Excavations at Sites 41LK31/32 and 41LK202 in the Choke Canyon Reservoir, South Texas

Abstract

Site 41 LK 31/32 is located in Live Oak County, southern Texas on a wide horseshoe bend of the Frio River, approximately 16 km west of the Frio's confluence with the Nueces River. Construction of the Choke Canyon Reservoir by the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) had necessitated an excavation program at the site prior to destruction. Investigations conducted by the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, were carried out in two stages, culminating in a major excavation during the summer of 1978. An indication of the depth and significance of cultural deposits at the site occurred in 1977 when the Bureau of Reclamation dug a series of 9 m deep geological test pits. Prehistoric occupation zones beginning at a depth of 2.5 meters and continuing to the surface were exposed. The coincidental location of necessary dam ingredients--specific clays and gravel and the site-prompted testing and, later, intensive excavation by the Center for Archaeological Research. Artifacts and depositional information derived from the field work established 41LK31/32 as the location of intermittent occupation by hunting and gathering peoples for more than 5000 years stretching from the Early Archaic through the Late Archaic.