Texas Archaeological Tour of Pre-Clovis/Clovis/Paleoamerican Sites

Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015 to Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015 Starting at Austin, TX concluding at Houston, TX with variable ending points depending on your schedule Archaeologist, Mike Collins, PhD, tour host

Sacramento Archeological Society is pleased to offer an extensive archaeological tour of 29 locations in Texas, including 19 Paleoindian sites (three Pre-Clovis sites, 10 Clovis sites and 6 Late Paleoindian sites). These date from 15,500 to 500 B.P.

The tour is hosted by Mike Collins, PhD (Research Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos) and director of Gault School of Archeological Research (GSAR).

Sites planned to be visited include: Gault, Friedkin, Wilson- Leonard, Spring Lake, Knibbe, Kincaid, Arenosa, Devils Mouth, Seminole, Eagle Nest, Bondfire, Big Lake, Midland, Shifting Sands, Lubbock Lake, Plainview, Black Water Draw, Horne, and McFaddin Beach. Additionally, we will visit University Museum and Private Collections that came from these sites.

Itinerary The below dates and order of sites are best estimates. Some sites may take longer, some less, and some may not be open. To the extent possible, persons who did original work at the sites and/or persons presently in charge of the sites will be invited to participate with us.

To see more information on some sites go to http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/

10/11 N/A stay HILTON Hotel AUSTIN/BERGSTROM Airport 7:30 Brief Meeting at 7:30 p.m. 10/12 1 0:45 4:00 UNIV TEXAS TARL & VP LABS + LUNCH 2 0:30 0:45 WILSON-LEONARD SITE 3 0:30 1:20 INNERSPACE CAVERN 0:15 stay LA QUINTA, GEORGETOWN & DINNER 10/13 4 0:30 4:00 GAULT & FRIEDKIN SITES + LUNCH 5 1:30 2:00 SPRING LAKE, C.A.S. & MEADOWS CENTER, 0:20 stay HOTEL IN SAN MARCOS 10/14 6 0:20 2:00 Gault Schoold of Archeological RESEARCH (GSAR) 7 1:00 1:00 KNIBBE RANCH + LUNCH 8 1:15 2:00 Richard Beene Site ?8? [Kincaid Rockshelter] 0:45 stay UVALDE MOTEL 10/15 9 2:30 2:00 [Devil's Mouth] & SEMINOLE CANYON 10 0:10 1:00 ARENOSA OVERLOOK + LUNCH 11 0:40 4:00 EAGLE NEST CANYON, BONFIRE,EAGLE CAVE 0:10 or stay SHUMLA CAMPUS OR DEL RIO 1:10 10/16 12 2:45 1:20 BIG LAKE PLAYA + LUNCH 13 1:45 2:30 meet Richard Rose & collection 0:15 stay MIDLAND DOUBLETREE HOTEL 10/17 14A 0:40 2:00 Scharbauer Site?? or 14B 1:20 2:30 Shifting Sands Site?? 2:30 stay LUBBOCK; LA QUINTA NORTH 10/18 15 0:20 3:00 LUBBOCK LAKE SITE 17 0:45 0:45 PLAINVIEW LOCALITY + LUNCH ? 0:30 1:00 MARKS BEACH SITE?? 2:45 stay CLOVIS, N.M. 10/19 18 0:30 4:00 Blackwater Draw Clovis type site & Museum + LUNCH 3:30 stay TURKEY? AMARILLO? TAMPA? 10/20 19 0:20 1:00 LAKE THEO/CANYONLANDS 20 2:00 1:30 MIAMI MUSEUM + LUNCH. Discuss Horance Rivers 21 1:40 1:45 ALIBATES FLINT QUARRIES 0:45 stay AMARILLO 10/21 22 0:30 1:30 PANHANDLE PLAINS MUSEUM 5:00 stay ABILENE [LUNCH ?LUBBOCK OR POST 10/22 23 2:45 1:30 BOSQUE MUSEUM + LUNCH 24 0:30 2:30 HORN SHELTER 0:40 stay WACO 10/23 25 0:15 1:00 MABORN/STRECKER MUSEUM 26 0:30 1:15 WACO MAMMOTH + LUNCH 27 2:00 2:00 CENTER FOR STUDY OF FIRST AMERICANS. Possibly Long collection. 1:45 stay HOUSTON 10/24 28 2:00 2:30 McFADDIN BEACH + LUNCH 29 2:00 OPTIONS: TEXAS ARCH SOC MEETINGS; DEPART; stay HOUSTON

Reservations: If you are interested in joining any part of this tour, contact Dennis Fenwick at [email protected] or 916-373-1465 (cell).

Limit of Participants: The limit of participants is about 30 if we have a bus. We now have 11 plus Mike Collins and a representative from GSAR, for a tentative total of 13. Participants may the leave tour or leave and rejoin, at their convenience. MAJOR AIRPORTS providing DEPARTURE OPTIONS AUSTIN Oct 13, 14 MIDLAND Oct 16, 17 LUBBOCK Oct 17, 18 AMARILLO Oct 20, 21 HOUSTON Oct 23

Motels: A list of tentative motels is given below. Unless a participant desires to make his or her own reservations, the reservations will be made for everyone once their preferences are requested and received by the Hosts. The intention is to make as many reservations as possible together and preferably with as few motel chains as possible, in order to obtain the lowest rates as possible. Each participant will pay his or her own motel bill as they occur.

Bus. We may hire a bus or van, depending on how many folks go on the tour. Our goal is to have a system on the mode of transportation that allows our presenters an opportunity to talk to us and to answer questions while we are driving; and to allow other participants to also make just vocal or PowerPoint presentations. The cost of the transportation will be divided by the number of participants.  Bus can take up to 50 persons and cost between $1,200 to $1,500/day.  Vans for 12 to 15 persons at Budget were $932/week = $133/day.

Contributions: Participants are requested to make tax exempt contributions to both the Center for the Study of First Americans and the Gault School of Archeological Research, Inc.

Detailed Itinerary

Sunday, October 11: Arrive in Austin at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport – AUS. Stay at Hilton Austin Airport on the AUS grounds at 9515 Hotel Dr, Austin, TX 78719. Transportation is available from the Airport to the Hilton. I recommend making reservations now at this Hilton. If need be, they can be cancelled later. The rate I received on calling the hotel for AAA or AARP was $161.45 + tax/day = $195.44. (The web rate said $169/day, but this may not be the AAA or AARP rate.) For reservations either call 512/385-6767 or use the following web sites in the following order: http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/texas/hilton- austin-airport-AUSAHHF/index.html

Monday, October 12: . 1 University of Texas TARL and VP Labs, Austin. Artifacts from many of the sites listed herein. With Ernie Mandibiles, Rick Bowsman. Lunch. 2 Wilson-Leonard (500 to 13,500 BP) site. 3 Inter Space Cavern 4200 S I-35 Frontage Rd Georgetown https://innerspacecavern.com/ Georgetown - La Quinta Inn, 33 North I-35 512/869-2541 $55. http://www.lq.com/en.html Dinner. It is 41 miles North of Austin.

Tuesday, October 13: . 4 Gault from 500 to 15,500 BP with Mike Collins. Gault is owned by The Archeological Conservancy (TAC). Gault and Friedkin and are part of the Buttermilk Creek Complex. See http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/gault/index.html Debra L Friedkin from 500 to 15,500 BP with Michael R Waters. Backfilled. a. “Compelling archaeological evidence of an occupation older than Clovis (~12.8 to 13.1 thousand years ago) in North America is present at only a few sites, and the stone tool assemblages from these sites are small and varied. The Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas, contains an assemblage of 15,528 artifacts that define the Buttermilk Creek Complex, which stratigraphically underlies a Clovis assemblage and dates between ~13.2 and 15.5 thousand years ago. The Buttermilk Creek Complex confirms the emerging view that people occupied the Americas before Clovis and provides a large artifact assemblage to explore Clovis origins.” (Science Vol 331 p 1599-1603, 25 March 2011.) b. “… Waters and his team have found evidence of human occupation dating back 15,500 years.” (Elizabeth Lunday “Making A Case For The Pre-Clovis,” Fall 2011 American Archeology pp 20-25 at 21.) Lunch. 5 Spring Lake (500 to 13,500 BP), C.A.S. and Meadows Center with Frederick “Fritz” H Hanselmann, Research Faculty, Chief Underwater Archaeologist/Diving Program Director, The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, Texas State University, 512-245-7244 [email protected] http://www.meadowscenter.txstate.edu/ John Lose. San Marcos - Hotels. Distance from the University. 0.4 miles The Crystal River Inn $125; 1.3 miles Wingate by Wyndham San Marcos $109; 1.82 miles La Quinta San Marcos $67; [19mi 21min Best Western, 1493 N I-H 35, New Braunfels, TX 78130-2816 $81]. Dinner.

Wednesday, October 14:. 6 Gault School of Archeological Research (GSAR) Lab with Clark Wernecke, Mike Collins, Nancy Velchoff, Tom Williams, and Robert Lassen. 7 Knibbe Ranch (500 to 12,000 BP) potential bison jump test excavations to be directed by Sergio Ayala and Dr. Robert Lassen that may describe paleo-environments privately owned. Led by Mike Collins. One 1 hour from Austin. “We are also just finishing the site protocols for a new excavation that will be jointly directed by Sergio Ayala and Dr. Robert Lassen at the Knibbe Ranch. This site is a potential bison jump and may be able to tell us more about the paleo-environments here in Texas. Though starting out small this project should have volunteer excavation opportunities.” (GSAR Newsletter V8 N4 12/2014 p 3.) Lunch. 8 Richard Beene site. Kincaid Rockshelter (500to13,500). http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/kincaid/index.html Uvalde - Hampton Inn, E Main St 855/799-6860 $103. http://www.hilton.com/ Expedia:$98 Dinner. Inn of Uvalde, E Main St 866/599-6674 $65

Thursday, October 15: 9 Devil’s Mouth (500 to 12,000 BP) Seminole Canyon (500 to 8,800 BP) Panther Cave Pictograph site at Seminole Canyon State Park, P.O. Box 820, Comstock, TX 78837, (432) 292-4464, Latitude: 29.7001, Longitude: -101.313058 West from Austin 278 mi (4:42) and San Antonio 189 mi (3:10). http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state- parks/seminole-canyon 10 Arenosa Overlook (500 to 13,500 BP). Under water. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/arenosa/index.html Lunch. 11 Eagle Nest Canyon (500 to 12,000 BP) (privately owned). Led by Mike Collins. About 1 hour from Austin. Note Department of Anthropology, Texas State University field school work there at http://www.txstate.edu/anthropology/undergrad-program/field- schools/archaeology-eagle-nest-canyon.htmml Bonfire Shelter (1,200 to 15,500 BP)r pre-Clovis & 2500 BP bison jumps in Mile Creek Canyon 3 miles East of Langtry in SW TX on private land. With Mike Collins. West of Comstock TX 29mi 29min; of San Antonio 227 mi (3:39); of Austin 291 mi (5:06). Steve Black. See: http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/bonfire/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonfire_Shelter . Both overlook & hiking to base. Eagle Cave Also see Lower Pecos Canyonlands near Amistad Reservoir. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/pecos/before.html Motel in Shumla Campus or Del Rio? Dinner.

Friday, October 16: 12 Big Lake Playa (8,800 to 12,000 BP) Lunch. 13 Meet Richard Rose and see his collection. Midland - Doubletree by Hilton, 117 West Wall St, Midland, 79701 432/683-6131 $231 Dinner. La Quinta 4130 West Wall St, Midland 432/697-9900 $65

Saturday, October 17: 14 Scharbauer site??? / Midland (500 to 13,500 BP) with Vance Holliday. 10 miles South of Midland, Texas (41MDI) with unfluted Midland Point Type 13,400 +/- 1,200 BP (Texas State Historical Assn.) Austin to Midland by car is 317 mi (5:05). Shifting Sands site (12,000 to 13,500 BP)???. (If per mission is granted.) Lubbock - La Quinta Downtown 601 Ave Q, 806/763-9441 $65 Dinner. LQ North 5006 Auburn St 806/749-1600 $105 http://www.lq.com/en.html Americas Best Value Slaton Rd 84 Hwy/ I-271 855/873-6558 $65

Sunday, October 18: 15 Lubbock Lake (500 to 13,500 BP) site with Vance Holliday??? & Eileen Johnson. Near Lubbock, Texas with 336 acres at 12,000 BP and Lubbock Lake Landmark with mammoth, bison, armadillo. Clovis 11,500 to 11,000 BP. . For Texas see: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ and http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/prehistoric/index.html Midland to Lubbock by car is 117 mi (1:48). 16 Plainview Locality (8,800 to 12,000 BP) site with Vance Holliday??? . Lunch. 17 Marks Beach site???. Clovis NM - La Quinta 4521 North Prince St, Clovis, NM 88101 575-763-8777 $119 Dinner. Quality Inn, Mabry Dr 855/809-3506 $54

Monday, October 19: 18 Black Water Draw (Clovis type site) (500 to 13,500 BP) & Museum Where Clovis was first found and got its name. George Crawford. Lunch. Travel Motel in Turkey, Amarillo or Tampa Dinner.

Tuesday, October 20: 19 Lake Theo. / Canyonlands State Park. 20 Miami Museum. Lunch. Discuss Horance Rivers. 21 Alibates Natnl Monument http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/alibates/index.html Amarillo - La Quinta Airport 1708 I-40 E. 806/373-7486 $82 Dinner. LQ West Med Center 2108 S Coulter St, 806/352-6311 $89

Wednesday, October 21: 22 Panhandle Plains Museum. Lunch. Abilene??? Lubbock - La Quinta Downtown 601 Ave Q, 806/763-9441 $65 Dinner. LQ North 5006 Auburn St 806/749-1600 $105 http://www.lq.com/en.html Americas Best Value Slaton Rd 84 Hwy/ I-271 855/873-6558 $65

Thursday, October 22: 23 Bosque Museum. Lunch. 24 Horn Shelter (500 to 13,500 BP) Al Reder. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/horn/index.html Waco – La Quinta Waco University 1110 South 9th St 254-752-9741 $69 Dinner. LQ South, 6003 Woodway Dr 254-772-0200 $119.

Friday, October 23: 25 Maborn/Strecker Museum. 26 Waco Mammoth. Lunch. 27 Center for the Study of First Americans at Texas A&M with Michael Waters. See up to 3 Friedkin labs. Possibly see Russel Long’s Clovis collection. Motel in Houston. Dinner.

Saturday, October 24: 28 McFaddin Beach (500 to 13,500 BP). An offshore Clovis site that is likely to have some very interesting, underwater investigations underway between now and October. See http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/mcfaddin/index.html Lunch. 29 Texas Archeological Society Conference in Houston October 23-25. Motel in Houston. Dinner.

Sunday, October 25: Depart from either Houston; or Austin after driving to Austin.

Hosts

Michael B Collins PhD, Research Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666-4684 512/245-8272; and Director of GSAR. San Marcos is 32 miles (0:36) South of Austin, TX.

Gault School of Archeological Research, Inc. (GSAR), Director, Clark Wernecke PhD. GSAR is 501(c)(3) with EIN number is 26-0536138, PO Box 2620, San Marcos , TX 78667- 2620 [email protected] (512) 245-8734 http://www.gaultschool.org/ Additional staff are: Nancy Velchoff (administrator and Clovis flaking expert), Tom Williams (XRF expert), and Dr. Robert Lassen (coordinating Archaic research at the site and Folsom expert).

Persons Who May Help with the Tour

Michael R Waters PhD, Director, Center for the Study of First Americans (CSFA), Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, 4352 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4352 979/845-5246 [email protected] http://centerfirstamericans.org/ ; and Director, North Star Archeological Research Program. College Station is about 106 miles (1:45) East of Austin, and 121 miles (2:00 hours) East of San Marcos, TX. Participants may make tax exempt contributions to the Center for the Study of First Americans.

Vance T Holliday at Univ. of Arizona. Did work at Lubbock Lake, Plainview and Midland; wrote Paleoindian Geoarchaeology of the Southern High Plains, and did the work at El Fin del Mundo in Sonora [Mexico] where he found two gomphothere, an elephant relative with four tusks, distinctive Clovis points and other tools. Almost 14,000 years old, it is one of the oldest and southernmost Clovis sites. (Archeology 2014-NovDec p 22.)

Additional Comments

Clovis from 14,094 CALBP The rationale for this date follows: “When Clovis is more precisely dated, the starting point for this subperiod may have to be adjusted either forward or backward in time. There are hints that the starting date may move backward, perhaps to around 14,000 CALYBP or ca. 12,000 RCYBP. A date of 11,900 ± 80 RCYBP / 13,636-14,094 CALYBP (AA-27486) was obtained from a level containing a Clovis assemblage at the Big Eddy site in Missouri, although the other dates from the same level fall into the more expected range of from ca. 11,400 to 10,700 RCYBP / 13,316 to 12,770 CALYBP (Lopinot et al., eds., 1998:92-93, 218). Three dates from the Johnson site in central Tennessee – 11,700 ± 980 RCYBP / 14,039 CALYBP (TX-7000); 11,980 ± 110 RCYBP / 13,996 CALYBP (TX-7454); and 12,660 ± 970 RCYBP / 15,048 CALYBP (TX-6999) on hearths with associated fluted preforms (Broster and Barker 1992; Broster and Norton 1996:292-294; Broster et al. 1991; Goodyear 1999a:448-449) - when coupled with the date from Big Eddy suggest Clovis may originate earlier than traditionally thought in the Southeast.” (Pleistocene Human Occupation of the Southeastern United States: Research Directions for the Early 21st Century by David G Anderson in Paleoamerican Origins: Beyond Clovis, Peopling of Americas, Texas A&M 2005 edited by among others Michael Waters at pages 32-3. Emphasis added.)

Clovis to 12,500 CALBP One rationale for this date follows: “Did a massive comet explode over Canada 12,900 years ago, wiping out both beast and man in North America and propelling the earth back into an ice age? That’s a question that has been hotly debated by scientists since 2007, with the University of South Carolina’s Topper archaeological site right in the middle of the comet impact controversy. However, a new study published today (Sept.17) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides further evidence that it may not be such a far-fetched notion. “Albert Goodyear, an archaeologist in USC's College of Arts and Sciences, is a co- author on the study that upholds a 2007 PNAS study by Richard Firestone, a staff scientist at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “Firestone found concentrations of spherules (micro-sized balls) of metals and nano-sized diamonds in a layer of sediment dating 12,900 years ago at 10 of 12 archaeological sites that his team examined. The mix of particles is thought to be the result of an extraterrestrial object, such as a comet or meteorite, exploding in the earth’s atmosphere. Among the sites examined was USC’s Topper, one of the most pristine U.S. sites for research on Clovis, one of the earliest ancient peoples.” (University of South Carolina - News, PNAS: Topper site in middle of comet controversy by Peggy Binette, [email protected] 803-777-7704. Source: http://www.sc.edu/news/newsarticle.php?nid=4706 Emphasis added.)

Additional Places of Interest

Bullock Museum in Austin, 1800 Congress Ave. Austin 512/936-8746, if open.