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Prehistoric Artifacts Discovered in Recent Cypress Creek Pre-project Archeological Dig
September 18, 2009
More than a thousand Native American artifacts have been discovered along the banks of Cypress Creek in advance of a Harris County Flood Control District project. Archeologists are currently examining pottery chards, arrowheads, fragments of rock, and the remains of what appears to be a cooking hearth to piece together a history of the people who lived there thousands of years ago.
"It's a rare opportunity that we've been presented with when we are able to do work that ends up contributing to the knowledge base of prehistoric peoples in this part of Texas," said Glenn Laird, director of the Environmental Services Division at the Flood Control District. "Every time one of these sites is properly excavated, we learn a little more about how these people lived, the foods they ate, the kind of tools they used and how all that changed over time."
A Good Place to Live... and Return
While the artifacts are still being cleaned and analyzed, they likely date back to approximately 500 A.D., the Early Ceramic Period in southeast Texas, said David Driver, an archeologist with Moore Archeological Consulting, a consultant of the Flood Control District. Although it is nearly impossible to trace them to a particular American Indian tribe, they could belong to the Tonkawa or the Akokisa, the earliest known tribes in Texas. Driver speculates those who once inhabited the area were foragers and gatherers, most likely catching mussels in the creek and picking berries and roots for food. Once they used up the land’s resources, they presumably moved to other sites. "Apparently this site was a good camp place that they’d come back to generation after generation," he said.
Cultural Resources Discovered and Excavated
The nearly 1,200 remains were discovered during a survey to identify possible areas of significance that might be disrupted by the upcoming project, which will rehabilitate the banks along part of the creek to reduce erosion. State and federal laws require that public areas containing “cultural resources” deemed worthy of research and valuable contributions to history must be excavated and their findings preserved, as regulated by the Texas Historical Commission, if they cannot be avoided by the project.
As the archeologists comb through the findings, they are treating each artifact as an important clue in an untold story. For instance, a pottery chard made of sand with thinly-lined clay edges could indicate a tribe more primitive in nature or, more likely, a nomadic people who preferred to travel lightly, making and leaving behind less sturdy cookware. Because pottery is a relatively late invention, it is presumed these particular settlers came no earlier than 500 or 600 A.D. – close to the time of the fall of the Roman Empire.
Weapons and Tools Were Important to Survival
Other clues of the settlers’ timeframe lie in the arrowheads. Just as certain models of cars can be linked to specific periods of time, projectile points on arrowheads have a similar chronology. Smaller points, such as some found near Cypress Creek, indicate an origin close to 600 A.D.
Furthermore, hundreds of tiny flecks of chert, or rock, have revealed how the early settlers made tools and weapons for butchering deer and rabbit and trimming bark from tree limbs. Not only are the artifacts important in themselves, but their distribution and placement in the ground can be just as telling. That is why only professional archeologists should unearth such objects to paint the fullest picture possible of the ancient people.
No Indiana Jones Here
When archeologists began excavating the site in July, they essentially dug through ancient trash piles for the coveted relics. Trash piles are typical sites for archeologists looking for remains, although Hollywood may offer a more glamorous take: "Unlike Indiana Jones who goes for the fine stuff, most archeology is done from people's garbage," Driver said.
Artifacts are Carefully Preserved
Once all the artifacts have been washed, analyzed and cataloged, they are bagged in acid-free paper, labeled and their paperwork duplicated. Several hours are spent on each artifact - a seemingly arduous process to all but an archeologist thirsty for knowledge. The items ultimately will be preserved at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas in Austin. "The goal is not just preservation, but for the artifacts to be made accessible to other researchers," Driver said.
As this work takes place, the District is continuing plans for its project to restore severely-eroded banks along Cypress Creek. The work will serve as a second phase of a project that restored a quarter-mile section of the creek in 2006. Construction is expected to begin in about a year.
> Learn more about flood damage reduction in the Cypress Creek area.
> Learn more about the Cypress Creek watershed.
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