The Cayo del Oso site (41NU2): Volume I - A historical summary of explorations of a prehistoric cemetery on the coast of False Oso Bay, Nueces County, Texas

This report summarizes the historical information available on one of the most important cemetery sites in the state, the Cayo del Oso site (41NU2) in Nueces County, Texas. This document serves as the background volume to the Texas Department of Transportation's ongoing monitoring efforts in conjunction with road improvement activities along Spur 3, including a section of Ennis Joslin Road and Alameda Street, in Corpus Christi. The results of the ongoing monitoring will be published in a separate volume following the termination of construction activities. The present volume summarizes the history of work conducted from the early 1900s through the early 1960s at site 41NU2 by both collectors and archeologists. In addition, it publishes for the first time the A.T. Jackson manuscript that reports the results of the 1933 University of Texas at Austin excavations at the site. Finally, based on the available information, the authors provide some interpretive conclusions related to five aspects of the site: the vertical and horizontal structure and distribution of the deposits; the cultural and depositional stratigraphy; the age of the deposits; the implications of extra-regional artifacts; and general characteristics of the large skeletal population. This report was produced under Work Authorization No. 57309SA002 to Texas Department of Transportation Contract No. 573XXSA002.