The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Lower Pecos Canyonlands of southwest Texas and adjacent parts of Mexico constitute a unique region at the juncture of the Chihuahuan Desert and the Great Plains where the Pecos, the Rio Grande, and their tributaries form deep canyons in limestone bedrock. The arid environment has supported a diverse range of cultural adaptations and lifeways, and is well known for its dry rockshelters, bison kills, polychrome rock art, and extensive plant-baking features, as exemplified at Eagle Nest Canyon. Landowners Jack and Wilmuth Skiles have been an essential part of preserving that record and supporting archaeological research through stewardship, access to their land, and their supportive collaboration with students, volunteers, and professionals. The Ancient Southwest Texas Project (ASWT) of Texas State University has worked with the Skiles family for the past 15 years with the goals of understanding and protecting the archaeological record, sharing results with the scholarly community and public, and training the next generation of archaeologists. The papers in this symposium highlight research accomplished in and around Eagle Nest Canyon through the ongoing collaboration between ASWT and the Skiles family and reflect the great potential that arises from strong relations between archaeologists and stewards of the land.

Other Keywords
Archaic • Caves and Rockshelters • Geoarchaeology • Paleoindian and Paleoamerican • Subsistence and Foodways • fire-cracked rock • History Of Archaeology • Burned Rock Middens • Collections • Documentation

Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) • North America (Continent) • New Mexico (State / Territory) • Oklahoma (State / Territory) • Arizona (State / Territory) • Texas (State / Territory) • Sonora (State / Territory) • Chihuahua (State / Territory) • Baja California (State / Territory) • USA (Country)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-14 of 14)

  • Documents (14)
Documents
  • The Archaeology of Skiles Shelter (41VV165) (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Bryan Heisinger.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Skiles Shelter (41VV165) is a small south-facing rockshelter near the mouth of Eagle Nest Canyon. While the site lacks the extensive organic preservation typical of dry rockshelters in the region, it is notable for its Pecos River style rock art, diversity of bedrock milling features, and prominent...

  • Bonfire Shelter Archaic Occupations (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Richard McAuliffe.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bonfire Shelter in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of southwest Texas provides evidence of sporadic human occupation of the site across the Archaic period. The deposits known as the Intermediate Horizon, bound by two bison bone beds dating to ca. 12,000 BP and 2500 BP, do not reflect the persistent site...

  • Change Detection Modeling at Eagle Nest Canyon (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Mark Willis.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper investigates the use of drone-based 3D photogrammetry for mapping and monitoring landscape changes at Eagle Nest Canyon. Mapping before and after an extreme 2014 flood enables change detection modeling (CDM) using geographic information systems (GIS). By comparing elevation data from...

  • The Documentation, Conservation, and Exhibition of the Skiles Collection (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Amy Reid.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Skiles Collection, named for landowner Jack Skiles, consists of Indigenous, Euro-American, and Asian-American cultural material from the Lower Pecos Canyonlands Archaeological region. Beginning in the late 1930s, the Skiles Family amassed an exceptional collection of cultural material...

  • Eagle Nest Canyon and the Ancient Southwest Texas Project (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Stephen Black. David Kilby.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Eagle Nest Canyon joins the Rio Grande at Langtry, Texas, in the western Lower Pecos Canyonlands. Despite its relatively short length, this storied box canyon contains a dense archaeological record representing at least thirteen millennia of human activity and has seen intermittent archaeological...

  • Geoarchaeological Approach to Resolving the Origins of Bison Bone Beds at Bonfire Shelter, 41VV218, Val Verde County, Texas (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ashley Eyeington.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bonfire Shelter is a large prehistoric rockshelter site situated at the northern end of Mile Canyon in southwest Texas. Early investigators determined the site to be the location of multiple bison jump events; however subsequent investigations have disputed this interpretation. My research focuses on...

  • Jack’s Back Yard: Earth Oven Features on the Edge of Eagle Nest Canyon (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only G. Matt Basham.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The canyon edge around Eagle Nest Canyon contains the remains of numerous prehistoric earth oven features. It was also the property of Jack Skiles, who made a lifelong contribution to the study of archaeology. This paper will document the results of excavations conducted during a 2013 field school on...

  • New Perspectives on Bonfire Shelter, Texas (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only David Kilby. Marcus Hamilton.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bonfire Shelter contains an extensive stratified record of human prehistory in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas, and a correspondingly long history of competing interpretations of that record. The initial investigations of the site in the 1960s led to the announcement of the earliest...

  • Patterned Pictographs: The Rock Imagery of Eagle Nest Canyon in a Regional Context (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Amanda Castañeda. Charles Koenig. Victoria Roberts. Jerod Roberts.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The rock imagery of Eagle Nest Canyon (ENC) is well known to many archaeologists and canyon visitors, especially at three sites: Eagle Cave, Kelley Cave, and Skiles Shelter. However, six additional rock imagery sites within ENC and adjacent tributaries are infrequently visited but still provide...

  • Quantifying Earth Oven Fire-Cracked Rock: A View from the Langtry Rock Midden (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Zachariah Jamieson.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper highlights quantification data from the author’s thesis, including the methodology of 33 archaeological excavations in the Edwards Plateau and Lower Pecos Canyonlands in which fire-cracked rock (FCR) quantification attempts were made. My excavations at Langtry Rock Midden (41VV168) were...

  • Radiocarbon Dating in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Emily McCuistion.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents the historical and contemporary context of radiocarbon dating in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands (LPC) archeological region of southwest Texas. It entwines discussions of early radiocarbon dating history, evolving dating technology and standards, regional infrastructure development,...

  • Shaded Canyons and Mesquite Fires: 13,000 Years of Ethnobotany in Eagle Nest Canyon (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kevin Hanselka. Leslie Bush. Chlöe Fackler. Phil Dering.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The value of several significant archaeological sites investigated by the Ancient Southwest Texas Project in Eagle Nest Canyon (Val Verde County, Texas) is a testament to the conservation and stewardship of landowners Jack and Wilmuth Skiles. From the beginning it was anticipated that these...

  • A Stratified Past: A Geoarchaeological Perspective of the Sayles Adobe Terrace Site (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Victoria Pagano.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper is a condensed summary of master’s thesis “Stories in the Sand: Excavation and Analysis of The Sayles Adobe Terrace (41VV2239) In Eagle Nest Canyon, Langtry, Texas” (Pagano 2019). It presents an overview of the background, methodologies, analyses, and conclusions of work completed at the...

  • Use-Wear Insight into the Chipped Stone Plant-Processing Toolkit in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Joy Tatem.

    This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The focus of this research was to analyze potential plant-processing chipped stone tools from several rockshelter and terrace sites in Eagle Nest Canyon within the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of southwest Texas, excavated by Texas State University from 2013 to 2017. The chipped stone tool assemblages’...