AT24-423 , Crying Woman Ranch Update 2023-2024

Event Title: HCAA: Crying Women Ranch Update 2023-2024, Kerrville

VMS-AT: AT: Hill Country Chapter Other Approved Training (Enter AT#, Class Title as posted, Location, and Presenter)

Comments: AT24-423 , Crying Woman Ranch Update 2023-2024, Presenter:
Mike McBride (AT=1hr)

Event Date: 11/16/2024
Event Time: 1:00p-3:00p

Doors open at 12:30pm
Member Meeting at 1:00pm
Followed By Presentation

Event Summary: 10,000 Years of Ancient People in the Hill Country:
2023-2024 Excavations at Crying Woman Ranch (41KR754), Kerr County, Texas

Event Description: 10,000 Years of Ancient People in the Hill Country:
2023-2024 Excavations at Crying Woman Ranch (41KR754), Kerr County, Texas

Since the summer of 2018, the Hill Country Archeological Association (HCAA) has done continuous field work investigations at Crying Woman Ranch (CWR), 41KR754, in western Kerr County, Texas. This presentation will review the past 2 years of HCAA’s work, including new flint artifacts recovered, and new evidence of ancient Native American occupations at the site. This includes new evidence of earth oven cooking technology that is older than 9,000 years before present day. These stone and dirt ovens, used for cooking wild bulb plants like Sotol and Agave, are possibly the first earth oven cooking facilities in central Texas. The addition of cooked plants to the typical Hunter-Gatherer diet was the basis of the “Carbohydrate Revolution”, with allowed ancient populations to grow rapidly and spread throughout Central and West Texas.

Also, there have been several mysterious flint spear points and tools discovered that have rarely been reported in Texas archeology before. Our research to identify these artifacts has been like detective work on evidence that is over 9,000 years old.

Additionally, new trenching operations have shown evidence of occupations even older than our previously recorded dates of 10,000 years ago.

Cost: Free, open to the public

Register: no registration necessary

Event Location:
Riverside Nature Center
150 Francisco Lemos
Kerrville, Texas, 78028

Presenter: Mike McBride. A lifelong Texan, Mike dedicated over 45 years to pharmacy practice and management and retired in 2018. He was President of the Hill Country Arceological Association from 2017 to 2023. Previously, he was President and Board Chairman of the Dallas Archeological Society (now merged with NTAS), 2000-2005. Mike is currently on the Board of Directors of the Gault School for Archaeological Research.

Mike has been Principal Investigator for archaeological field projects in Dallas, Kerr, and Gillespie counties in Texas, and is currently Principal Investigator for HCAA’s Crying Woman Ranch Project in Kerr County, focusing on Paleoindian Period occupations at the site. His other current and prior work since 1984 centers around ancient Mesoamerican cultures in the Yucatan Peninsula, Central Mexico, Guatamala and Belize. Currently, he is co-developer, with Dr. Jon Lohse, of the Pine Ridge Preceramic Project in Northern Belize.

Mike lives near the beautiful Pedernales River in Fredericksburg, Texas with his wife Connie.

Contact Information: Mike McBride mike@pineridgeproject.com

Organization Website: https://hcarcheology.org/

Sponsoring Organization
HCAA