Archeological Data Recovery Excavations at 41CR56, 41CR61 and 41CR64 in Crane County, Texas

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT); Aaron Norment

Archeological Data Recovery Excavations at 41CR56, 41CR61 and 41CR64 in Crane County, Texas

Summary

Working on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), archeologists from AmaTerra Environmental, Inc. completed phased data recovery excavations of the three sites. Work was conducted in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended) and the Antiquities Code of Texas (13 TAC 16) between 2018 and 2019 when the sites were proposed to be impacted by the expansion of the US 385 roadway. 41CR56 fieldwork included the excavation of ten backhoe trenches, one backhoe scrape, and 23 test units resulting in a total of 13.61 cubic meters of hand-excavated sediment. Artifacts and features dated to the Transitional Archaic to Late Prehistoric, with the central feature being a burned rock midden that dated to the Late Prehistoric. Archeologists documented seven features, 90 debitage, three bifaces, one projectile point, one core, six flake tools, one mano, and took numerous sediment and charcoal samples. 41CR61 fieldwork included the excavation of eleven backhoe trenches, three backhoe scrapes, one geologic control profile, four shovel scrapes, and 65 hand-excavated units resulting in the controlled excavation of 29.9 cubic meters of sediment. Artifacts and features dated to the Middle Archaic to Late Prehistoric, with two Late Paleoindian projectile points also identified. Eight features and two human burials were identified, with the majority of them situated within a dark earth anthrosolic soil that dated primarily to the Late Prehistoric. Artifacts recovered included 5,588 debitage, 31 bifaces, 29 projectile points, 31 cores, 47 flake tools, 15 pieces of groundstone, eight ceramic sherds, and five pendants and four tubular beads associated with the burials. Charcoal and sediment samples were taken from the features. Burial excavation was conducted with the supervision of a representative from the Mescalero Apache, and the remains and associated grave goods were repatriated upon completion of non-destructive analysis. 41CR64 fieldwork consisted of the excavation of two surficial burned rock features, with a 2 x 2 m unit positioned over each feature and excavations reaching a maximum of 20 centimeters in depth. Only two metate fragments were documented in the excavation, though an arrow point was identified in the original survey. The features date to the Late Prehistoric and Contact period. All excavations were conducted under Antiquities Permit 8432.

The analysis indicates that the cooking features at each site were generally used to process the same desert rosette species, but each site represents a different level of occupation intensity. 41CR61 consists of a long-term habitation base camp, with the widest variety of features and artifacts, and the anthrosolic soil indicates extensive modification of the land. 41CR56 represents a routinely revisited location for the accumulation and processing of various plant foods. 41CR64 represents a short-term camping location where small groups occasionally gathered and cooked plant foods.

Of the three sites, 41CR61 is recommended eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and as a State Antiquities Landmark (SAL) and visibly extends beyond the TxDOT right-of-way (ROW) boundaries. TxDOT considered sites 41CR56 and 41CR64 as eligible for inclusion in the NRHP under Criterion D, with the staged data recovery excavations conducted to mitigate the adverse effects of the roadway expansion. The extent to which these two sites extend beyond the ROW boundaries is uncertain.