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Article Title

An Archaeological Survey of Twin Buttes Reservoir, Tom Green County, Texas, Volume II

Abstract

From December of 1998 through November of 1999, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR), at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducted a Class III archaeology survey of 10,195 acres (4125 ha) within Twin Buttes Reservoir, a flood control and irrigation facility near the city of San Angelo in west-central Tom Green County, Texas. The 100 percent pedestrian survey, conducted for the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), was primarily a section 110, of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), effort. The survey was conducted in conjunction with repair of existing seepage at Twin Buttes Dam. The repair, conducted under the Safety of Dams program, involved the construction of several borrow pits. Since the Safety of Dams repair required BOR to inventory several areas of the reservoir lands under Section 106 of the NHPA, it was decided to expand the section 106 work, and do the entire Section 110 survey of the reservoir.

CAR recorded 178 new archaeological sites, and revisited 21 previously recorded sites, within the reservoir. On these 199 sites, 19 historic components were identified, reflecting primarily farming and ranching activities. The prehistoric sites reflect occupation from the early Paleoindian period through the Late Prehistoric period. While recommendations regarding the eligibility of sites to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) were not required by the survey, based on the survey results CAR recommends that 13 of the 19 historic components have moderate or high research potential. Within the prehistoric data set, 48 sites have high research potential, 33 have moderate research potential, and 111 sites have limited research value.