Guided tour of the Gault Site
Date and Time
Saturday Apr 24, 2010
8:30 AM - 11:30 PM CDT
Saturday, April 24, 2010, 8:30 a.m.
Location
Attendees will gather in the north parking lot of the museum at 8:30 a.m. and will carpool to the site.
Fees/Admission
$10 with proceeds going to the Gault School for Archeological Researcj
Website
Contact Information
Kristen Reichert
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Guided tour of the Gault Site
Description
The Bell County Museum has about 20 spaces left for the tour to the Gault Site on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. Cost for the tour is $10.00, with proceeds going to the Gault School for Archaeological Research.
The Gault site has been home to human beings for over 13,000 years. Strategically located streamside in the Balcones Ecotone (the boundary zone of the Edwards Plateau and the Black Prairie and Coastal Plain Ecozone), the Gault Site provided abundant food resources for early peoples. This rich ecotone enabled early peoples to forage the uplands for the plants and animals found there as well as the stream valley where different kinds of plants and animals were found.
Just as important as the wealth of food sources, however, is the seemingly endless supply of chert at the site, which was readily crafted into tools and weapons. To date, the Gault Site excavations have uncovered almost 2 million artifacts; 600,000 to 700,000 of these are from the Clovis period (13,300 to 12,900 years ago). The analysis of this material provides archaeologists with a unique look into the lifestyles of the earliest people in Texas and, by extension, the earliest peoples in the Americas.
Participants for the April 24 tour must register by calling Kristen Reichert, Program Coordinator, at 254.933.5243. The tour lasts approximately 2 hours. Stephanie Turnham, museum director, said, "This is an opportunity to see not only a real archaeological excavation taking place, but to learn about one of the most fascinating and compelling stories about human habitation in North America."
The Gault site has been home to human beings for over 13,000 years. Strategically located streamside in the Balcones Ecotone (the boundary zone of the Edwards Plateau and the Black Prairie and Coastal Plain Ecozone), the Gault Site provided abundant food resources for early peoples. This rich ecotone enabled early peoples to forage the uplands for the plants and animals found there as well as the stream valley where different kinds of plants and animals were found.
Just as important as the wealth of food sources, however, is the seemingly endless supply of chert at the site, which was readily crafted into tools and weapons. To date, the Gault Site excavations have uncovered almost 2 million artifacts; 600,000 to 700,000 of these are from the Clovis period (13,300 to 12,900 years ago). The analysis of this material provides archaeologists with a unique look into the lifestyles of the earliest people in Texas and, by extension, the earliest peoples in the Americas.
Participants for the April 24 tour must register by calling Kristen Reichert, Program Coordinator, at 254.933.5243. The tour lasts approximately 2 hours. Stephanie Turnham, museum director, said, "This is an opportunity to see not only a real archaeological excavation taking place, but to learn about one of the most fascinating and compelling stories about human habitation in North America."
