Finding Medina: Archaeological Metal Detecting Survey on the Southside Independent School District Campus, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Between February 1 and February 4, 2022, the University of Texas at San Antonio Center for Archaeological Research, in partnership with American Veterans Archaeological Recovery, conducted a metal-detecting survey of a parcel of land owned by the Southside Independent School District south of Martinez Losoya Road one fifth of a mile east of the intersection with U.S. Route 281 South. The objective of the survey was to confirm the presence or absence of cultural materials related to the August 18, 1813 Battle of Medina. The SISD site was chose on account of its proximity to the 1937 Texas Centennial marker and the marker’s placement at this location because of reported accounts of Royalist dead being interred at the El Carmen cemetery located on the north side of Martinez Losoya Road. The survey encompassed an area of 14,400 m2 within a 120-x-120-m square. This square was further divided by thirty-six 20-x-20 m square grid blocks. These grid blocks were then investigated using a preplanned sampling protocol that aimed to examine a minimum of 7.5%, or 1,080 m2, of the total area of 14,400 m2. Actual sampled area was 1,290 m2, exceeding the sample protocol by 210 m2, or nearly 9% of the total area. A total of 610 artifacts were recovered and these are enumerated in Appendix A of this report. No artifacts or features associated with the Battle of Medina were identified or recovered, no other archaeological features dating to earlier or later periods were recovered and no site trinomial designations are recommended. All materials recovered were photo documented prior to discard and the photographs are part of the permanent curation package. The metal detecting survey results affirmed that the SISD site is not the location of the Battle of Medina or events directly related to that encounter in August of 1813. Lastly, UTSA CAR recommends no further work at the site and that all the recovered artifacts be returned to SISD or discarded.