Photos provided by Ken Lawrence.
The November speaker is
Ken Lawrence, M.A., RPA, Principal Investigator/Geoarchaeologist/Project Manager
will be presenting:
Recently data recovery excavations were conducted at 41SR462 (Merdivaya Site), a
stratified site on the Arroyo Los Olmos drainage in Starr County, Texas for TxDOT.
Among the discoveries at the site, some peculiar gaps in the chronological record were
encountered. These temporal gaps, roughly between 2.5–1.5k BP, had also been
observed at other Starr County archaeological sites (41SR242 and 41SR459) during
previous data recovery excavations. These data in and of themselves could not
realistically be considered in broader temporal patterns. However, this possible ‘hiatus’
did stimulate some thought as to how prevalent it may be and a review of previous
investigations and collected radiocarbon assays in the region was performed.
This presentation will discuss the results of this heuristic effort and the attempt to
contextualize the cultural chronometric data of 41SR462 and generally determine how
prevalent recognized cultural activities were through time along the Rio Grande of
southern Texas.
Ken Lawrence, M.A., RPA
Mr. Lawrence is Principal Investigator-Geoarchaeologist and Project Manager for the Cultural Resources Division in SWCA’s Austin office, specializing in prehistoric archaeology and geoarchaeology. His experience includes over 30 years of cultural resources surveying, recording, monitoring, and excavation throughout Texas and Oklahoma as well as Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and Costa Rica. He also has experience in geoarchaeological research, chronometric modeling, and associated laboratory analyses. With extensive writing experience, he has authored and co-authored numerous archaeological reports, geomorphic assessments, and geoarchaeological reports.
Ken is also a proud longtime member of the Texas Archeological Society (TAS) and serves as the chairperson for the TAS Academy Committee. He also frequently collaborates with colleagues on research projects in the region in both professional and advocational efforts and thoroughly enjoys each new adventure and learning opportunity.
The next regular meeting will be held on our usual schedule, the third Tuesday of the month at 7pm at Casa Chapala's Austin location, 9041 Research Blvd., Suite 100 (Hwy 183 and Burnet Rd.) Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month, except June and December. They are free and open to the public. For those who wish to come early, we gather around 5:45 PM for dinner, drinks, and fellowship. The short business meeting starts at 7:00 PM, followed by the guest speaker's presentation.
Tuesdays 10am, ongoing Labwork for Joyful Horse materials. Sort and label pre-contact artifacts (lots of lithics!) to create teaching kits available for loan to area educators. THC Wheless Lab, 2801 Wheless Lane, Austin 78723. Send us a message from the Contact page for more details or to RSVP.
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(Texas A&M Press, 2017)
Wondering what our programs are like? View the list of speakers and topics we've had since 2006. Or watch a few of our pandemic-era programs on our YouTube channel.
