Article Title

Archeological Significance Testing at 41BX17/271, the Granberg Site: A Multi-Component Site along the Salado Creek in Bexar County, Texas

Authors

Cynthia Moore Munoz, Center for Archeological Research, University of Texas at San AntonioFollow
Raymond P. Mauldin, Center for Archeological Research, University of Texas at San AntonioFollow
Jennifer L. Thompson
S. Christopher Caran
Linda Scott Cummings
J. Philip DeringFollow
Mary E. Malainey
Al McGraw
Tom McKern
Manuel Palacios-Fest
Barbara MeissnerFollow
Barbara WinsboroughFollow
Chad Yost

Agency

TxDOT

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21112/ita.2011.1.3

Abstract

The Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio conducted archeological significance testing at 41BX17, the Granberg Site, from January to March 2006. The testing was conducted for the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT-ENV). The Granberg Site sits on the eastern flood terrace of the Salado Creek south of Loop 410 in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. Planned road improvements including installation of a storm sewer line and a water main prompted the need to assess whether (1) cultural deposits including human remains still exist after previous testing and (2) if the deposits contribute to the site’s National Register of Historic Places eligibility. The archeological work was conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 4010. Steve A. Tomka served as Principal Investigator and Jennifer Thompson served as Project Archeologist.

Fieldwork included mechanical auger boring and backhoe trenching to determine the horizontal extent of the site boundaries within the median of Loop 410 eastbound. Sixteen 1-x-1-m units were excavated to determine the distribution and integrity of the cultural deposits and to locate any possible burials that may still exist at the site. Materials recovered included burned rock features, chipped stone artifacts, animal bone, snail and mussel shell and charred plant remains. The distribution of the artifacts, the geomorphic investigations, the radiocarbon assays, and temporally diagnostic artifacts indicate the presence of Middle and Late Archaic archeological materials with good stratigraphic integrity. The Granberg Site was determined to be ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Following the completion of eligibility testing efforts, the TxDOT directed the CAR to develop a research design linking the data recovered from the various excavations at the Granberg Site with research goals. The CAR developed the research design (Munoz et al. 2007) under Work Authorization No. 57513SA005 with Cynthia M. Munoz serving as Project Archeologist.

At roughly the time of the research design implementation, the CAR was the recipient of a donation of a collection of commingled human skeletal remains recovered from the Granberg Site. These remains were recovered from 41BX17/271 in 1962 by Harvey Kohnitz, an avocational archeologist, without knowledge or permission from the Texas Highway Department. The remains were stored at the Kohnitz home until his son, Mark Kohnitz, donated them to the CAR in 2007. An osteological analysis was conducted at the CAR laboratory during February 2008 for TxDOT, under Work Authorization No. 57513SA005 Supplemental Work Authorization No. 4. The results of this analysis are reported in Appendix H of this report. The commingled remains will be curated the CAR and all required documents, including an inventory, will be submitted to the National Park Service National NAGPRA Program to fulfill all obligations pertaining to the NAGPRA laws.

All artifacts collected during this project and all project-associated documentation are permanently curated at the CAR according to Texas Historical Commission guidelines.

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