Past Human Behavior Across Time and Space: The Organization of Lithic Technology at Spring Lake, TX, 41HY160

Spring Lake in San Marcos, Texas, is surrounded by multiple localities representing continuous human occupation from the Paleoindian to the Late Prehistoric eras. Excavations conducted around the lake have produced numerous artifact assemblages that have been the focus of several research projects. However, many assemblages have yet to be analyzed and an array of questions regarding prehistoric activities at Spring Lake remain unanswered. For this thesis, I analyzed the lithic assemblage from the 1991 field school. The analysis examined the lithic debitage and tools from three areas around the site 41HY160 to understand how activities changed over time and varied across the site. The results of this thesis were compared to previous analyses of Spring Lake cultural materials to synthesize variation in the organization of lithic technology more broadly across time and space. Results showed evidence for different activities across the site and indicate changes in technological strategies in specific periods at Spring Lake. The results demonstrate how activities differed between areas. In the T-Box 6 area during the Late Prehistoric, people were producing and maintaining scrapers and occasionally bifaces. However, they used retouched flakes and discarded projectile points, indicating the presence of formal and expedient technologies. By the Late Archaic II, people were producing and maintaining bifaces. There was less discard of bifaces, but retouched flakes were still utilized. The T-Box 6 was a primary activity area where people processed game, and manufactured and maintained tools. In the Pecan Grove, throughout the Late Archaic II and Late Archaic II, people were reducing cores, producing and using scrapers, and using retouched flakes. During this time, the Pecan Grove area was used for processing fauna. In Unit 25, there were few cultural materials and lithics, but those present indicate scraper reduction. However, the low number of lithics indicate this area was the border of the site. The comparison between previous work by Haefner (2011) and Reid (2019) demonstrates the complexity of this site. The Late Prehistoric activities were similar, however, in the Late Archaic I and Late Archaic II, different activities were occurring around the site. The results showed during the Late Archaic, people used the site as a residential base, but by the Late Prehistoric period, the site served as part of more logistical strategies, such as a field camp.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology

Grantor

Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Boyd, Sabrina D.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Smith, Heather

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Bousman, C. Britt
• Ahlman, Todd M.

• lithic technology
• archaeology
• anthropology

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/18972

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/18972