Research projects and initiatives.
The Logan’s Terrace (41TE676) site—located near the Pecos River on the Nature Conservancy’s Independence Creek Preserve—was tested in 2010 with several excavation units. Large mammal bones had previously been discovered eroding from several localities along a cut bank and subsequent analysis had identified these as bison bones. Since bison remains […]
The Birthday site was discovered in 2009 at the edge of the ecotone separating the lowland desert and lowest foothills of the Davis Mountains. In settings such as this, diverse floral and faunal communities occur in tandem with concentrated archaeological sites. Three separate thermal features exposed in erosional cuts across […]
In the summer of 2010, CBBS personnel discovered a discrete, short-term campsite of Late Prehistoric peoples that promises major scientific returns. Termed the Perdiz Trail site (02-269, and radiocarbon dated to A.D. 1450—1530, this small, rather nondescript campsite was occupied by a group of hunters for only seven to ten […]
The John Z. and Exa Means Cache, discovered in 2002 by D. Craige Means and his sons, Samuel and Jesse, contains over 1,250 stone arrow points. Importantly, the discoverers contacted CBBS archaeologists about their find and allowed archaeological participation during excavation of a portion of the cache feature, thus ensuring […]
Tranquil Rockshelter, located near the headwaters of Terlingua Creek, was originally test excavated in 2007. Because the results were so promising, a CBBS crew, eight archaeological field school students, and several volunteers returned to conduct a full scale excavation. Over the course of the season, seventeen square meters were excavated […]
The Graef Petroglyph Site is a horizontal bedrock petroglyph site located in Reeves County, at the edge of mesa country bordering the Stockton Plateau. The site includes petroglyphs that bear similarities to the Chihuahuan Desert Abstract Style of the Western Archaic Tradition, a widespread hunter-gatherer rock art complex that ranges […]
In 2006, Jim Olson, owner of the Holguin Ranch in Presidio County, graciously provided funding for the formal recording of previously located sites on his ranch, the evaluation and submittal of sites potentially eligible for the Texas Historical Commission’s State Archeological Landmarks (SAL). A total of 14 sites were formally […]
Hidden away in a remote and rugged area of the western Chinati Mountains in Presidio County is a newly discovered, prehistoric rock art site that promises to add significantly to our rock art database for the Big Bend. The CBBS was informed of the existence of the site by the […]
Test excavations were conducted at the Fulcher site (41BS1495) during two sessions in March 2005 and April 2006. Results of these investigations indicated the presence of five occupational episodes beginning with the Late Archaic period and continuing into the Historic period. Important data contributable to the efforts of the Trans-Pecos […]
Despite decades of research into the common archaeological manifestation known as “burned rock middens,” these features remain poorly understood. Burned rock middens are enigmatic in that their form and function are rarely well defined—they could have been used as large earth-ovens or served as discard piles from smaller thermal features […]
