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Texas Historical Commission
Abstract
41HR751 is located in southeastern Harris County, at the confluence of Greens Bayou and an unnamed tributary, both of which are part of the larger Buffalo Bayou/San Jacinto drainage system. 41HR751 was identified during a cultural resource survey of a 65-acre tract of land north of Interstate 10 that was undertaken for the Maxey Road Venture as mandated under United States Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, Permit Application 18735(02). The site falls along the proposed route for the extension of Woodforest Road between Maxey Road on the east, and Normandy Road on the west, and thus was recommended for National Register Testing. After National Register testing excavations were completed during the summer of 1995 it was determined that 41HR751 was eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.
Testing of 41HR751 indicated the site is a well-sealed, multicomponent site containing lithic and ceramic material dating predominantly to the Late Ceramic period. Diagnostic lithics from this period include several Perdiz arrow points or point fragments, while the ceramics include Goose Creek, Baytown and San Jacinto types. Though the majority of artifacts recovered from the site relates to this occupation phase, the recovery of Gary/Kent dart points and Middle Archaic points in the lower levels of the site indicates that the area is likely to have been used over a long period of time.
Data Recovery excavations were undertaken by MAC archeologists from March 1 to May 10, 1996 and a total of 35 cubic meters were excavated. Excavations yielded lithic tools dating from the Late Archaic underlain by evidence from the Middle Archaic. However, owing to financial limitations, the focus of the Data Recovery excavations was limited to the upper levels of the site.
A series of radiocarbon dates obtained during these Data Recovery excavations allows Woodforest Road to provide some insights into current lithic controversies such as the age of Perdiz points in southeast Texas. Additionally, statistical analysis of the lithic debitage from the site reveals that there were significant changes in site occupation over the course of the ceramic period, both in the way certain areas of the site were used, and possibly in the intensity of occupation. Archeologists were also able to identify several features at the site, and through flotation, identified several of these as possible hearths.
It is the opinion of MAC that the proposed project area does not require any further intensive cultural resources survey. No further archeological investigations at site 41HR751 are recommended prior to the construction of Woodforest Road.
Artifacts and paper records will be curated at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University.
The project was directed by Principal Investigator Dr. Nicola Hubbard, and staffed by Project Archeologist Tom Dureka, along with archeological technicians including Madeleine Donachie, Bob D’Aigle, Alan Meyers, Sharon Clarkson, Sharon Ferguson, Ibrahim Thiaw, Ann Michelle Huebner, and V. Temple.
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