The Buttermilk Creek Ranch Sites 41BL1431 and 41WM1498: Examining Land-Use at Two Prehistoric Lithic Resource Areas in Bell and Williamson Counties, Texas

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Buttermilk Creek Ranch (BCR) is located within the upper Buttermilk Creek Valley in Bell and Williamson Counties, Texas. Across this landscape, valley incision dissects chert-bearing limestones of the Lower Cretaceous Edwards Group exposing extensive outcrops of tool quality stone. In direct proximity to BCR, are the well-known multi-component sites Gault (41BL323) and Debra L. Friedkin (41BL1239). Recent archeological survey at BCR identified two large lithic procurement sites, 41BL1431 and 41WM1498. The density of chipped stone artifacts and workshop features recorded at these sites is considerable and indicates intensive raw material acquisition occurred. As part of the survey, chert sampling across BCR has allowed for the development of a lithostratigraphic model of the Upper Buttermilk Creek Valley. This presentation provides a summary of the survey results, site delineation, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) methodology, and spatial patterns in chert variability. An initial interpretation of the data is presented detailing high density debitage areas and discrete loci that reveal preferences in raw material selection relative to elevation. Particular attention is given to identifying debris loci with Paleoindian technological signatures to better understand lithic raw material procurement at BCR in relation to Paleoindian camps and workshops at nearby Gault and Friedkin.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39109.0