During the fall semester of 2011 I conducted an internship at the Gault School of Archaeological Research. I had three main areas of work: the cleaning, sorting, and novice level processing of artifacts and debitage, the organizing of the abundant amounts of CaCO3 in the laboratory, and to develop an investigation in how Andice Channel Flakes from Andice/Bell Points of the early archaic period can help us empirically gauge the depositional integrity of the Gault excavation site.
The first several weeks were about getting acquainted with the lab processes, thereby how the flow of artifacts find their way from the archeological site to its various levels of laboratory processing at the Texas State University Gault Lab facility. The next four weeks were concerned with organizing and clearing space in the laboratory for other important projects. This meant the constant lifting of the enormous amounts of CaCO3 sample bags. From the amount of this material alone, one cannot escape the fact that the Gault site was host to many generations of prehistoric people. It turns out that this material may likely lead to valuable insights for there is small evidence of organics and carbon inside this material. This would assist in the isotopic dating of various time intervals and also help us understand dietary components of various groups over time.
The Andice Channel Flake investigative project supports everything occurring at the Gault Site. The early archaic Andice Channel Flakes give us a measure of stability in the depositional events of the site. Essentially, all artifacts lay or move within soil by the laws of physics. Andice channel flakes are very small and extremely susceptible to movement. Knowing that they occupy a specific time interval and elevation range created a great opportunity to study the depositional event integrity of the site, hence the stability of the archeological contexts over the prehistoric eras to modern times. Based upon my investigation, the Gault lab has empirical data showing soil integrity and contextual integrity, thereby supporting all other chronological and dating evidence.
Andice Channel Flakes are very distinct. To understand the distinguishing characteristics it almost requires some tactile knowledge, one has to hold it and feel its special shape. These flakes have a deep conical platform and its concavity is more easily felt than seen since they are so small. I found that feeling the flakes often was the clarifying factor to help distinguish a channel flake from other types of flakes.
Looking at the elevations where the channel flakes were found and reviewing where the Andice Points were uncovered, I quickly looked through our artifact storage and removed a nearby lot and poured a large bag of debitage out on the examining table. This bag held several flakes. Within ten minutes I was able to identify a clear Andice Channel Flake. This was a very welcomed surprise to Dr. Collins and Dr. Wernecke. This began my five-week investigation into over sixty bags of debitage, many of which held over 6,000 flakes, one held over 16,000 flakes (a lab record). As can be imagined, archeological work is often tedious and requires particular concentration so as to not overlook the smallest of details. Currently, there are many more identified bags that may hold promise but have not been examined. However, the investigation has already been very successful in two essential ways: 1) I have found 31 Andice Channel Flakes from the debitage bags, and 2) Aside from one Andice Channel Flake, all flakes are associated in a fairly narrow time context.
Looking over my time as an intern, the Gault Project has been extraordinary and will certainly lead to future academic and professional possibilities. Currently, Dr. Collins has approved my project for expansion and future publication in “Lithics Journal”, a peer-reviewed archeological journal. From learning to clean debitage, sort and catalogue artifacts, do basic curation, and initiating my own research work, I have developed a great deal of archeological experience in a single semester.