95th Texas Archeological Society Annual Meeting Meeting Program Information |
Public Night Presentation, Friday, October 25th Brad Jones Presidio Soldiers or Soldados Flecheros? New Interpretations of Daily Life at the 1721-1726 Site of Presidio La Bahia de Zuniga (41VT4), Victoria County
Brad Jones is director of the THC’s Archeology Division and the State Archeologist, with over 25 years of experience in archeology and ethnohistory of Texas and the Americas. His research has focused on all periods of Texas, but Jones specializes in the articulation of Native American communities with European colonial empires and their material cultural expression. He has been involved in the exhibit of the French ship La Belle and publication about it, and he is currently working on a report on the THC excavations of Fort St. Louis and Presidio La Bahía. | Banquet Presentation, Saturday, October 26th Dr. Leland Bement How to Kill a Buffalo When Harsh Words Are Not Enough The presentation will cover the discovery, excavation, and interpretation of key Oklahoma bison kill sites, representing Clovis, Folsom, and Plainview time periods. Key topics include how did Paleoindians find bison herds? How did they trap and kill the animals? and How did landscape features, bison behavior, and hunter organization combine to ensure multiple successful kills? A special topic includes a discussion of the evidence that the hunters also relied on ritual and ceremonies for a successful hunt. Dr. Leland Bement currently works as a senior researcher for the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Archeological Survey. Dr. Bement is primarily interested in the development of New World hunting technologies. He specializes in animal bone archaeology, particularly as represented in Plains bison kill sites of all ages. His first bison kill site excavation was at Bonfire Shelter under the guidance of Drs. David Dibble, Solveig Turpin, and Ernie Lundelius. It was under their tutelage that he learned to look beyond artifacts and to place material culture, including animal bones, within constructs of social organization. Reconstructing herd demographics is as important as reconstructing the butchering programs employed after a successful kill. The interplay between people, prey animals, landscape features, and the environment reveals social as well as technological developments in hunter-gatherer and horticultural societies. |
Our post-event tour will visit BOTH 41VT141 (paleo site) and 41VT11 (Mission Espiritu Santo) using two buses. The two buses will pick up riders at the Victoria College Emerging Technology Complex at 10 AM on Sunday. One bus departs for 41VT141 and the other to 41VT11. After an hour at each site, the buses will drive to the other site. More details on travel time and meals (if any) soon. Max of 25 per bus - only 50 spaces available! Trip should end about 1:30pm back at the VCETC. |