Meetings

7:00 P. M., Second Wednesday of most months  (click HERE for meeting minutes)

Nightengale Archaeological Center

MAP to the Nightengale Archaeological Center

May 14, 2008

Dr. D. Clark Wernecke will give an update on most recent work at the Clovis-age Gault Site of Central Texas.

April - 2008

Dan Prikryl spoke on the Caddo-area Kaskin Mound Site.

March 12, 2008

Jonathan Jarvis of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory will give a talk entitled "Cemetery, Cementerio: Architectural and Cultural Influences Evident in the Grave Markers at the Merrelltown Cemetery and Cementerio Guadalupe."

Tombstones and other grave markers reflect broader trends in architectural and cultural history.  This presentation identifies diachronic trends evident in the grave marker morphology at two historic cemeteries in central Texas: the Merrelltown Cemetery (41TV1716), a Protestant Anglo cemetery, and Cementerio Guadalupe (41CW108), a Mexican-American cemetery. 

February 13, 2008

We will begin with officer elections. The nominees are:
Pat Hatten - President
Tina Prikryl - Treasurer
Al Priest - Secretary
We will then have the opportunity to view a fascinating video produced by the Texas Historical Commision that documents the discovery and removal of the Belle from Matagorda Bay.

NO January Meeting - Next Meeting will be February 13

December 8 - Holiday Party

The annnual Holiday Party will be held on December 8, from 2:00-5:00 P.M. Bring a goody to share. A slide show of events from the past year is planned.
There will be NO regular meeting this month.

November 14, 2007

Wayne Clampitt, Archeology Steward for Hays County, presented an essay on the state of archeology in Texas, and discussed trends in data management and remote sensing that will continue to develop during coming decades. It was a thoughtful and articulate presentation, and if Wayne doesn't publish it elsewhere, look for it here sometime in the future.

October 10, 2007 - Michael Williams and Andy Malof
A Mexico Gulf Coast Travelogue

LUAS members Michael Williams and Andy Malof will share some of their experiences from a recent trip along the gulf coast and eastern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.  They will show slides and discuss Mayan and Olmec sites such as La Venta, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Palenque, and El Tajin. 

J. L. “Michael” Williams is president of the Llano Uplift Archeological Society.  She has a degree in Anthropology from Texas State University, and has worked in Belize, Mexico, and Guatemala.  Andy Malof is LUAS secretary and newsletter editor.  He is employed as an archeologist at the Lower Colorado River authority. 

September 12, 2007 - Steve Hoyt

The Maritime History and Marine Archeology of Texas:  Shipwrecks Tell the Tale - The early cultural and economic development of Texas depended on watercraft to transport goods and people, not only along the Gulf but on the interior waterways as well. Numerous shipwrecks, some yet to be found, serve to demonstrate the importance of ships and shipping to Texas.  State Marine Archeologist Steve Hoyt will present an illustrated talk about the maritime history of Texas represented by investigations of marine archeologists. The presentation will range in time from the 1550s to the 1920s and in space from the Gulf coast to the Sulphur River.  In addition to discussing specific wrecks and marine archeological investigations, Mr. Hoyt will address issues such as the definition of the term shipwreck, the age to qualify as historic, and the law regarding the protection of shipwrecks?

Steve Hoyt is the State Marine Archeologist with the Texas Historical Commission, a position he has held since 1998.  He has over 27 years of experience in the study of historic shipwrecks, performing much of his early work in the islands of the Caribbean and in Bermuda, including several years with the Institute of Maritime History and Archaeology at the Bermuda Maritime Museum.  Before accepting the position as State Marine Archeologist, Mr. Hoyt spent nine years doing underwater archeological consulting work for a private firm based in Austin.  During that time he became very familiar with the historic maritime resources of Texas.  His research background includes projects on numerous vessel types and periods, including ships from the great age of European exploration and discovery, Spanish treasure ships, paddlewheel river steamers, deep-water steamships, and many others.  His academic background includes a Bachelors degree from Colorado State University specializing in prehistoric archaeology and a Masters degree from Texas A&M University in nautical archaeology. 

As the State Marine Archeologist, Mr. Hoyt is responsible for the preservation and protection of all historic shipwrecks in state waters.  His background in academic research, environmental consulting, and historic preservation with the state has given him a broad familiarity with our maritime history and environmental regulations covering the protection of submerged historic resources.

NO AUGUST MEETING!

Due to summer doldrums, there will be no August meeting. The next scheduled meeting will be September 12th, when Steve Holt of the Texas Historical Commission will talk about underwater archeology.

July 11, 2007 - Dr. Matt Taylor

“Dental Variation and Biological Distance Between Five Late Archaic Populations From The Texas Central Coastal Plain” will be presented by Matthew S. Taylor, Ph.D. The presentation will describe the first results of the Texas Dental Anthropology Project. This project is a survey of dental nonmetric variation between early populations in Texas and adjacent regions.

Dr. Taylor has a B.A from Angelo State University, a M.A. from Texas Tech, and a Ph.D. from the University at Albany, SUNY. He is originally from Johnson City and currently a post-doc at the Texas Archeological Research Lab, UT-Austin and he will soon join Prewitt and Associates in Austin. His research interests focus on the bioarcheology of prehistoric Texas, forensic anthropology, and dental anthropology.

June - There will be no June Meeting. The next meeting will be scheduled on July 11.

May 9, 2007 - Brett Cruse

Brett Cruse, archeologist with the Texas Historical Commission, will give a paper entitled "A Most Desperate Fight: Lieutenant Henry J. Farnsworth and the Battle of Round Timber Creek, November 6, 1874."
" ...At about 1:30 in the afternoon the patrol came upon what appeared to be an abandoned Indian village. Upon entering the village, the patrol was ambushed by some 100 Cheyenne warriors under the leadership of Chief Grey Beard. For the next five hours the patrol fought a running engagement with the Indians that covered a distance of some six miles through the rugged breaks of the North Fork of the Red River... " More in the NEWSLETTER.

April 11, 2007 - Kay Clarke

Kay Clarke, Archeology Steward for Williamson County, visited and spoke about recent work in the vicinity of the South San Gabriel River.

March 14, 2007 - Dr. Charles Frederick

Chert (or flint as some like to call it) derived from the Edwards
Group limestones of central Texas comprises one of the most extensive sources of knappable stone in North America. This stone has been reportedly found as far away as the northern Great Plains, and was extensively used by Native Americans in Texas. This presentation will examine where this stone comes from, what it looks like, how it formed, and how archeologists attempt to identify it in artifact collections. The research this work is based upon began at Fort Hood, and is presented as a historical narrative which examines what we knew about Edwards chert in the early 1990's and how it has changed since then, and how these data may affect archeological studies. See NEWSLETTER for more information.

February 14, 2007 - Dan Potter

Texas Historical Commisison archeologist Dan Potter will speak on contiuning advances in Central Texas archeology. 

January 13, 2007

LCRA archeologists Chuck Hixson and Dan Prikryl will give a talk on the prehistory and history of the Lake Buchanan area.  This will be a nice introduction to the field trip planned for January 23. 

Officer elections will also be held.

December 9, 2006

The December meeting was the Holiday Party, from 4:00 to 7:00    P. M.   A number of LUAS folks showed up and shared a table full of goodies.  No business of any kind was conducted. 

November 8, 2006

Dr. J. Ned Woodall spoke about the prehistoric archeology of North Carolina, focusing on the Mississippian/Late Woodland interactions occurring about 500-700 years ago, roughly the same time as the central Texas Toyah phase.  Ned's presentation began at 7:00 P.M., and a business meeting followed.

Ned Woodall speaks at November 8 meeting.

October 2006

The speaker for last month's meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 11 was LCRA Staff Archeologist Andy Malof. Andy gave a talk on the emergency excavation of a prehistoric human burial that took place at Lake Travis this past August.

The excavation was a volunteer effort led by Andy and involved LCRA archeologists and anthropologists from the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, along with the avocational archeologists who discovered the find. The story was widely covered in the media but some of the initial reports regarding the skeletal material have proved false.

Andy discussed the most up-to-date interpretations and showed artifacts recovered from the site.