Geoarchaeological and Archaeological Investigations of the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman Brazoria County, Texas

BZT Cover.qxd 5/9/05 10:37 AM Page 1 The BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman, Brazoria County, Texas Brazoria County, Prehistoric Woman, The BZT-1 d’Aigle,Bradle andBernhardt The BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman Brazoria County, Texas Robert P. d’Aigle Michael R. Bradle Gilbert T. Bernhardt Archeological Resources Protection Act April 2005 Geoarchaeological and Archaeological Investigations of The BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman Brazoria County, Texas Prepared for: The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service The Department of the Interior Albuquerque, New Mexico Archaeological Resources Protection Act Permit (ARPA) Dated: 02-07-2003 Robert P. d'Aigle, RPA, Principal Investigator CRC, International Archaeology & Ecology, LLC 7400 Jones Drive, Suite 313 Galveston, Texas 77551 And Michael R. Bradle Gilbert T. Bernhardt American Archaeology Group, LLC 1211 W. Fourth Street Lampasas, TX 76550 With contributions by: Robson Bonnichsen, PhD John Jones, PhD Michael Waters, PhD Jason Wiersema April 2005 Geoarchaeological and Archaeological Investigations of The BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman Brazoria County, Texas Robert P. d'Aigle, RPA, Principal Investigator CRC, International Archaeology & Ecology, LLC 7400 Jones Drive, Suite 313 Galveston, Texas 77551 And Michael R. Bradle Gilbert T. Bernhardt American Archaeology Group, LLC 1211 W. Fourth Street Lampasas, TX 76550 April 2005 Acknowledgements We express our appreciation to Bob Pickering, Ariane Pinson, Wera Schmerer, Michael Blum, James Adovasio, Michael Faught, Ron Hatfield, and the staff at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge for their personal assistance for this ARPA investigation. It must be noted that CRC, International Archaeology & Ecology, LLC and American Archaeology Group, LLC provided all of their effort, time, and expenditures, including the publishing of this report, without reimbursement, payment, contributions, or financial support from any outside source. Our special appreciation to Gilbert “Gib” Bernhardt for the generous donation of his time, effort, expenditures, and co-authorship of this report and to Heidi Fuller for providing editorial comments and for her assistance during the 2004 geoarchaeological investigation on behalf of American Archaeology Group, LLC To Natasha Hryshechko, Вы -лучший археолог и партнер! К Вам, моему сердцу, моей любви, моей жизни. Cocklebur Slough San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge Brazoria County, Texas Cover photograph by Ed Christman Lake Jackson, TX Abstract In September 2002, Robert P. d'Aigle, RPA and Nataliya V. Hryshechko, CRC, International Archaeology & Ecology, LLC (CRC) reported the discovery and partial excavation of a prehistoric human skull approximately one mile inland from the Gulf of Mexico (Figures 1-2). This location, designated as BZT-1, is within the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, (US Fish and Wildlife Service) in southern Brazoria County, Texas. At the conclusion of the 2002 investigation, these human remains were designated by CRC as the site of the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman. This discovery resulted in an Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) archaeological and geoarchaeological investigation at BZT-1 and BZT-2 in May 2003. During the year 2003, a prehistoric and nearly complete, fragmented human skeleton of a young, adult female was recovered from the locality known as BZT-1 in Brazoria County, Texas. There was no evidence of a burial shaft or other soil disturbance. There were no grave goods or positive evidence of occupation at BZT-1. This person, designated as the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman, does not appear to have been intentionally buried. The female skeleton was lying in a face down, extended position with her hands crossed in front, beneath her waist, and with a complete absence of the right tibia, fibula, and foot. The person represented by the human remains at BZT-1 appears to have been killed after her hands were tied in front of her abdomen, and then discarded into the muddy west bank of a now extinct channel of Cocklebur Slough. The BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman may have been mutilated but no strong evidence was found. Since the remains were found lying on the edge of an extinct channel of Cocklebur Slough, stream avulsion may instead account for the missing tibia, fibula, and foot. The successful radiocarbon results obtained on the petrosal from the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman by Tim Jull, NSF-Arizona AMS Facility and American Archaeology Group’s geoarchaeological and geomorphological modeling and analyses completed in September 2004 support, at a minimum, a late Pleistocene age of 10,740 years ±760 RC years BP or older for the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman. The radiocarbon years BP were calibrated to 12,780 calendar years BP with a 2 sigma (95% accuracy) range of 15,250 to 10,390 Cal BP making the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman one of the oldest, and probably the oldest, human remains ever discovered on the North and South American continents. The previous location of the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman is not recommended as eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (36 CFR 800.4), the skeletal remains of the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman, as a collection, are recommended as eligible for immediate inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria D. The skeletal remains of the Prehistoric Woman will be permanently curated at the Center for Archaeological Research, the University of Texas, San Antonio, Texas. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS ii LIST OF TABLES ii LIST OF FIGURES iii CHAPTERS I INTRODUCTION 1 II BACKGROUND AND PREVIOUS INVESTIGATION 5 III ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 11 IV ENVIRONMENTAL DEFINITION OF THE STUDY AREA 13 V METHODOLOGY OF THE 2003 ARPA INVESTIGATION 14 VI GEOLOGY OF BZT-1 17 VII THE HUMAN SKELETON 30 VIII SKELETAL REMAINS 37 IX NON-HUMAN REMAINS AND ARTIFACTS 43 X POLLEN ANALYSIS 46 XI INTERPRETATION OF BZT-1 DATA 51 XII CONCLUSION 58 XIII NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES 59 REFERENCES CITED 60 APPENDICES APPENDIX I: GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL MODEL STATISTICS 64 1 APPENDIX II: COMPLETE BZT-1 SKELETAL INVENTORY WITH PRESERVATION INDEX 73 APPENDIX III: MEASUREMENTS TAKEN FROM BZT-1 SKELETAL REMAINS 77 APPENDIX IV: CALIBRATION OF RADIOCARBON AGE TO CALENDAR YEARS 86 LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS PHOTOGRAPH 1: SEDIMENT INSIDE SKULL 7 PHOTOGRAPH 2: UNIT INUNDATION BY THE CURRENT GROUNDWATER KEVEL 14 PHOTOGRAPH 3: STRATAGRAPHIC POSITION AND ORIENTATION OF THE HUMAN REMAINS AT BZT-1 16 PHOTOGRAPH 4: AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF BZT-1 (2001) 22 PHOTOGRAPH 5: VENTRAL VIEW OF BZT-1 REMAINS, LABORATORY EXTRACTION 32 PHOTOGRAPH 6: LACK OF EVIDENCE OF BURIAL SHAFT, TOMB, OR OTHER DISTURBANCE IN THE BTB-HORIZON 34 PHOTOGRAPH 7: LACK OF EVIDENCE OF BURIAL SHAFT, TOMB, OR OTHER DISTURBANCE IN THE BASE OF THE BTB-HORIZON 35 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: REGIONAL CHRONOLOGY 12 TABLE 2: ABBREVIATED INVENTORY OF BZT-1 SKELETAL ELEMENTS RECOVERED 38 TABLE 3: FAUNAL REMAINS FROM BZT-1 44 TABLE 4: INVERTEBRATES FROM BZT-1 HORIZONS 45 TABLE 5: POLLEN TAXA IDENTIFIED 48 TABLE 6: POLLEN COUNTS AND PERCENTAGES 49 TABLE 7: QUANTITATIVE AMINO ACID ANALYSES – PETROSAL 52 TABLE 8: QUANTITATIVE AMINO ACID ANALYSES – TIBIA, HUMERUS, FEMUR 54 TABLE 9: RADIOCARBON AGES FROM BZT-1 AND BZT-2 55 ii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: INDEX MAP 3 FIGURE 2: SITE LOCATION – TOPOGRAPHIC 1:20 4 FIGURE 3: SITE LOCATION – TOPOGRAPHIC 1:6 8 FIGURE 4: SITE LOCATION – 1940 AERIAL 9 FIGURE 5: TRENCHES AAG-BHT-3, BZT-1, AND BZT-2 24 FIGURE 6: CORE LOCATIONS A/B BH8 AND A/B BH9 25 FIGURE 7: PROFILE FOR A/B BH3, A/B BH9, AAG-BHT-3, BZT-1, AND BZT-2 26 FIGURE 8: STUDY AREA AND ABANDONED CHANNEL OF COCKLEBUR SLOUGH 27 FIGURE 9: REGIONAL CHRONOLOGY 28 FIGURE 10: PRONE FORM OF SKELETON AT BZT-1 LOCATED AT TOP OF UNIT 1 29 FIGURE 11: THE ELEMENTS OF THE HUMAN SKELETON 30 iii Chapter I Introduction In September 2002, Robert P. d'Aigle, RPA and Nataliya V. Hryshechko, CRC, International Archaeology & Ecology, LLC (CRC) reported the discovery of a prehistoric human skull approximately one mile inland from the Gulf of Mexico (Figures 1-2). This location, designated as BZT-1, is within the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service) in southern Brazoria County, Texas. At the conclusion of the 2002 investigation, these human remains were designated by CRC as the site of the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman. d’Aigle and Hryshechko (2002) reported that the human remains are potentially date to the late Pleistocene. A second location, a shell midden designated as BZT-2, is located approximately 66-meters southwest of BZT-1. This discovery resulted in an Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) archaeological and geoarchaeological investigation at BZT-1 (41BO223) and BZT-2 (41BO215) in May 2003. Subsequent to CRC’s filing an application for an ARPA permit with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dr. Michael Waters of the Center for the Study of the First Americans, Texas A&M University (CSF-TAMU) contacted CRC and requested that the CSF- TAMU be allowed to participate in this ARPA investigation. As a result, the ARPA investigation reported herein was a joint effort of CRC International Archaeology & Ecology, LLC (CRC), American Archaeology Group, LLC (AAG), and the CSF-TAMU. Robert P. d’Aigle, RPA, Michael R. Bradle, MA, Dr. Michael Waters, and Dr. Robson Bonnichsen were in direct charge of the ARPA investigation. The objectives of the May 2003 ARPA investigation were to: 1. Excavate a large area surrounding the location of the BZT-1 human remains to ensure that no other human remains are present. 2. Provide detailed analyses of the stratigraphy at BZT-1 and BZT-2. 3. Correlate the stratigraphy from BZT-1 to BZT-2. 4. Obtain additional paleoenvironmental samples. 5. Build a geomorphological model of soil development at the location of BZT-1 and BZT- 2.

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