An intensive survey of sixteen prehistoric archaeological sites in Starr County, Texas

This report presents information obtained during intensive archaeological survey and limited testing of 16 prehistoric archaeological sites to be affected by the construction of a series of retarding structures proposed by the United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, for the Los Olmos Creek drainage in Starr County, Texas (Fig. 1). Undertaken as a cooperative arrangement between the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, and the Soil Conservation Service, this archaeological investigation was conceived as the first phase of intensive survey (test excavation and controlled surface collection) recommended as the result of a reconnaissance reported by Nunley and Hester (1975). This first phase of intensive survey was carried out during Fall 1977. It was pursued as a continuation of Nunley's 1974 reconnaissance and as a prelude to subsequent phases of intensive study. The present investigations were focused on the retrieval of data necessary for determining the archaeological potential of the 16 sites, as well as on the accumulation of archaeological data which can be incorporated, along with information recovered during Nunley's reconnaissance, into a comprehensive study of the prehistory of the Los Olmos Creek drainage in Starr County, Texas.