August Costa

During an inventory of the collections in the Rice
University Archeology lab in the fall of 2015, the
author discovered a small bag of human remains
labeled from the “Caplen site.” Although the source
and chain of custody for this collection is uncertain,
the remains were likely turned over to the university
from a looter or a looter’s descendant prior to the
1980s. A blue glass bead and a red ochre nodule
were found commingled with the human remains.
These finds are consistent with the type of artifacts
reported from Caplen Mound (41GV1) (Woolsey,
1932; Campbell, 1957). Caplen Mound (41GV1) is
a Late Prehistoric to Protohistoric (A.D. 900–1600)
cemetery located on the Bolivar peninsula in Galveston
County, Texas. The site is among the earliest
academic excavations carried out in Southeast Texas
(Woolsey, 1932). It is also one of the earliest and
thoroughly looted aboriginal cemeteries in Texas.
This paper describes the new remains and associated
grave goods and places them within the context of
previous research on the site.

Durable scales of garfish (Family Lepisosteidae)
are frequently recovered from Archaic to Late Prehistoric
archeosediments in the southeastern United
States. Archeological gar scales have typically been
interpreted as food refuse, but some researchers have
argued that they may also represent curated tools.
Scales of the largest garfish species, the alligator gar
(Atractosteus spatula), are similar in size and shape
to chipped stone arrow points. Patterson (1994,
2001) recognized numerous alligator gar scale arrow
points in the greater Houston Area. Many of these
possible alligator gar scale arrow points (“PAGSAs”)
were reportedly shaped by abrasion. Yet these
specimens were never adequately illustrated nor
were these observations supported by experimental
data. Objective criteria are needed for evaluating
PAGSAs more thoroughly.
In this paper we outline the results of an experimental
archeological study aimed at establishing
criteria for recognizing alligator gar scale points.
Anthropogenic modification of gar scales in the form
of: (1) pressure flaking, (2) shaping via abrasion and
(3) ballistic impact damage are explored. Our results
indicate that alligator gar scales are effective projectile
tips that develop impact characteristics similar to
those observed in chipped stone points. Moreover,
gar scales require little modification to make suitable
projectile tips. Ultimately the indicators of scale
modification are unlikely to survive in archeological
samples. Future assessments of archeological gar
scales should focus on context and statistical evaluations
of selectivity in scale shape.

A diverse Late Pleistocene fossil assemblage was recovered from a sea cliff locality near Gopnath in Gujarat, northwestern India. These remains are the first large sample of Pleistocene faunal materials from arid northwestern India. Several taxa known primarily from coarse alluvial deposits of central India are
documented for the first time from an undisturbed open-air site adjoining the Great Indian Desert. The sample includes a new species of antelope from a lineage considered extinct outside of Africa since the Early Pleistocene. The paleoenvironmental context, faunal composition and type of fossil preservation
reported here is unique. The Gopnath fauna accumulated in a pond within a carbonate dune field that formed part of a larger coastal oasis ecosystem. This paleoscape occupied the Cambay Gulf during hyperacid glacial low stands. The Gopnath fossils are correlated to Late Acheulean lithics from a coastal cliff locality (<8 km) at Madhuban. These finds provide the first vertebrate evidence of glacial low stands and their influence on Late Pleistocene paleobiogeography within the dynamic dry coastal corridor linking India to Africa. They offer a rare glimpse of a lost landscape and an obscure fossil community that are critical to understanding the paleobiogeography of the hinterland along the Arabian seashore and informing models of early human dispersals.

In this module students participate in an archaeological science experiment using replicated projectile points and a calibrated crossbow. The class as a group tests specific hypotheses related to impact damage. Student assessment is based on participation and completion of the unfinished scientific paper (Abstract, Materials/Methods, Discussion and Conclusion).

Module requires a calibrated crossbow, several projectile points and proxy target.