Introduction to Texas Parks and Wildlife, Archaeology Lab. Texas Parks and Wildlife s Archaeology Lab is located at 4200 Smith School Road

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1 Introduction to Texas Parks and Wildlife, Archaeology Lab Texas Parks and Wildlife s Archaeology Lab is located at 4200 Smith School Road Austin Texas. The purpose of the archaeology lab is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas. They collect and curate the prehistoric and historic artifacts and material culture that has been recovered from state land, so that they may be later exhibited, interpreted and used for research. All artifacts recovered on state lands are owned by the state of Texas. My internship was located in the archaeology lab at Texas Parks and Wildlife. The first room present when entering the building is the library. To the right, as one enters this room, is a small table situated in front of approximately three rows of book cases filled with files. This area provides easy access, as well as an accommodating place to review these files for visitors. With a prearranged meeting anyone can have access to the files stored here. The library houses reports generated from various agencies such as TXDOT and SWCA, and holds information on anything from surveys to excavation. Just to the left of the library is a door leading to the break room. This includes the bathrooms and storage for cleaning supplies. Just past the library, this room opens up into the main office, a large spacious area that includes multiple desks and cubicles aligned at the perimeter, allowing for easy interaction between its occupants. This is where Aina Dodge, the lab supervisor, and the archaeology survey team conduct their business. The survey team includes Margaret Howard the survey

2 team leader, Logan McNatt, Luis Alvarado and Josh Gibbs. At the back of this room a door leads into a small rectangular shaped space that is used to store records such as field notes, maps and acquisition files. This room is conveniently located between the main office and the collections room, allowing for easy access by both its tenants without any unnecessary distraction to either one. After entering the records room a door directly to the left takes you into the collections room. This is where the collections are processed. This room is painted bright yellow with peace signs surrounding the inside of the doorway. It contains areas of shelving, a sink, and two work areas complete with desks and computers. This is where Marni and Steven, the collections assistants complete their work. As you make a right into the collections processing room you can either continue straight and head into a rather large storage room, or veer right into the room where the collections are curated. This space is easily accessible to the collections assistants and extremely large in order to hold the many rows of shelves full of artifacts that have been collected from the various Parks and Wildlife properties.

3 My Time at Parks and Wildlife I was initially attracted to the internship in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Archaeology Lab because I am interested in obtaining a career in the field of archaeology and wanted to get a glimpse of what working for a state agency was like. In addition, by meeting and working with established professional archaeologist, anything that I could learn from them would help to assist in my future professional development as an archaeologist. Maps Project Each site owned by Parks and Wildlife has a variety of maps associated with it. These maps are important for establishing the actual location of a park as well as the roads, utilities and topography within the park. They are also referenced when an archaeologist must establish the location of a known archaeological site within a park and determine what kind of work has already been completed there. My first project consisted of helping Steven sort through the collection of maps of all the properties owned by Parks and Wildlife, setting aside any duplicates and entering the rest into a database created using an excel spread sheet. We worked on this project all day only to find out when we came in the next morning that our file was nowhere to be found. About forty minutes later, after allot of frustration we were sent to park headquarters

4 with the laptop to see technical support in hopes that they could locate our missing information. Everyone there was extremely nice and helpful but after an hour or so we where sent back to the lab with the explanation that it was probably a virus. The first four to five weeks were spent on the maps inventory project. This sounds like a long time but considering I was only in the lab two days a week it was not so bad. Each map was entered into the spread sheet and categorized by property name, including what type of property such as state park, state historic site, fish hatchery, wildlife management area or state natural area. Then a brief description of the type of map such as topographic or aerial was given along with any other pertinent information including the presence or absence of archaeological sites or shovel tests. Another four categories were incorporated, including the scale of the map, date, number of total maps and the region of the property involved. This project gave me some insight into the importance of documentation. When trying to record this information I found it frustrating not to know the scale of a map or the date a particular field map was being created or used. I also learned quite a bit about the different types of maps archaeologists utilize, from field maps to general highway maps as well as survey maps, to name just a few. My next project was to make folders for the maps that I had just finished inventorying. These folders were made using a special acid free paper and acid free tape. Acid free paper is paper that has a neutral or basic ph. This keeps the documents

5 from turning yellow or becoming brittle, allowing for their preservation for long periods of time. In between projects I spent time making photocopies of site maps, sub-locs (areas of artifacts found) and files for Aina and Luis. Acquisition Files Project Properties acquired by Parks and Wildlife must meet a strict criteria. Approximately 80 percent of acquisitions made today by Parks and wildlife involve adjoining land being incorporated into existing parks/properties. These sites are investigated by archaeologists mostly for salvage purposes. This would include any type of construction to the site uncovering archaeological material that needed to be recovered. Unless there is the chance of a site being destroyed or vandalized, it is left undisturbed. My next project involved using an excel spreadsheet to document the contents of the Parks and Wildlife s acquisition files. These are properties that were at one time considered to be attained by Parks and Wildlife, either by donation or purchase but were denied. The information in these files was categorized by property name, correspondence including but not limited to the possible acquisition of the property, proposals, memos, historic site restoration options and requests for information, maps or plans regarding the site, photos and slides, relevant articles such as magazine or

6 book excerpts. And the last category was used for all other information such as site analysis reports and descriptive summaries. Ceramics Project My most interesting task was to provide logistical support for reconstruction of a 1994 university study conducted on ceramic rim sherds from Hueco Tanks State Park. I helped Steven sort sherds into their types: Polychrome, Bichrome and Brown. I learned the criteria for these type designations and the subtleties regarding sorting. Fun and Games and Texas Parks and Wildlife After a long afternoon of looking at a computer Steven came in and asked me if I wanted to learn how to throw an Atlatl. Of course I jumped at the chance. An Atlatl is essentially a stick with a handle on one end and a hook or socket that engages a light spear or dart on the other. A flipping motion is used to propel the spear (or dart) much faster and further than it could be thrown by hand alone. These ancient weapons preceded the bow and arrow in most parts of the world. Early people in the Americas used them to hunt Pleistocene megafauna such as mammoth and mastodon up to 11,000 years ago.

7 We went out past the parking lot to an area that had been cleared as a right of way for a pipeline. It was approximately 200 yards long and 50 yards wide. Perfect for throwing atlatl s. The atlatl s we used had been utilized during the annual Parks and Wildlife expo for demonstration purposes. The atlatl s are also used during outreach programs for kids on field trips or day camps (and for the occasional afternoon distraction). Steven threw first and made it look allot easier than it really was. My first few throws were horrible but I eventually got the hang of it. Soon we were joined by Logan and two rangers from Bastrop State Park that were in the area. It was fun and interesting to be doing something that was essential to the livelihood of people that lived thousands of years ago, and to imagine an animal as big as a mammoth possibly being taken down using such a small piece of equipment. Conclusion Overall my time at Texas Parks and Wildlife was a great learning experience. I have come to realize that a career in archaeology is not just about digging in the dirt and identifying artifacts. My lack of computer skills slowed me down in a field where knowledge of computer skills is a must. I have learned the fundamentals of excel, map identification, how to throw an atlatl and have a better understanding of ceramic identification.

8 Working at Parks and Wildlife has definitely been a positive step in pushing me towards my short term goal of continuing my education through graduate school and my long term goal of working as a professional archaeologist at the level of principle investigator or manager for a federal or state agency, or possibly a private contracting company. My Experience at Gault My first introduction to the Gault site was in Dr. Black s Archaeology of Texas class. Dr. Black passed around a flyer asking for volunteers to work in the lab and/or perform various tasks at the Gault site. I saw this as an opportunity to gain archaeological experience as well as a chance to meet and talk to people that had experience in the field. I contacted Cinda Timperley, the volunteer coordinator listed. I was able to start working in the lab within a week. The lab is located at the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory at UT and is where the artifacts excavated at Gault are stored after leaving the site. Once in the lab I started by washing the artifacts then setting them on a screen to dry, making sure to keep the correct lot number with the corresponding artifacts. When dry they are separated into four main categories including debitage, burnt debitage, angular chert and burnt angular chert. They are then counted, inked and bagged separately. As these categories are being sorted, less

9 common pieces such as bifaces, biface fragments, blades, scrapers, cores, projectile points, point fragments, utilized flakes and gravers are bagged individually and given their own specimen numbers. Any type of faunal remains or shell is also counted and placed in their own bag. Everything is then catalogued and all bags with identical lot numbers are placed together in one larger bag, and are ready to be stored pending further study. My experience in the lab has been very beneficial. I have learned how to differentiate between many types of lithics, how to identify faunal remains and how to correctly ink artifacts. My experience out at the site has been equally as rewarding. Saturdays in the field start early, I meet Cinda at the lab at 7:00am to carpool to the site and am dropped off at the end of the day about 5:00pm. I am usually covered in dirt and exhausted, but always feel like I have learned something. I have participated in multiple tasks from digging ditches and moving buckets of sand to screening and excavation. I hope to continue volunteering at the site as long as they will have me.