TAS FIELD SCHOOL 2014
Preliminary Surveys At The Tait Ranch, Columbus
The 2014 Texas Archeological Society will hold its annual Field School at the Tait-Huffmeyer Ranch in Columbus, Texas. For several months now, members of the Houston, Fort Bend and Brazosport Archeological Societies as well as members of the Texas Archeological Society have been spending two Saturdays a month at the Tait-Huffmeyer Ranch in Columbus preparing for the 2014 Texas Archeological Society Field School.
Preliminary tasks have included a metal detecting survey of the grounds of the historic 1856 Tait House, future site of the kids dig during field school, shovel testing on a ridge overlooking the Colorado River that we named Pyramid 1, auguring in the area we call The Cottonfield, metal detecting and surveys on The Bluff, site of an early cabin and surveying several other sites on the 700 acre property including a possible lime kiln. All of these surveys have been conducted under the direction of HAS Member Dr. Jason W. Barrett who will also be the PI for TAS Field School 2014!!!!
Preliminary investigations of all these sites have provided remarkable artifacts: Shovel tests at Pyramid 1 produced several lithic tools, points, and a hammerstone as well as thousands of pieces of debitage. Three small shovel tests following metal detecting surveys at the cabin site on the Bluff produced a metal button, a hallmarked spoon and nails. Metal detecting surveys at the Tait House indicated clusters of metal everywhere. Only a few scattered shovel tests were dug and produced square nails, stove parts and other kitchen items and a remarkably well-preserved buckle patented in 1863.
From June 14 – 21, 2014, members of the Texas Archeological Society will conduct extensive excavations in the areas we have been surveying since February 2. Complete information about the TAS Field School including registration forms can be found at http://www.txarch.org/Activities/fschool/fs2014/
The following photo pages will highlight our activities at the Tait-Huffmeyer Ranch since February 2. Enjoy! And we look forward to seeing you at Field School.
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For more information about the TAS 2014 Field School check out the other articles on 2014 Texas Archeological Society Field School or go to the 2014 Field School section at the TAS Website.
To learn more about the history behind our archeological society contact Publicity/Outreach: publicoutreach@txhas.org.