Archaeological Investigations at 41BX1, Bexar County, Texas
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Volume 1988 Article 5 1988 Archaeological Investigations at 41BX1, Bexar County, Texas Paul D. Lukowski Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ita Part of the American Material Culture Commons, Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the United States History Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Cite this Record Lukowski, Paul D. (1988) "Archaeological Investigations at 41BX1, Bexar County, Texas," Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State: Vol. 1988, Article 5. https://doi.org/ 10.21112/ita.1988.1.5 ISSN: 2475-9333 Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ita/vol1988/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for Regional Heritage Research at SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State by an authorized editor of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Archaeological Investigations at 41BX1, Bexar County, Texas Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License This article is available in Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ita/vol1988/iss1/5 Archa~ologicallnvestigations at . 41 DX 1, D~xar County, .xas Paul D. Lukowski with contributions by Richard F. Shoup and Robert F. Scott IV Center for Archaeological Research The University of Texas at San Antonio Archaeological Survey Report, No. 135 1988 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT 41 BX 1, BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS Paul D. Lukowski With Contributions by Richard F. Shoup and Robert F. Scott IV Texas Antiquities Commiuce Permit No. 220 Thomas R. Hester, Principal Investigator Center for Archaeological Research The University of Texas at San Antonio® Archaeological Survey Report, No. 135 1988 The following information is provided in accordance with General Rules of Practice and Procedure Chapter 41.11 (Investigation Reports), Texas An- . tiquities Committee: 1. Type of investigation: archaeological mitigation at the Olmos Dam site (41 BX 1); 2. Project name: Olmos Dam site (41 BX 1); 3. County: Bexar County, Texas; 4. Principal investigators: Thomas R. Hester, principal investigator; Jack D. Eaton, coprincipal investigator; 5. Name and location of sponsoring agency: San Antonio River Authority, San Antonio, Texas; 6. Texas Antiquities Committee Permit No. 220; 7. Published by the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78285-0658, 1988. A list of publications offered by the Center for Archaeological Research can be obtained by sending $1.00 to the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78285-0658. ABSTRACT Excavations at site 41 BX 1, located behind the Olmos Dam in San Antonio, Texas, were funded by the San Antonio River Authority. The excavations resulted in the documentation of a Late Archaic cemetery and Early to Late Transitional Archaic occupations. Thirteen human burials, accompanied by a variety of grave offerings, including deer antlers and marine shell ornaments, were radiocarbon dated 1680 B.C. (maximum date) to A.D. 260 (minimum date). In addition, two distinct occupational areas, horizontally separated from the cemetery, were investigated. In conjunction with the excavations, final resource management negotiations resulted in mitigation measures of avoidance and protection for the remaining portions of the sileo TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT. I LIST OF FIGURES .................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ................................................... IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................ V INTRODUCTION . .1 Environmental Setting ............................................... 1 Topography and Geology ........................................ 2 Soils . .. ............................. .4 Floods ...................................................... 4 Flora and Fauna . .4 Cultural Background ................................................ 5 Regional Prehistory .................... ...................... ..5 Bexar County Prehistory . .6 SITE INVESTIGATIONS ............................................... 7 Methodology ... .7 Horizontal and Vertical Controls ...................................... 7 Excavation Techniques ............................................ 9 Collection Samples ............................................. 9 Recording ............................................... .9 Power Equipment .................................. .9 Site Description ...................................... 10 Previous Research in the Vicinity of 41 BX 1 . .. ............ 10 Excavation Areas ..................................... 11 Archaeological Zone 2 of Area A ......................... 12 Archaeological Zone 2 of Area B .. ...... 12 Archaeological Zone 3 . ......................... 14 Discussion . .......................... 14 Radiocarbon Dates ................... .......................... 15 Sample TX-2927: 3560 ± 70 D.P. 15 Sample TX-3799: 4110 ± 70 B.P. ..................................... 15 Sample TX-3989: 2200 ± 70 B.P. ..................................... 17 Sample TX-3990: 3310 ± 110 B.P. .. ................. 17 Sample TX-3991: 4380 ± 100 B.P. .................................... 17 Sample TX-3992: 3710 ± 250 B.P. ............... ............... 17 Sample TX-3993: 1920 ± 160 B.P. 17 Burial Descriptions ....... 18 Field School Burial . .. ............... 20 Burial 1 .................................................... 22 Burial 2 . .. ...... 22 Burial 3 ..... 24 Burial 4 . ............ .... 24 BurialS . ............ .... 26 Burial 5A . 29 Burial6 ..................................................... 29 Burial7 . .... 29 Burial8 . ..... 30 Burial 9 . ...... 30 Burial10 ....... ....... .. ........ ...... 31 Burial11 ....... ....... .. ........ ...... 31 Feature Descriptions . .. ...... 33 Feature 1 . 33 Feature 2 ..... 33 Feature 3 ................................................... 35 11 Feature 4 ................................................... 35 Feature 5 ................................................... 35 Feature 6 ................................................... 37 Feature 7 . .... 37 Feature 8 . 37 Feature 9 . .... 38 Feature 10 ................................................... 38 Feature 11 ............................................... .... 38 Materials Collected ................................................ 39 Lithics ..................................................... 39 Projectile Points ............................................. 39 Cores .................................................... 47 Thin Bifaces ............................................... 49 Distally Beveled Bifaces ..................................... ... 55 Thick Bifaces . .. 57 Retouched Flakes ............................................ 58 Retouched Chips . 63 Modified Flakes and Chips . 66 Unmodified Debitage .......................................... 66 Ground and Pecked Stone ....................................... 68 Burned Clay ............................................... 71 Burned Rock ............................................... 71 Unmodified/Natural Materials .................................... 72 Ceramics .................................................... 72 Deer Antler Bases .............................................. 73 Gastropod Remains ............................................. 73 Shell ....................................................... 73 Marine Shell ............................................... 73 Freshwater Shell ... ... 79 Modified Bone ................................................ 80 Bone Awls ................................................. 80 Rectangular Bone Pieces . 82 DISCUSSION ...................................................... 83 SUMMARY ....................................................... 89 REFERENCES CITED ................................................ 90 APPENDIX I: SOIL ANALYSIS ......................................... 97 APPENDIX II: SKELETAL AND DENTAL MATERIALS (Richard F. Shoup) ........... 101 APPENDIX III: PROVENIENCE OF ARTIFACTS ............................ 115 APPENDIX IV: FAUNAL REMAINS (Robert F. Scott IV) ........................ 128 111 LIST OF FIGURES 1. Location of Site 41 BX 1 .............................................. 2 2. Views of 41 BX 1 .................................................. 3 3. Topographical Map and Excavation Plan for Archaeological Zones 2 and 3 at 41 BX 1 ........ 8 4. Soil Profiles from 41 BX 1 ............................................ 13 5. Radiocarbon Dates from 41 BX 1 Compared to Chronological Sequence for Central Texas ..... 16 6. Burial Plan of Zone 2 in Area A at 41 BX 1 .................................. 19 7. Plan Views of the F.S. Burial, Burial 1, and Burial 7 at 41 BX 1 ...................... 21 8. Plan Views of Burial 2 at 41 BX 1 ........................................ 23 9. Plan Views of Burial 3 at 41 BX 1 ........................................ 25 10. Plan View of Feature 2 Overlying Burials 8 and 9, and Plan View of Burial 4 at 41 BX 1 ....... 27 11. Plan Views of Burials 5 and 5A at 41 BX 1 .................................. 28 12. Plan