Projectile Points Exhumed by Dune Migration, Implications for Human Presence and Mid-Holocene (?) Wetter Climate in the South Texas Sand Sheet

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The South Texas Sand Sheet (STSS) spans ~7,000 km2, and consists largely of sand sheet deposits, mostly under three meters thick, stabilized by vegetation, but active SE-NW longitudinal dune ridges make up less than 5% of its area. Evidence of human presence in the STSS in prehispanic times is sparse. Limited archeological investigations have revealed a record characterized by low preservation of non-lithic remains, and overall very sparse cultural remains. Chronology of human occupation, subsistence strategies, and settlement patterns remain poorly known. A migrating dune at the center of the STSS, has exhumed projectile points and abundant debitage, suggesting the presence of seasonal camps occupied by large groups. Preliminary findings from an ongoing investigation at this unique site include: 1) evidence of human occupation, dating back to Paleoindian or Early Archaic times, suggested by Golondrinas and Abasolo points; 2) a well-developed soil, over one meter thick, on which the archaeologic horizon sits is interpreted as a stabilized and vegetated dune indicative of a wetter climate; and 3) fastest rates of dune migration captured by aerial photography occurred in the late 1950s coinciding with severe drought conditions. Results of optically stimulated luminescence ages on this newly exposed surface are pending.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25046