traits within highly specialized lithic industries in North American prehistory.
Rendezvous at the River Grand Success!
1st GUADALUPE RIVER TRAIL EVENT, June 20, 2015 GRAND SUCCESS
A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!!!
Sponsored by: Kerrville Elks Lodge & Hill Country Archeological Association (HCAA)
Exhibits along the route included: Flint Knapping, Mountain Man Roy "Tomahawk/Knife Thrower," Veterans Assistance Dogs of Texas, Primitive Fire Building Displays, Earth Oven Cooking, Artifact Identification, Shrine Club with Clown, and other really cool things!
THANK YOU TO THE MANY HCAA MEMBERS & KERRVILLE ELKS LODGE FOR ALL THE AWESOME HELP MAKING THIS EVENT A GRAND SUCCESS!
GRADUATES OF THE 2014 HCAA ARCHEOLOGY FIELD WORK COURSE!!!
Students are (L to R): Mike McBride, Craig Mangham, Stephen Bishop, Kris Bobbitt, Steve Stoutamire (Course Instructor), Marvin Gohlke, and Jan Winzinger (not in photo).
Congratulations graduates!!!! And good luck with your new Kemosabe prehistoric excavation project!!!
HCAA ARCHEOLOGY CELEBRATION, Oct 11, 2014
FIELDWORK ON KEMOSABE PROJECT
Work in surveying and excavating the Kemosabe ranch archeology sites continues on Monday September 15th starting at 7:30 in the morning at the front gate to the ranch. All members of Hill Country Archeological Association are invited to participate. Call Steve Stoutamire for more information, (830) 370-8947.
The property has several sites already defined on it and the prospects for additional ones, including Early Archaic, is very good. Auger Work will continue in the coming weeks to expand the auger grid, close out the units at one site containing a fire cracked rock scatter and further define boundaries of other various sites.
2014 FIELD & LAB TECHNIQUES COURSE
Photo 1. Craig Mangham, Mike McBride, Marvin Gohlke, Kris Bobbitt, Jan Winzinger, Stephen Frank Binetti (not pictured), Stephen Bishop
Photo 2. Mike McBride, left, and Marvin Gohlke in the 1 X 1 meter excavation test unit
HCAA offers a yearly training course for members in field and lab techniques. The five part course covers mapping techniques, lithic identification, excavation and lab training. This year's class is pictured in photo one during the excavation training on a midden site in the Hill Country area. From left to right in photo one is Craig Mangham, Mike McBride, Marvin Gohlke, Kris Bobbitt, Jan Winzinger and Frank Binetti, not pictured, Stephen Bishop. The second photo is an up close of Mike McBride, left, and Marvin Gohlke in the 1 X 1 meter excavation test unit.
