Big Bend Ranch

The following research topics are relevant to the study of artifacts and samples recovered from the Big Bend Rranch State Park River Corridor Testing Project and other related projects such as the test excavations at Cuevas Amarillas.

Economy

1. In her study of site assemblages between Jornada and La Junta villages sites, Kenmotsu (2018 and 2022) observed that La Junta sites consistently contained smaller and less varied assemblages and in part suggested that this indicated a pronounced difference in economies. What evidence for economic production is present at La Junta sites in the project area? Is there evidence of economic change or continuity across the La Junta-Concepcion transition?

2. How did subsistence strategies change in response to the increased abundance of bison beginning in the late thirteenth century? What evidence of bison hunting/trade is present?

3. What role did large scale thermal appliances (e.g. ring middens) play in La Junta society? Is their large scale more indicative of subsistence or feasting?

4. Was there a single cultural adaptation based partly on agriculture and partly on the exploitation of wild resources, or was the region concurrently occupied by populations of farmers and hunter-gatherers?

5. What seasonal variation was there in the procurement of food resources? Was there a protracted period of low resource availability along the Rio Grande corridor?

6. When did La Juntans gain access to cultigens? To what degree were they actually adopted? How much subsistence variability was there among these communities and how did that change over time?

7. What plant and animal food resources were collected, processed, and/or consumed at La Junta sites?

Material Culture

1. How prevalent is the Toyah Technocomplex within the lithic assemblages recovered from buried La Junta occupations?

2. How do artifact assemblages from village sites compare to contemporary encampment sites outside of the river corridor?

3. What prompted the shift from importing pottery to constructing it locally?

4. Why are such limited numbers of decorated ceramic wares present in La Junta phase occupations?

5. What functional role did pottery serve in La Junta Culture? Were vessels being used to cook or consume specific goods?

6. Are the types of groundstone artifacts present indicators of subsistence activities?

7. What are the predominant lithic materials present at La Junta sites? Does this change over space or time?

Chronology

1. Why did villages in the La Junta region persist through Spanish contact when nearby agricultural settlements in the Jornada and Casas Grandes spheres were largely depopulated circa AD 1450? (MSmith-prospectus)

2. J Charles Kelley postulated that the La Junta villages were depopulated for a short time between the La Junta and Concepcion phases; what evidence exists for and against this postulated hiatus?

3. How did the settlement patterns of La Junta vary across the Late Prehistoric to Protohistoric periods?

Architecture

1. How does the organization and construction of La Junta architecture change from the La Junta to Conchos phases? Is the observed variation in architectural styles a function of time, culture, or adaptation to landscape?

2. How does the surficial architecture at La Junta sites compare to that of nearby Cielo sites?

Rock Art

1. How does the spatial distribution of Big Bend Bold rock art sites relate to the distribution of La Junta sites.

Social Connections

1. What are the relative influences of cultures in adjacent areas of the Southwest, Southern Plains, and Eastern Trans-Pecos? How do those patterns change over time?

2. What are the practical boundaries of the La Junta culture area?

Geomorphology

1. Can potential depositional settings resulting from flood eddy systems be modeled based on physiology and river hydrology?

Old Socorro Mission

PLASTER TOPICS
(art, archeology, history)

The Problem

Fragmented, unprovenienced (or loosely boxed) decorated plaster from Socorro Mission risks losing spatial/symbolic meaning and degrading physically.

Research Topics

1. Provenience mapping (exact room, wall elevation, stratigraphic layer, or grid/box coordinate in the collection)

2. Documenting loss, blistering, flaking paint layers, salt crystals, and soot/biological growth (using condition maps or photogrammetry)

3. Differentiating binder types visually/tactilely (mud/earth, lime, gypsum) and matrix size/type (coarse river grit vs. fine silt)

4. To what extent do trace element profiles and mineral composition markers (sand, organic fibers, ash) in the Socorro Mission interior/exterior plaster phase match local Rio Grande flood-plain deposits versus imported regional materials?

5. Reconstruct where decoration lived in the sacred space, what visual language was expressed, and how to keep it from turning to powder

6. Was decoration restricted to the high-visibility sanctuary reredos zone, or did naive/parietal stenciling wrap the lower nave and door jambs?

FIELDWORK COMPONENT

(archeology, GIS)

The Problem

There is a spatial disconnect between the historical site documentation and the physical site landscape. Legacy hand-drawn maps and field notes use local, relative coordinate systems that lack permanent georeferenced control points tied to the current parcel boundaries. As a result, critical spatial features including room layouts, wall alignments, and the true extent of the cemetery perimeter exist only as relative sketches rather than actionable geographic data. Attempting to manage the site or conduct further investigation without resolving this spatial error risks misinterpreting feature locations and misidentifying unexcavated versus previously disturbed areas.

Research Topics

1. How effectively can historic excavation grid corners and baseline markers be relocated by integrating georeferenced legacy maps, reassigned provenience data, and targeted field testing at the Socorro Mission?

2. To develop and execute an integrated GIS and fieldwork methodology that uses predictive spatial modeling from reassigned archival data to locate physical markers of the original excavation grid, establish real-world control points, and rectify legacy maps to modern parcel coordinates.

GIS/MAPPING TOPICS

(archeology, GIS)

The Problem

Reconstructing the spatial layout and artifact distribution of the Socorro Mission site from legacy records provides a solid foundation for interdisciplinary thesis projects bridging archeology and GIS.

Research Topics

1. How can conflicting spatial measurements across different records, student journals, and legacy maps be systematically evaluated and reconciled within a unified GIS database to create a contemporary spatial map?

2. To what degree can lost wall alignments, room spaces, and structural features be spatialized using the spatial relationships described in qualitative notes alongside lot/bag provenience locations?

VOICES AT THE MISSION SITE

(History, genealogy, archeology, cultural anthropology, native american studies)

Concept

To design and construct an interactive, living community storyboard that pairs oral history interviews, genealogical record synthesis, and archival photography with community-contributed family histories to highlight descendant continuity at the Socorro Mission.

Archeological and architectural studies of the Socorro Mission have prioritized colonial structures, excavation grids, and material culture. While physical site features and artifact collections are being reassigned context through recovered field records, the human history—specifically the genealogical continuity and lived experiences of the Piro, Ysleta, Manso, Tiwa, and local Mestizo descendant families—remains underrepresented in the public interpretation of the site.

The Problem

There is a disconnect between the technical archeological record and the living memory of the Socorro community. Decades of archeological investigation have treated the mission primarily as a historic monument or excavation site rather than a continuous sacred and cultural landscape sustained by descendant families. Without integrating community oral histories, parish sacramental records, and genealogical tracking, public interpretation risks erasing the ongoing stewardship and Indigenous ancestry tied directly to the mission and its cemetery grounds.

Research Topics

1. How do parish sacramental records (baptisms, marriages, burials), historic census data, and land grant records demonstrate ancestral continuity between early Native/settler populations and modern Socorro families?

2. What key narratives, traditions, and spatial memories emerge from oral history interviews with descendant family members regarding the mission, church land, and burial grounds?

3. How can an interactive physical or digital living storyboard format effectively showcase family lineages and oral testimonies while maintaining ethical boundaries around sensitive family data and sacred spaces?

Living Story Map of the History of the Socorro Mission Site

(history, archeology, cultural anthropology)

Concept

To compile a historical narrative of the Socorro Mission’s environmental and structural evolution from 1680 through the late 19th century and synthesize these findings into an interactive historical storyboard that visualizes the impact of the Rio Grande floods on the church, its architecture, and the surrounding settlement.

The Problem

While professional historians understand the sequence of river avulsions and mission rebuilds, standard public histories and on-site signage often present the mission as a static historical monument. The complex interplay between human adaptability, architectural resilience, and environmental forces is lost to the public. Furthermore, historical documentation regarding how these recurring environmental disasters disrupted community life, land ownership, and parish records remains scattered across Spanish colonial archives, Mexican period records, and regional Texan histories, making it difficult for local community members to visualize how their physical environment changed over time.

Research Topics

1. How did specific flooding events particularly the major river avulsions of 1740 and 1829 force the physical relocation, redesign, and architectural rebuilding of the Socorro Mission?

2. How did the shifting course of the Rio Grande impact local land grants, agricultural fields, parish life, and jurisdictional boundaries for the residents living around the mission?

3. How can primary source accounts (colonial reports, parish entries, historic survey records, and early maps) be structured into an interactive storyboard that effectively communicates environmental change and architectural history to the local community?

Brazos Santiago

Brazos Santiago was used as a Spanish resort area as early as 1788 and was developed as a deepwater harbor in the 1820s to facilitate maritime commerce to Matamoras on the Rio Grande River—the regional port of customs in 1824. Brazos Santiago was used by the Mexican military in the 1830s and 1840s, before being repurposed by General Zachary Taylor as a U.S. military depot during the Mexican-American War. Federal troops were withdrawn in 1861, and it was quickly regarrisoned by Confederate troops. The depot was destroyed upon the arrival of Union troops in 1863, completely rebuilt in 1864, and expanded to nearly 70 structures in 1865; it included a hospital, post headquarters, guard houses, commissary store, quartermaster store house, earthworks, and fortifications. A railroad linked the port to the interior. A hurricane in 1867 destroyed most of the structures and improvements to the port ceased. Due to its advantages as a deepwater anchorage, the government wharf and warehouse were maintained into the 1870s.

Hurricanes in 1933, 1967, and 1980 removed the protective overlying sediment and exposed the site to extensive bottle collecting and looting. To help offset this activity, the Texas Historical Commission (as its predecessor agencies the Texas Historical Survey Commission and Texas Antiquities Committee) conducted quick mapping and recovery projects in 1967 and 1980 in partnership with archeologists from Stephen F. Austin University and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The THC contracted an additional data recovery and mapping project in 1970 as part of a larger study of Rio Grande Valley archeology. In addition, underwater archeological remote-sensing surveys and diver investigations in the 1990s identified remnants of the Civil War railroad and recorded artifacts. The depot was designated as a National Register District in 1971.

Due to landform changes at Brazos Santiago Pass, a large portion of the archeological site is now underwater, including areas examined in 1967. Artifacts continue to erode from the beach and marine areas. More than 90 boxes of artifacts have been recovered from Brazos Santiago since 1967 and are curated at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. The collection includes tableware; tools; military equipment; architectural elements (window sherds, tent fragments, and stakes); medicinal, perfume/cologne, and alcohol containers; apparel (buttons and shoes); horse furniture; and faunal remains. A report was not generated for the work on this archeological site, and a single thesis was written on the ceramics in 1983. A current thesis on footwear is in development at Texas A&M University. The site has been the subject of an in-depth student-based THC reinventory project since 2018 and is monitored by the THC and its volunteers.

There are countless opportunities to learn about this important archeological site, part of the maritime cultural landscape, through its material culture. The THC invites students to coordinate with the agency to study aspects of this collection.