THE CIBOLO CREEK SITE

THE CIBOLO CREEK SITE

Leslie Pfeffer
San Antonio, Texas

View of the sand-mining operation at Cibolo Creek Site. Note the sand-mining machinery in the foreground. Sand mining initially brought this amazing site to the attention of both the professional and avocational archaeological communities.

Twenty miles southeast of San Antonio, Texas, lies what Gregory Perino has called "one of the most important sites in our country, and virtually every Texas point type has been found there." Dwain Rogers calls the site "a Texas gold mine of ancient art and education." What makes the Cibolo Creek Site so special? Well, I will tell you. Points from this site first started showing up in local (San Antonio) collections around 1988.

They were being found by employees working a large screening process separating sand from dirt and rocks. The sand, which ranged in color from white to black, was sold and the dirt and rocks were discarded. The rocks included tens of thousands of flake debitage, and hundreds of artifacts.

The site, which encompasses about two hundred acres, lies on a slight elevation one-quarter to one-half mile from Cibolo Creek in the midst of small rolling hills composed of 75% sand and 25% dirt.

Four factors attracted the early inhabitants of Texas to the Cibolo Creek Site: (1) the nearby water source; (2) the high percentage of sand in the soil; (3) the numerous hot and cold mineral springs in the area ( it is interesting to note that in 1860 a resort was built in the nearby town of Sutherland Springs and that people traveled there to bathe in the springs for therapeutic purposes); and (4) the convergence of three major geographic zones here or very close by. Gregory Perino feels that the Cibolo Creek Site may have been the most continuously occupied site in our country (11,000 years) and asked me to list all of the point types which have been found there. The list of known types includes Clovis, Folsom, Midland, Agate Basin-like, Hell Gap-like, Plainview, Barber, San Patrice, Victoria, Scottsbluff, Red-River Knives, Angostura, Zella, Golondrina and Daltons. Rounding out the early points are early stemmed lanceolates, which grade into Angostura; early corner-notched; early side-notched, which resemble Simonson points. The Angostura and Golondrina component is very large, with more Golondrina points being found here than in almost the rest of Texas combined.

Example of debitage which literally litters the ground at the Cibolo Creek Site.

Archaic points include Abasolo, Andice, Axtell, Bell, Bulverde, Castroville, Darl, Desmuke, early triangular, Edgewood, Ellis, Ensor, Fairland, Frio, Gary, Godley, Gower, Kent, Kinney, Lange, Langtry, Marcos, Marshall, Martindale, Matamoros, Montell, Morhiss, Nolan, Pandora, Pedernales, Refugio, Tortugas, Travis, Uvalde, and Corner-Tang knives. Later arrow points include Edwards, Fresno, Perdiz, and Scallorn. In addition, there have been many early woodworking adzes, including Clear Fork gouges. In addition to this, several rare Waco Sinkers have been found and, ever rarer (especially for Texas), bannerstones.

From Dwain Rogers' perspective, just as important is the amazing variety of lithic materials found at the site. Dwain says, "Many points are discolored by minerals present in the soil.

Yellow-orange to amber points are common. The use of agatized woods, including petrified palm wood, has exposed beauty not often seen elsewhere. The lithic cherts used at the Cibolo Creek Site are as complex as the point types. One could expect to see clear-as-ice agate next to a solid black chert artifact. Because of the mild temperatures in the area, many hard cherts still show hangs and hinges from manufacture. High sand polish is rare despite the high sand content of the soil. Other lithic materials include fine-grained red and purple quartzites, as well as every variety of Edward Plateau chert.

Dwain was as impressed as Mr. Perino with the variety of point types from the site: "My personal observation of hundreds of points is one of awe because of those unnamed in the archaeological literature. The occurrence of East Texas, San Patrice types and previously unreported beveled Pedernales points is interesting. Hell Gap, Rio Grande, Victoria, Angostura, Zella, and Agate Basin styles are a scientific study in themselves. Resharpened examples make for even more confusion in typing. One point type recently named Angview by a professional archaeologist is an attempt to clarify Angostura-Plainview hybrids found at the site." This typifies the complexity of the site, because as Gregory Perino points out, there is a 2,000-year time difference between the Plainview and Angostura.

Golondrina points found at the Cibolo Creek site. The largest is 3 1/8 inches long. The Golondrina was first identified by Leroy Johnson Jr. for examples found at the Devils Mouth Site in Val Verde County, Texas. Golondrina points date from 8,830 to 9,080 BP. From a private collection.

Angostura points from the Cibolo Creek Site. Angostura points are from the Late Paleo period and date to 8,805+ 75 years BP. The point was named by Richard Wheeler for points found at the Long Site, along the Angostura Reservoir in South Dakota. The largest point featured is 3 7/16 inches in length. From a private collection.

The Cibolo Creek Site is unique in the archaeological record. It exhibits point types and materials that are found from virtually every geographic zone in Texas: the east Texas Woodlands, the Gulf Coast, south Texas, the High Plains, and central Texas. Are there other sites out there as yet undiscovered? We as collectors, probably already know and need to record them.

Painview points found at the Cibolo Creek Site. The Plainview was named by E.H. Sellards, Glen Evans and G.E. Meade for examples found at the type site in the Texas Panhandle. Plainviews have been dated from 10,110 to 10,150 BP. It is suggested that dates could be moved back even further. The largest point featured is 3 1/2 inches in length. From a private collection.

For the record, the earliest component of the Cibolo Creek Site was 25-30 feet deep, with the Archaic component being at 15-20 feet below the surface. Not many professionals or avocational archaeologist are willing or able to dig that deep in dangerous sandy soils to find out.

I wish to thank Gregory Perino and Dwain Rogers for their help in preparing and for providing motivation for this article. I would also like to thank a good friend of mine from here in San Antonio, Texas, for his help as well.