Mitchell/Investigationsdraft 1/20/20191

Mitchell/Investigationsdraft 1/20/20191

/mitchell/investigations

Archeological Investigations

K: might need to add a few more later, but space these out as best you can within the subsections as indicated.

icon-investigations: [icon image]Panoramic view of the MitchellRidge site as it appeared in the 1970s and 1980s looking southwest across Eckert Bayou. The site is concentrated along crest of the ridge, which is marked by the larger trees seen in the background on the left. Assembled from photos taken by Lou Fullen in 1989.

[These next three images are a “nested set:” standard –sm linked to enlarged image page as usual, but the enlargement page should have a link to a further enlargement page “complete map.” Note that there are slightly different captions for each/

GV66-1970s-map-east-sm:The 1970s investigations at MitchellRidge were concentrated in three named areas at the eastern end of the site: the Cross Area, the CC Area, and the Burial Area. Adapted from unpublished map, TARL Archives. Enlarge to see details and complete map.[link to:

GV66-1970s-map-east: The 1970s investigations at MitchellRidge were concentrated in three named areas at the eastern end of the site: the Cross Area, the CC Area, and the Burial Area. Adapted from unpublished map, TARL Archives.Enlarge to see complete map[link to:

GV66-1970s-map-fullComplete map. The 1970s investigations at MitchellRidge were concentrated in three named areas at the eastern end of the site: the Cross Area, the CC Area, and the Burial Area. Adapted from unpublished map, TARL Archives.

gv66-c114:Test excavations in progress at the MitchellRidge site in 1974 in an area overlooking Eckert Bayou that would become known as the Cross Area. The crew included archeology students from RiceUniversity and members of the Houston Archeological Society. TARL Archives.

GV66-collecting-sample-Fullen-2-1977: Medical student and avocational archeologist John Faggard collects samples during the removal of a burial in February, 1977. Several highly trained medical personnel assisted in the investigations of the Cross Area cemetery. Photo by Lou Fullen.

GV66-1970s-Cross-Area: Plan of the Cross Area features uncovered in the 1970s. The “shell floor” was likely just a small midden accumulation – a pile of discarded food refuse -- oyster shells. The Cross Area contained the largest concentration of burials found during the 1970s work. Unpublished map, TARL Archives.

The Mitchell Ridge site was first documented in the spring of 1974 by avocational archeologist Lou Fullen at the request of Charles Magan, the manager of surveying and drafting for the Mitchell Development Corporation in advance of the planned development of an upscale residential area known as Pirate’s Cove. Magan had recognized that prehistoric and historic artifacts were visible on the site’s surface and in places where the land was disturbed. Fullen searched the area and realized that a very large archeological site existed along the raised terrain that became known as MitchellRidge. He knew the site needed to be investigated before the area was developed. Fullen enlisted the help of several fellow members of the Houston Archeological Society (HAS) and they continued exploring the site and dug several test pits.

Realizing that the site merited more thorough research, Fullen contacted professor of archaeology Frank Hole at RiceUniversity. In the fall of 1974 by archeology students from Rice began more systematic testing of the site with the permission of Mitchell Development. Over weekends during the fall of 1974 and spring of 1975, the RiceUniversity students tested various accessible areas of the site with the assistance of the HAS. Rice graduate student Barbara Burger (later Barbara Bruce Atkins)took charge of the investigations with the hope that the work might become her dissertation research.

At the time very little was known about the archeology of GalvestonIsland. In the early 1960s, a prehistoric cemetery had been discovered by accident during construction work by the Jamaica Beach Development Company only five kilometers (2 miles) down (west) the island. The archeological site encompassing the cemetery eventually became known as JamaicaBeach site (41GV5). Most of the site was destroyed by heavy machinery, however, the construction work did stop when human bones were struck. Local artifact collectors quickly began digging into the burial area and the finding of human remains quickly became known to the public through newspaper articles in Galveston and Houston papers. Thousands of interested people were said to have come to see the excitement. Fortunately, members of the Houston Archeological Society led by geologist Raymond Ring were able to salvage some information and some of the burials, at least 17 of which had been encountered. Some of these were later studied by researchers and reported by Lawrence Aten, the first professional archeologist to really concentrate on the GalvestonBay area.

By the early 1970s a few other sites had been recorded on GalvestonIsland, but little else was known about the native occupations of the island except by intriguing historical accounts including those of the infamous pirate, Jean Lafitte. The earliest and in many ways the most important account was that of the Spaniard Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, who was shipwrecked on Malhado, or Island of Misfortune, in 1528. As discussed in the Ethnohistory section, Malhado is argued by many historians to have been GalvestonIsland. Cabeza de Vaca lived first with either the Han or the Capoque Indians, two groups speaking different languages that were said to live on the island. Some researchers have argued that the Han were one of the groups later known as the Karankawa.

The identify of Malhado and the Han are still debated, but in the 1970s most Galveston Island history buffs as well as many historians and Houston-area archeologists were convinced that the island had been inhabited by the Karankawa among whom Cabeza de Vaca had first lived on Galveston Island. In a 1976 article in the Rice University Review, Burger expounded on this idea and argued that the MitchellRidge remains were those of the Karankawa(Download PDF). [Burger-1976-Mitchell-Ridge.pdf].

In the early summer of 1975 the Houston Archeological Society held a two-week field school at the site to assist Barbara Burger. That summer a small grant from theGalveston-based Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund covered the cost of a 10-member student archeological crew from Rice toinvestigate the site for six weeks. The next spring (1976) funding from the Mitchell Corporation allowed Burger to bring an archeological crew for an additional three weeks.

During the sporadic 1974-1976 investigations various areas of the large site were explored and tested. Most excavations were done by hand using 1-x-1 meter units, but shallow trenches were dug using heavy machinery in open areas of the site as well. The overall site area was plotted as over 600 meters in length and some 50-300 meters in width, with the main axis along the ridge. A site grid was established that was oriented such that E-W ran along the axis of the ridge and the island. This followed the local habit of referring to Galveston Island as having a West end (San Luis Pass) and an East end (facing Bolivar Peninsula). The Gulf side of the island is known as Island North, while the WestBay side is known as Island South. Thus, in true cardinal directions the grid ran Northeast-Southwest.

Testing and excavation was carried out in seven widely separated areas of the site given convenient mnemonic names such as the Cutbank Area and the Cross Area. These areas were chosen to concentrate on those areas where artifacts were common on the surface as well as to take advantage of the few cleared areas of the site and access routes (unpaved roads). In several areas where dense deposits or features were encountered, small irregular blocks of conjoined 1-x-1 meter excavation squares were excavated. The sandy deposits containing archeological materials were thin, generally less than 50 centimeters (20”) and averaging about 30 centimeters. The finding of hearth features, shell deposits, and several burials led to the recognition that the site had considerable research potential.

1978 TASFieldSchool

[place first in image column, arrange others across page in two rows, separated by the 2nd paragraph in this subsection].

GV66-1978-TASFS-EMD-5: Excavations in progress during the Texas Archeological Society’s annual field school in June, 1978. Photo by E. Mott Davis, TARL Archives.

1st Row

GV66-Flaigg-C161: A TAS member uncovers a section of a dense oyster shell layer in the Cross Area excavations in 1978. This feature was labeled as a “shell floor,” and was hypothesized to represent the floor of house. Later work suggested it was more likely an ordinary shell midden, a refuse deposit from the consumption of oysters. Photo by Norman Flaigg, TARL Archives.

GV66-1978-TASFS-EMD-8: Aerial view of the tent camp of the 1978 TAS field school. With a recorded attendance of 326 members, the 10-day effort ranked as the Society’s largest annual field school of until well into the 1980s. The tent camp was located at the west end of the site.Photo by E. Mott Davis, TARL Archives.

GV66-1978-TASFS-EMD-4: TAS member catalogues the contents of an excavation “unit level” bag, one that has many shells and shell fragments and what seem to be small fragments of iron and glass. There were several historic houses on the site and much evidence of 20th century activities. Photo by E. Mott Davis, TARL Archives.

2nd Row

GV66-1978-TASFS-EMD-2:TAS members cutting back the eroding edge along Eckert Bayou to identify stratified deposits in the “Cut Bank” area. Photo by E. Mott Davis, TARL Archives.

GV66-Flaigg-C153: Dog skeleton uncovered in the Cross Area during the TASFieldSchool. Although several such animal burials were suspected of being prehistoric features, they proved to be pets buried by area residents earlier in the 20th century. Photo by Norman Flaigg, TARL Archives.

GV66-Williams-C1477: Excavation units in progress during the TASFieldSchool in the Cross Area overlooking Eckert Bayou. Photo by Wallace Williams, TARL Archives.

In June of 1978 the Texas Archeological Society (TAS) held its 17thannual field school on GalvestonIsland with a major emphasis on excavating the MitchellRidge site. Barbara Bruce Atkins (formerly Barbara Burger) served as field director. With a recorded attendance of 326 members, the 10-day effort was the Society’s largest field school until well into the 1980s. Although some TAS crews worked on site reconnaissance and on certain other sites, most worked at MitchellRidge. Based on the results of the 1974-1976 work, excavations were concentrated in three areas of the site the Cross Area, the CC Area, and the Burial Area.

With the conclusion of the TAS field school, the first period of site investigation ended. Overall, the 1970s work resulted in the excavation of over 350 square meters, a sizeable figure made possible because of the sandy soil and because most of the units were shallow. A large sample of cultural materials were recovered including over 15,000 aboriginal sherds and numerous stone tools, animal bones, and shells. Thirteen human burials were documented.

Galveston Historical Museum Fiasco

GV66-Atkins-Fullen-4-1976: Barbara Atkins photographs an oyster shell concentration in April, 1976. This photo affirms that during the 1970s investigations that discrete features were carefully documented. Unfortunately, most of the field records, project photographs, and many of the artifacts were lost during the “GalvestonHistoricalMuseum Fiasco.”

Following the conclusion of the TAS field school and some additional field work that took place in the summer of 1978, the large volume of artifacts, samples, and records amassed during the 1970s investigations were stored at the GalvestonHistoricalMuseum, where Atkins had been given work space and hoped to do her analysis. Regretfully and inexplicably, while Atkins was awayfrom Galveston for an extended period in the following year, untrained museum personnel removed many of the artifacts from the labeled sacks, losing or stealing some items, and mixing together other materials, resulting in the loss of a great deal of information.

The Texas Historical Commission stepped in 1980 to remove the MitchellRidge collection from the museum and these were turned over to TARL for curation. Fortunately, during the Galveston fiasco, the burials were being safeguarded by members of the HAS. These too were later turned over to TARL. Some of the 1970s field and laboratory documentation – field notes, drawings, photographs, and catalog sheets – were turned over to TARL, but not most of the most critical records, including Atkins’ field journal, original field maps, and drawings, feature records, and burial records. The loss of these records has never been explained.

The GalvestonHistoricalMuseum fiasco helps explain why Atkins did not complete her analysis (nor her graduate studies). She did write an unfinished manuscript of a site reportthat provides an overview, but little meaningful detail of the 1970s work. After 1980 the results of the first major phase of site investigations languished. A short summary of the TAS field school appeared in the 1985 Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society. (Download PDF). [Richmond-et-al-1985-TASFS-1978.pdf].

1992 Excavations

Ricklis-1994-Fig.5.1:Site map of 1992 excavations showing the areas of investigations. Adapted from Ricklis 1994, Figure 5.1.Enlarge to see full map. [enlarge statement goes on -sm only:].

GV66-c111: 1992 investigations in progress in Area 4 looking northeast. In the foreground are several flagged anomalies yet to be excavated, while archeologists work to document others. TARL Archives.

GV66-c112: Feature cluster in Area 4 looking northeast. These were flagged as anomalies during machine stripping and then investigated by hand.They proved to be a group of burial pits mainly dating to the Early Historic period. This photo was taken part way through the investigations when the burial pits have been exposed down to the top of the light-colored shell/hash deposits. Subsequently, each pit was carefully excavated and documented. In the background is one of the boat canals that had been dredged out after archeologists had cleared the area. TARL Archives.

GV66-RR-F9: Archeologists excavates a complex of overlapping pits uncovered in Area 3. These dark-stained pits were full of refuse, however the original function of the purposefully dug features was never determined. They may have served as storage pits that were later used for trash disposal. Photo by Robert Ricklis.

GV66-block-RR: Excavation Block in progress, late spring 1992. This area produced abundant evidence of Late Prehistoric domestic occupation including hearths, a small pit, a probable house floor, activity areas, and large samples of artifacts and animal bones. These were found to date to Final Late Prehistoric period between the late thirteenth and early fifteenth centuries (late 1200s to early 1400s). Photo by Robert Ricklis.

The 1970s data strongly suggested that the cultural materials and intact deposits, including human burials, were concentrated at the eastern end of the site. The Woodlands Corporation (an offshoot of the Mitchell Development Corporation) agreed to donate that portion of the site to the City of Galveston so it could be preserved as a State Archeological Landmark. A small portion of the site lying between the Cross and CC Areas was also placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Subsequently, the Corps of Engineers issued a permit to the Woodlands Corporation for the development of an area that included the western portion of the site, where cultural debris was noted as being extremely sparse. There, “pilot”canals would be dug leading inland from the WestBay side of the island to provide boat access to planned residential units.

Soon after the dredging of the first canal began in January, 1992 human remains were encountered and work was immediately halted. Corps of Engineers archeologists accompanied by author Ricklis, then head of the consulting firm Coastal Archaeological Research, Inc., carefully examined the scene. They soon recognized that intact burials were present. This area of the site had an upper dark brown sandy soil 30-50 centimeters thick. Grave pits were found to extend downward into the underlying tan-colored sand and shell hash deposits, making the pits easy to detect.

The extent of the burial ground (cemetery area) needed to be determined before decisions could be made concerning the need for extensive excavations. Ricklis took on this job. Given that the burials seemed to have been dug well below the upper soil, he realized that the darker soil could carefully stripped off using a large hydraulic excavation machine known as a Gradall in order to search for additional burials. This was done along the planned route of the first pilot canal, resulting in the identification of additional burials.