Archaeology in Big Bend

 

Ancient pictographs located at the Hot Springs Historic District.

The Science of Archeology

Archeology is defined as the study of the remains of the past culture of a people. Archeologists recover such things as samples of soil, pollen, charcoal, feces, chipped rock debris, and artifacts and then analyze these samples for evidence of food gathering and hunting technology, food processing, diet, and many other facets of subsistence activity. They use technical methods which include controlled excavation, extensive site recording through written field notes, drawings, maps, and photographs. These methods are designed to gain a maximum amount of information with a minimum amount of site destruction. Through careful scientific study, archeologists try to recover the pieces of the past that help us better understand how mankind has learned, developed, and succeeded or failed. As citizens of this country and this world, we can appreciate the story of mankind's past. Perhaps the lessons we learn from the past will help us be better stewards of our fragile planet, now and in the future. By protecting the material cultural remains here in Big Bend National Park, we help to preserve this heritage for future generations to enjoy.

Archeological Study at Big Bend National Park

There still is much to learn about the prehistory of Big Bend National Park. A complete understanding of man's past is totally dependent upon the scientific study of the sites and artifacts that have survived the ravages of time. Archaeological research in Big Bend National Park is scanty, and an intensive survey of the total park has never been done. Two early archaeological surveys (1936–37 and 1966–67) sampled only a portion of the park. However, the two surveys recorded a total of 628 sites and the latter survey revealed that the park probably contains more than 5,000 archeological sites. In 2002, the National Park Service made a quantitative estimate based upon more recent data which suggests that there are nearly 26,000 sites in the park.

 

Evidence of ancient human habitation can be found at the Chimneys.

Preservation of Archaeological Resources

Thousands of archaeological sites within the park hold remnants of the material remains of 10,000 years of Native American occupation of the Big Bend. When properly studied, these sites can provide very valuable information about past lifeways.

At Big Bend National Park only two prehistoric archaeological sites are presently considered "public": The Hot Springs pictograph site and the Chimneys. As research is completed on other sites they may also be opened to the public. There are eight National Register historic sites or districts in Big Bend National Park, including the Castolon Historic District, Hot Springs Historic District, the Mariscal Mining District, the Homer Wilson Ranch Site, Rancho Estelle, and Luna's Jacal.

Unfortunately many of the park's archeological and historical sites have been vandalized and valuable information has been destroyed or removed by artifact collectors. Casual artifact collecting by the park visitor has resulted in the loss and destruction of much evidence of the past, information which could otherwise be obtained through scientific investigation. Archaeological sites are protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979. Under this act, people who disturb these cultural resources can be fined up to $10,000 and sentenced to up to six months in prison for their first offense. Information about sites is exempt from the Public Freedom of Information Act. Clearly, citizens and lawmakers view our cultural heritage as valuable, irreplaceable, and worthy of protection and preservation.

 

Open Transcript 

Transcript

Hi, my name is Phil Varela. I'm the museum specialist here at Big Bend National Park, and I have a couple of items here in our museum collection. And these are objects that visitors, found in the park. Cans and bottles, ceramics. Sometimes there's farm equipment, ranch equipment and things like that. And, brought them into the visitor center to show a ranger.

And the visitor was probably very well intentioned. They thought they would, alert a ranger about an item that they wanted to protect either from being lost or being stolen. And so they removed an item from the site to share with us. Unfortunately, when this happens, a lot of these items end up in the museum collection, out of context.

So museum curators and archeologists lose a lot of information that they could learn about these objects. If it was left in the site.

Hi, I'm Sarah Loftus. I'm the archeologist here at Big Bend National Park, and I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about what we mean by it when we say context at an archeological site. And it's really just sort of the placement and the objects and all the stuff that's associated with where people were living, whether that's an early indigenous site or whether that's a 20th century ranching site or something from the early Park Service era.

You can see there's there's quite a lot of stuff here. I'm standing I'm sitting kind of inside the foundation of the house. And then we have a lot of material culture, a lot of stuff ranging from stone tools to, you know, rusty cans to broken bottles and all of it's really important for helping us understand the people that were living out here and what was going on out in the park.

Part of the mission of the National Park Service is to preserve and protect natural and cultural resources. And so that's the one of the beautiful things about having these national parks is because these archeological sites are sort of preserved and they're intact. And that's how we we try to leave things in place and leave them as they are, so that future generations can come out here and have the same experiences that we are and learn about these sites in the same ways that we are.

If you do find something that you feel is at risk of being lost or stolen, the best way that you can help is to simply report that information to a Ranger. You can take pictures, GPS coordinates, and note nearby campsites or trails. That way, park staff are able to return to the site and record, information about the object in context.

To learn more about the history of the site and the people who live there. By taking these steps, you can help us preserve big band history for future generations.

Duration:

2 minutes, 54 seconds

Visitors regularly find historic artifacts in Big Bend National Park but may not realize that items such as old cans, bottles, etc. are also part of the archeological record. It is extremely important to always leave all artifacts in place, and report what you've found to a Park Ranger. Items removed from the site lose all their historical context and also keep future generations from experiencing the history of Big Bend as we can today.