Testing of a portion of site 41WN104 in advance of proposed improvements to Jackson Nature Park, Stockdale, Wilson County, Texas

On July 25, 2006 the Center for Archaeological Research at The University of Texas at San Antonio conducted archaeological testing on portions of 41WN104 located in the Jackson Nature Park in Wilson County, Texas. The archaeological work, performed for the Office of the Wilson County Judge, was conducted on portions of 41WN104 that will be impacted by park improvements. The proposed improvements for the Jackson Nature Park will consist of the construction of a pavilion, a headquarters building and the addition of a septic tank. The three planned facilities will be connected with water and utilities lines. The construction of the two pads, the installation of the septic system, and the resulting utilities installations will result in subsurface impacts to the site. The testing was performed under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 4189 with Jennifer L. Thompson serving as the Principal Investigator and Antonia L. Figueroa serving as the Project Archaeologist. Six shovel tests and one backhoe trench were excavated during the archaeological investigations of the site. Shovel test excavations revealed a scatter of burned rock and lithic debitage. Intact soils are present in the area of the two proposed building pads, with minimal disturbance in the pavilion area associated with vegetation clearance. Cultural material is present to at least one meter below surface in the business headquarters area. Shovel testing along the proposed utility route revealed disturbance associated with improvements to an existing two-track road. Though the backhoe trench excavations failed to encounter features or in situ material, three pieces of debitage were recovered from screening and the soil seemed to be undisturbed. No features were identified during the investigations although two projectile points were encountered in shovel tests that appear to be Late Archaic and Late Prehistoric forms, respectively. While planned improvements to the Jackson Nature Park will impact portions of 41WN104, archaeological investigations in these areas failed to encounter intact features. Further work in these tested areas is not recommended. We recommend that the proposed improvements to the park proceed as planned. However, if construction plans change, including the route of the utilities, additional testing may be necessary. All artifacts collected during this project as well as all project associated documentation are curated at the Center for Archaeological Research according to Texas Historical Commission guidelines.