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Article Title
Archeological Investigations and National Register Testing at 41CV163, Coryell County, Texas
Agency
Texas Historical Commission
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21112/ita.2007.1.38
Abstract
Prewitt and Associates, Inc. (PAI), conducted archeological testing of 41CV1636 for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Environmental Affairs Division, under Contract No. 575XXSA006 (Work Authorization No. 57530SA006) and Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3980 from the Texas Historical Commission. Site 41CV1636 is situated in northwestern Coryell County, approximately 13 km east of Evant, Texas. The site was located during an archeological survey for a proposed roadway widening project along U.S. Highway 84. Proposed design plans required an additional 5 m of new right of way that would directly impact 41CV1636. Site 41CV1636 is a prehistoric site buried in Holocene alluvium of a relict channel of Cowhouse Creek. At this location, Cowhouse Creek has a ca. 1.5-km-wide stretch of Holocene alluvium. Archeological testing consisted of the excavation of two backhoe trenches and four 1x1-m hand-dug units. All sediments were water-screened. Excavations recovered a rather large lithic assemblage and two burned rock features: a partially dismantled slab-lined, basin-shaped hearth and a possible burned rock discard pile or stockpile. The recovery of Pedernales and Provisional Type 1 projectile point forms argues for a multicomponent occupation during portions of the early Late Archaic Period; however, only one analysis unit could be defined. The alluvial deposits at 41CV1636 appear correlative to the Fort Hood and West Range alluvium identified by other researchers along downstream portions of Cowhouse Creek on the Fort Hood military reservation. Soil stratigraphy at the site indicates that cultural occupations occurred as floodplain aggradation slowed and soil development began. Sedimentation via overbank flooding and colluvial deposition continued at a pace quick enough to impose some vertical separation between multiple occupations that occurred during a short time span. Poor preservation of organic remains has been a hindrance to providing good temporal control at the site. The lack of radiocarbon ages and poor preservation mean that few substantial statements can be made regarding chronology or subsistence. 41CV1636 is considered ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places or as a designated State Archeological Landmark, and no further work is warranted for this site.
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