The Millington Site: Archaeological and Human Osteological Investigations, Presidio County, Texas

Between January 20 and February 17, 2006, the Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS) of Sul Ross State University (SRSU) conducted an archaeological salvage and testing project at the Millington site in southern Presidio County, Texas. Undertaken after inadvertent damages from a city backhoe uncovered several human interments, the project was funded through the Texas Preservation Trust Fund, the City of Presidio, and the Trans-Pecos Archaeological Program of the CBBS. The site is an important village of the La Junta archaeological district that was occupied over a lengthy time span (Late Prehistoric through early Historic periods). The CBBS research team documented 14 features and 5 burials, and collected 314 artifacts on the surface through controlled means. The features consisted of five burials and burial pits, portions of three structures, two hearths, two pits of unknown function, a buried ring midden/earth oven, and a historic trench. Radiocarbon data indicates most of the features date to the La Junta phase (ca. A.D. 1200–1450). Artifacts collected from the surface include a wide range of prehistoric and historic ceramic sherds as well as cupreous metal items suspected to be of Spanish origin. Geophysical investigations conducted during the project identified a 7 x 7 m possible structure in the area of the site where a late seventeenth/early eighteenth century Spanish mission is thought to have been located. Materials recovered during the excavation are curated at the Museum of the Big Bend of SRSU.

More information can be found in La Vista de la Frontera, Volume 19.