Analysis of Perishable Artifacts from Conejo Shelter, Texas

Summary

Conejo Shelter (41VV162) is a perennially dry rockshelter in the Lower Pecos region of southwest Texas. This shelter was excavated in the late 1960s by the Texas Archeological Salvage Project, an offshoot of the joint Smithsonian and National Park Service River Basin Survey program, as part of mitigation efforts during construction and inundation of Amistad Reservoir. As is common among the rockshelter habitation sites in this region, the artifact assemblage from Conejo Shelter is largely composed of perishable artifacts. While the perishable artifacts from several other shelters and caves in this and other parts of western Texas have been studied quite extensively, very little is known or published about the remarkable assemblage of perishables from Conejo. Current efforts are working to close this dearth of research through recording and analysis of all perishables, particularly the sandals in the assemblage. Sandal analyses have included conservation, comparative studies of size, structure, and manufacturing techniques—particularly among anomalous forms, and acquisition of direct radiocarbon dates from the sandals themselves. Results of these analyses expand current understanding of perishable technology adaptations and artifact use-life behaviors and align the sandal assemblage at Conejo within existing typologies and chronologies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16341