IntroductIonWith this report, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) begins a reconsideration of approaches to the evaluation and treatment of those areas where surface lithic scatters are the main constituent of the archeological record. The reconsideration was inspired by the Cuatro Vientos project in Laredo, Webb County, Texas. The project and the ideas surrounding it developed slowly. The ideas continued to evolve through discussion between SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) and TxDOT as additional work on the project occurred. Because this project proceeded in an idiosyncratic fashion, some words of explanation might be helpful. The following discussion provides an account of how the project developed and where future work might be heading. PrevIous work at cuatro vIentosBlanton and Associates (Blanton) conducted the initial survey of the project's area of potential effects (Ringstaff et al. 2004). The survey identified 14 sites. The Blanton survey report showed the local archeological record to predominantly be a messy landscape of mixed assemblages. Within this landscape were some pockets with potentially-preserved, isolable components and features. The Blanton survey report thus recommended eight of the 14 sites for additional evaluation. TxDOT, in consultation with the Texas Historical Commission, accepted those recommendations.TxDOT then tasked SWCA with developing a scope for the fieldwork under one of TxDOT's general archeological services contracts. SWCA's approach concentrated on the identification of those select areas that had a high level of integrity, with horizontal and/or vertical separation of assemblages and components (Carpenter, Houk, and Miller 2005). This integrity-focused approach has been explicitly advocated by TxDOT in the past and continues to inform TxDOT's evaluations of the effects of its projects. IntegrIty and the evaluatIon oF south texas sItesThe integrity-focused approach can perhaps be refined, however. Two issues must be addressed. On the one hand, the archeological record of south Texas and its upland lithic scatters is not amenable to many interpretive strategies. The data from the uplands are typically of poor quality. In many places, the ground surface has remained stable or has eroded. Preservation of many types of material is poor. The same general areas have seen repeated occupation. This combination of factors has produced an archeological record that can be difficult to render meaningful. Many aspects of past human behavior and adaptations can not be inferred under these circumstances. On the other hand, the activities that occurred in these areas may have played a significant role in local adaptations. We should not be willing to treat such a large portion of the archeological record as a black box, where significant activities remain unidentified. To ignore the uplands makes an appreciation of the valley settings more difficult, since data would not be available from the upland areas for comparative analysis. Refining current approaches means splitting ...
In the course of the investigations, SWCA conducted shovel testing, hand excavations, special sampling, and other documentation at the project area. The site is located in the walls of eroding road cuts along FM 2169. Although cultural material was more visible in the east wall, this portion of the site had been impacted by erosion and the construction of a cedar oil processing mill, located just outside the ROW boundary. As the possibility of more intact prehistoric subsurface cultural material was located on the western side of the roadway, hand excavations were initialized on this side. In all, approximately 3.38 m 3 were excavated at the site. In addition to the hand excavations, the testing project excavated five shovel tests to define the site limits within the ROW and investigate a feature.The testing determined that the site contains one cultural component, designated Analytical Unit 1 (AU 1), in an alluvial and colluvial setting. AU 1 spans the deposits from the ground surface to a gravel lens at around 70 cm below surface. AU 1 contains one burned limestone rock feature; debitage, two projectile points, lithic tools, and one charcoal sample were also recovered in the excavation units. One projectile point was also found on the ground surface. One radiocarbon sample was submitted for assay, but the results were inconclusive. Thus, the best data to establish a period(s) of occupation were typological.
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