Wilson W. "Dub" Crook, long-time member of the Dallas, Houston and Texas Archeological Societies, will present a program on chert and lithic artifacts discovered at the Gault Clovis site in central Texas. The Gault site (41BL323) in southwestern Bell County is well known for its abundance of lithic artifacts from all cultures ranging from the Late Prehistoric to Clovis and beyond. As such, the site represents a unique record of virtual continual occupation over the past 14,000 plus years.

Of particular note is the extensive occupation and record from the Clovis horizon (13,300-12,900 calendar years BP). While a large number of Clovis age tools have been recovered from the site to date, most of these include the products of failed or unfinished manufacture (cores, broken blades, bifaces) and expedient tools (scrapers and worked flakes). In particular, of the total number of Clovis tools, only 36 projectile points of all types, have been recovered from the Clovis horizon at Gault.

This apparent anomaly thus begs the question was Gault mainly a quarry manufacturing site and if so, where did the artifacts made from Gault chert go?

The lecture will be held in Building 20, Anderson Hall. Street parking is available as well as paid parking ($2) in Moran Center Garage at the corner of West Alabama and Graustark.