Middle/Late Archaic Occupations on the Southern Edge of the Edwards Plateau, Camp Bullis, Texas

Abstract

Middle/Late Archaic (6,000-1,200 B.P.) land use of south-central Texas is poorly understood. Current data indicate that aboriginal populations exhibited a complex series of seasonal movements, based upon seasonal availability of resources. Site distributions produce a dual, or two-level settlement pattern, in which generalized base camps were situated along low terraces and floodplains proximate to Salado Creek, where populations exploited a variety of mammal and wild plant resources during the warmer (summer-fall) months. Conversely, sites predominantly contained within adjacent drainage systems may represent more specialized burned rock mounds and extractive stations. While burned rock mounds generally tend to be found on elevated terraces along smaller, feeder tributaries, and more specialized extractive stations are usually found even farther from major streams and on even higher elevated (upland) landforms, both of these site types tend to exhibit south-facings, which might imply occupation of these areas during the colder months (winter-early spring) of the year.