Intensive Pedestrian Survey and Construction Monitoring along a Portion of Trail 11 in Brackenridge Park, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

In November of 2011, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducted an intensive pedestrian survey of a portion of the new hike and bike trail to be located behind the old ButterKrust Bakery building along the Brackenridge Municipal Golf Course. CAR was contracted by R. L. Worth and Associates. The backhoe trenches (BHTs) excavated at the locations of the proposed light posts revealed that there was disturbance in the upper levels of the soil. The presence of metal pipes and fill to depths of 70 cm below the surface (cmbs; 27.6 in.) indicated the extent of disturbance. Below the disturbance, intact soils were encountered, although no significant cultural deposits were found. One site, 41BX1899, was recorded during the course of the project as five flakes and one core were recovered from two BHTs within 40 m (137 ft.) of each other. The eligibility of the site is unknown and would require additional testing to determine. The work was conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 5883. Dr. Steve A. Tomka, CAR Director, served as Principal Investigator, and Kristi Miller Ulrich served as Project Archaeologist. The deposits of site 41BX1899 would have been disturbed by the originally proposed pole designs and their installation since the depths of impact would have extended to 2.4 m (8 ft.) below surface. However, after consultation with the City of San Antonio’s Office of Historic Preservation, the Texas Historical Commission (THC), and the project sponsor, the light posts and their installation procedures were redesigned. The new designs called for shallow excavations down to only 1.2 m (4 ft.) below the surface, terminating about 0.6-0.8 m (2-2.5 ft.) above the archaeological deposits. The excavation of the light pole trenches and the installation of the poles was monitored, and the inspection of the trench walls and backdirt revealed that no archaeological deposits were disturbed during the installation activities.