GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF NATURAL SITE FORMATION PROCESSES AT THE GAULT SITE, A PALEOINDIAN AND PRE-CLOVIS SITE IN BELL COUNTY, TEXAS

The Gault site is a stratified, multipcomponent prehistoric site. Occupied in most known major archaeological periods, it yields a particularly rich Clovis component. Located northwest of Austin, Texas, the site lies in a small valley cut by Buttermilk Creek, a tributary of the Brazos River. Archaeological investigations suggest evidence for a technologically distinct pre-Clovis occupation that stratigraphically underlies the Clovis component. This poster presents the results of a geoarchaeological analysis assessing the natural formation processes that affected sediments exposed in the current excavation block. Particle-size, calcium carbonate percentage, organic carbon content, and magnetic susceptibility of the sediments were measured. These analyses explore sedimentary, pedogenic, and post-depositional processes on the sediment. Determining the depositional and post-depositional integrity of the sediment and cultural material will increase the reliability of the Paleoindian record at the Gault site and could provide evidence supporting a pre-Clovis occupation of North America.