An Intensive Pedestrian Survey of the Culebra Tributary Greenway Trail, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Center for Archaeological Research (CAR), in response to a request from Bain Medina Bain, Inc. (BMB), conducted an intensive pedestrian survey of the proposed Culebra Tributary Greenway Trail in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. BMB proposes to construct a 3 km (1.9 mile) long hike and bike trail that would run along the Culebra Tributary, between Tezel Road and Grissom Road, in northwest San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. At the south end, the trail will traverse through the Grissom Road box culverts, then up and into the Cathedral Rock Park. Work on the trail will be conducted for the City of San Antonio, Parks and Recreation Department and thus will require review authority by the City of San Antonio, Office of Historic Preservation (COSA-OHP). This project falls under the Texas Antiquities Code. As such, it required a Texas Antiquities Permit, number 8665, issued by the Texas Historical Commission (THC). The initial survey was completed during the months of November and December 2018, with Dr. Paul Shawn Marceaux serving as Principal Investigator and José Zapata as Project Archaeologist. After Dr. Marceaux's departure from the CAR in November of 2019, Leonard Kemp assumed the role of Principal Investigator. Twenty-seven shovel tests were completed within the project area during the initial survey, of which three were positive. Based on the number of recovered artifacts and limited access, additional testing, consisting of two backhoe trenches, was limited to one of the positive shovel tests. Eight additional shovel tests were completed in March of 2021 under a permit amendment required after a revision to the trail. Five of these shovel tests were excavated in order to investigate deposits along the revised trail path, and three additional shovel tests were excavated in order to delineate the positive shovel tests in the area that was inaccessible to backhoe. All eight shovel tests were negative for cultural material. In total 35 shovel tests and two backhoe trenches were excavated in the project area, encompassing 12,451 square kilometers (3 acres) during the course of the investigation. A previously recorded site (41BX1592) was revisited, and two new sites (41BX2293 and 41BX2297) were recorded. All are prehistoric in nature. No additional archaeology is recommended for the trail segment that will be located between Tezel and Grissom roads. However, the proposed trail segment south of Grissom Road that leads into Cathedral Rock Park will adversely impact site 41BX1592. Consequently, the CAR has proposed an alternate route. All artifacts collected and records generated during the course of this project, including a copy of this report, will be permanently curated at the CAR in accordance with THC guidelines. The material is under accession number 2391.