Did Indians Ever Live Here?

Did Indians Ever Live Here?. . , Yes!!! American Indians lived here on City Campus. In fact, they lived in the Hill Country as nomadic hunter-gatherers for the last 13,000 years, until the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Cavalry forced them onto reservations in the late 1800s. When the first Europeans arrived in Texas in the 1500s, there were several hundred different groups or tribes living in Texas. They moved frequently as small bands, following game and food plant availability. They lived near water sources in temporary wickiups made of saplings, hides, and grass, and in rock shelters., Surface Artifacts , Archeologists surveying the city campus found broken stone (chert) artifacts (below). Flakes from chipping stone tools were also found, and broken artifacts like those pictured on the right are similar to those found in prehistoric campsites in this area. Artifact (1) is a Corner-tang knife, 3,000 years old; (2) Friday knife, 2,600 years old; (3) Clovis dart point, 11,000 yr. old; (4) Angostura dart point, 8,000 yr. old; (5) dart point, 2,500 yr. old; (6) Montell dart point, 2,500 yr. old; (7) Andice dart point, 6,000 yr. old; (8) Edwards arrow point, 1,000 yr. old; (9) Perdiz arrow point, 500 yr. old; (10) Sabinal arrow point, 800 yr. old; and (11) Kerrville carcass cleaver, 2,500 yr. old. Artifacts 1–11 were not found on City Campus., Atlatl , Ancient American Indians first arrived here hunting now-extinct mammoth, horse, camel, and Ice Age bison, as well as many present - day mammals, fish, birds, and reptiles. They hunted with traps, nets, and short spears called “darts,” and a throwing handle called an “atlatl,” used to increase the penetrating power and distance the dart travels. Only in about the last 1,300 years was the bow and arrow adopted for hunting and defense., Knappers , Making chipped stone tools is a fascinating process called “knapping,” used to reduce a chert cobble found in a stream or on a hillside into a tool or point. Indians used this controlled hammering and pressure flaking to chip away parts of the stone to produce the desired tool or weapon. Arrow points are much smaller, 1 to 2 inches long, and lighter than dart points, which are 3 to 5 inches long., Hot Rock Cooking , Plant leaves, nuts, roots, and grass seeds made up a large part of Indian diets. They baked yucca, agave, cactus pads, and other plants in earth and hot rock ovens to make them digestible. These ovens were used over and over for centuries, resulting in mounds of fire-cracked limestone called burned rock middens, as seen here., Hinds Cave, Household Items , Here are some of the items made by prehistoric Indians: sandals, mats, digging sticks for roots, rabbit fur robes, twine nets to catch rabbits, woven grass trays and baskets, rope and cordage, a cooking pit for sotol and other plants, and a soft grass bed covered with hide for sleeping., Spiritual Life/Rock Art , Beliefs in supernatural beings and out-of-body experiences are thought to have been common among all prehistoric Indians in Texas , and part of their creation story. These beliefs and experiences were sometimes expressed in paintings on rock walls that can be seen today., Captions: , Coahuiltecans - Painting by Frank Weir, www.texasbeyondhistory.net, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, UT-Austin; Painting by Charles Shaw, www.texasbeyondhistory.net⁠, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, UT-Austin. , Boerne City Campus Surface Finds - Image by Dr. Herb Uecker, Stars Co., Bulverde, TX. , Hunting - By Nola Davis, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, UT-Austin , Making Stone Tools - Images from www.texasbeyondhistory.net, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, UT-Austin , Cooking - Painting by Charles Shaw, www.texasbeyondhistory.net, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, UT-Austin , Household - Painting by Peggy Maceo, www.texasbeyondhistory.net, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, UT-Austin , Spiritual Life - Painting by Reda Peel, www.texasbeyondhistory.net, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, UT-Austin