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Agency

TxDOT

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21112/ita.2010.1.7

Abstract

Between October 1 and October 19, 2007, archeologists from Geo-Marine, Inc., conducted National Register of Historic Places eligibility testing at site 41BT427 in Burnet County, Texas, under contract to the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division. This prehistoric site was originally recorded by PBS&J during a cultural resources survey for a proposed bridge replacement project at the North Rocky Creek crossing of FM 963 (CSJ 1198-02-017). During that investigation, the site was initially identified by a series of three trenches located on the northeastern quadrant of the right-of-way. Three small, burned rock features were originally recorded in two of the trenches.

During the current project by Geo-Marine, the bridge replacement area was again investigated. Thirteen trenches were dug within the project area: nine survey trenches in the northwest, southwest, and southeast quadrants outside the known boundary of site 41BT427, and four trenches within the site itself in the northeast quadrant. The current investigation within site 41BT427 involved the mechanical excavation of the four trenches (29.5 linear meters) and the hand excavation of eight test units (8.94 cubic meters) within the site boundary (an additional test unit was excavated south of the site boundary). Only one definable cultural component was identified at site 41BT427. This site appears to represent an ephemeral, short-term camp with a very sparse material signature. No diagnostic material was recovered during excavation. The single feature identified consisted of a very small, disarticulated cluster of six burned rocks and a limited amount of cultural material. The general lack of cultural material and feature/artifact associations within the site hampers the ability to draw conclusions regarding site function and prehistoric activity.

Due to the low artifact density and the lack of cultural features, site 41BT427 does not have the potential to make significant contributions to the knowledge of the region. Thus, site 41BT427 fails to meet the standards of Criterion D or any other significance standard required for assessing National Register eligibility. Site 41BT427 is recommended not eligible for National Register inclusion, and no further archeological investigations are recommended.

In addition to site testing, survey trenching (as well as an additional test unit) within the remaining three quadrants that was not completed during the initial PBS&J cultural resources survey was conducted as a part of this Geo-Marine investigation. Based on trench observations and background research, this proposed borrow area is highly unlikely to contain archeological historic properties (36 CFR 800.16:[I]) or State Archeological Landmarks (13 TAC 26.12), and no further archeological investigations are recommended for these areas.

Licensing Statement

This is a work for hire produced for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), which owns all rights, title, and interest in and to all data and other information developed for this project under its contract with the report producer. The report may be cited and brief passages from this publication may be reproduced without permission provided that credit is given to TxDOT and the firm that produced it. Permission to reprint an entire chapter, section, figures or tables must be obtained in advance from the Supervisor of the Archeological Studies Branch, Environmental Affairs Division, Texas Department of Transportation, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas, 78701.

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