An Archaeological Survey for the City of Sonora Water Improvement Project in Sutton County Texas

Abstract

An archaeological survey and a geoarchaeological investigation of four segments of new water line in west-central Sutton County, Texas was performed on March 30, 2009 and April 2-5, 2009 by Brazos Valley Research Associates (BVRA) and Charles D. Frederick (consulting geoarchaeologist) for the City of Sonora under Antiquities Permit 5202. The archival research indicated that several prehistoric sites have been recorded in the vicinity. One of the three segments (Area 4) had been examined by a professional archaeologist in 1970 and 1971 prior to construction of Interstate Highway 10. Since the proposed route of the water line in Area 4 passes within seventy-five feet of the Sutton County Cemetery, this area was evaluated in order to determine if scraping for unmarked graves would be necessary. In the segment adjacent to the cemetery, the new line will replace an existing line and will occupy the same footprint. Following a consultation with the Texas Historical Commission (THC), it was decided that monitoring during the installation of the trench in this area would be required. At Area 2, a sparse scatter of one scraper, two flakes, two chert fragments, and fire-cracked rock was found on the surface. In addition, two pieces of burned limestone were observed within the A horizon of Backhoe Trench 2. Shovel tests were excavated in the vicinity of the backhoe trench, but no cultural materials were observed. Although the burned rock and the flake scatter may represent human activity in the project area, it was decided that the cultural materials were too few in number and too scattered to warrant assigning a site number. Previous disturbance by the landowner may have dispersed any concentration of cultural materials making it impossible to locate the locus of the site associated with these specimens. Copies of the final report have been submitted to the THC, the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL), Charles D. Frederick, the City of Sonora, and BVRA.