LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY PROJECTILE POINT TYPES, AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Evidence of prehistoric occupation of the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), a region which includes Cameron, Willacy, Hidalgo, Starr, and Zapata Counties of South Texas, comes in the form of a wealth of projectile points artifacts. For more than a century the area has been targeted by collectors, with the unfortunate consequence that important archaeological resources have been permanently lost to researchers. To further aggravate the problem, a century of agricultural activity followed by a quarter of a century of rapid and widespread urbanization has had a significantly negative impact on the archaeological record. To create awareness on the value of preserving archeological resources, and to educate the public on the variety of lithic artifacts and geologic resources available to the earliest inhabitants of the LRGV, the Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) Program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has launched “Lower Rio Grande Valley Projectile Point Types”, a Geoheritage, and Geoscience education initiative in the form of an augmented reality (AR) enhanced poster. This educational tool highlights 65 of the most common projectile points found in the LRGV. The poster is organized chronologically by archeological period, stretching from Paleo-Indian (9200-6500 BCE) to Historic (1600-1800 CE). The AR components of the poster include 3D visualization of each point and a 90 second video elucidating the lifestyle and the climate of each period. The poster is printed in full color and the points are reproduced to scale to facilitate identification. The CHAPS Program will distribute the poster free of charge to local schools, local museums, visiting tourists, and interested community residents.