The GSAR and the academic project we sponsor, the Prehistory Research Project, have completed our move back to Austin, Texas. We are now housed at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory on the University of Texas at Austin’s Pickle Research Campus in NW Austin. For most of us this is a much shorter commute and we’re amongst a number of friends in our new home.The move took a while and a number of volunteers (whom we hugely appreciate) helped out.
Drs. Tom Williams and Dave Madsen had an article come out in May in PaleoAmerica. The article, The Upper Paleolithic of the Americas, advocates bringing American archaeology in line with that of Europe and Asia. The roots of New World technology are in the Old World and it is fitting that we acknowledge that and the complex patterns that result.
Dr. Michael Collins, our chairman, was honored by the Florence Chamber of commerce. Florence is the community closest to the Gault Archaeological Site and they recognized Mike for preserving and publishing the Gault Site. The local Representative, Congressman John Carter, also presented Mike with a certificate of Congressional Mention for his work in both cultural preservation but also local community development.
The Archaeology Magazine story that declared Gault one of the top ten discoveries of 2018 plus our new movie and book have created enough of a stir that we are being kept very busy with outreach and education. We have done several movie showings but have one at the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio and the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History scheduled for September. We have participated in everything from car rallies to History Fairs in the last several months. We also have had a large demand for tours of the Gault Site. Now that are move is done we are back to considering our plans for new infrastructure at Gault that will make our tours even better.
We conduct very little fieldwork in Texas during the summer – it’s hard to keep volunteers coming out when it’s over 100 degrees. Our Texas crew just finished the last couple of field days but they’ll start up again in September. Our field director, Dr. Steve Howard, is smart enough to get out of town when it gets that hot and heads up to western New York State where he heads up the Allegheny Valley Project. If you’d like to see what he gets up to in the summer look at: http://www.alleghenyvalleyproject.com/
A New t-shirt designed by the Florence Chamber of Commerce to raise funds for, and promote both the town and the Gault School!
Staff from the NRCS learning archaeological skills with Gault School staff