Day Trips: Texas Archeology Month: Archeology Month brings out the Indiana Jones in all of us – Columns

Texas Archeology Month occurs every October and Texans have a lot to celebrate. From rock art in West Texas to prehistoric burial sites in Central Texas, the state’s rich history is as diverse as its landscapes.

“Archaeology is the study of the ancient and recent human past through material remains,” according to the Society of American Archaeology. This is a fairly diverse area of ​​research, as an archaeological site can be any place where there are physical remains of past human activity.

The archaeological excavation at the Gault site near Florence

You don’t have to look far to find an archaeological site. All of our 89 state parks and 39 state historic sites have been studied by scientists seeking to better understand the past.

Few examples surpass the mystery of West Texas rock art. The meaning of this great library of stories created by the ancients is still unclear to scientists, as it was created thousands of years ago. The Fate Bell Shelter at Seminole Canyon State Park outside of Comstock is a good place to begin your personal Indiana Jones-style exploration. Art tours are offered through the park and the Witte Museum in San Antonio.

The replica of the Horn Shelter at the Bosque County Museum in Clifton.

The Gault site, an archaeological site located between Salado and Florence, is estimated to have been inhabited by humans for more than 20,000 years. This predates the Blackwater Draw site near Clovis, NM. Tours of the Gault site are offered on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month at the Bell County Museum and the Williamson Museum.

In 1970, archaeologists discovered an 11,700-year-old burial site in Bosque County, northwest of Waco. The Horn Shelter site was recreated at the Bosque Museum in Clifton, along with excavation tools, photographs and explanations of the site’s significance.

These are just a few examples of archaeological exploration in Texas. For a map of some of the state’s important sites, visit archaeology.org/travel/interactivemap-texas.

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