History

Elmer Lindsey and Bill Richmonds survey the looting in the main field at Gault

The Gault Site has been known by archaeologists for at least 78 years. In 1929, the first anthropologist at the University of Texas, J.E. Pearce, had a crew excavating at the site for eight weeks. Though primarily interested in the Archaic burnt-rock midden showing on the surface Pearce's crew managed to excavate a handful of Paleoindian artifacts including Clovis cultural materials more than 2 years before the discoveries at Blackwater Draw.

The site was located on a farm owned by Henry Gault and his wife Jodie. The land was marginal for farming and Gault supplemented his meager income by scouting out archaeological sites for Pearce's friend Alex Dienst, later president of the Texas State Historical Association, running errands for Pearce's crew and finally backfilling Pearce's excavation.

Over the years the land changed hands several times but was the focus for a great deal of collecting and looting. One of Pearce's colleagues looked at the site in 1930 and commented on the young men digging for artifacts there. Some of these collectors worked on a grand scale with large crews and even heavy machinery. Eventually a commercial pay-to-dig operation allowed collectors the opportunity to dig at the now-famous Gault Site for a mere $2 a day (later $25).

Archaeologists at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Historical Commission kept an eye on the site but could not come to any agreement with the landowner regarding professional excavation. Visits in 1988 and a brief excavation in 1991 established that, although much of the site dating from 9,000 years ago to the present was irreparably damaged intact Paleoindian strata remained deep down below the site.

The land changed ownership in 1998 and a group from the University of Texas at Austin led by paleontologist Dr. Ernie Lundelius and archaeologist Dr. Michael Collins were asked by the new owners to look at something they'd exposed at the site. It turned out to be the lower jaw of a juvenile mammoth and some ancient horse bones surrounded by a large number of Clovis artifacts.

A three year lease between the University and the landowners allowed the first extensive research excavations at Gault. Between 1999 and 2002 more than 1.4 million artifacts were recovered - about half of them of Clovis age. A unique Clovis feature, a stone floor, was discovered as well as more than one hundred engraved stones - amongst the earliest art in the Americas.