Stephen Phillips

ANTH. 2301

CRM Report of Lake Alan Henry (Justiceburg Reservoir)

The cultural resource investigations at Justiceburg Reservoir, now called Lake

Alan Henry, are extensive and spans seven volumes of information and data concerning

the site. This report is merely an attempt to highlight the elements of the project which

are pertinent to the purpose and discovery of artifacts at the reservoir.

Although there are multiple volumes, I have drawn from only the first, titled

Phase 1 Cultural Resource Investigations at Justiceburg Reservoir on the Double

Mountain Fork of the Brazos River, Garza and Kent Counties, Texas, and the last, titled

Data Recovery at Lake Alan Henry (Justiceburg Reservoir), Garza and Kent Counties,

Texas: Phase III, Season 3.

Investigations at Justiceburg Reservoir were conducted in 1987 by Prewitt and

Associates, Inc. “The investigations included a 100% pedestrian survey, a preliminary

geoarcheological study, and historic archival and field research” (Boyd 1987, xii). The

area surveyed was approximately 8600 acres, and resulted in documentation of 375 sites.

Of 288 sites, a breakdown of prehistoric archaeological evidence discovered were

as follows: 4 middle Archaic, 10 late Archaic, 10 undefined Archaic, 24 Late Prehistoric,

204 undefined Prehistoric, 45 isolated finds, 30 sites possible nonaboriginal Buffalo

hunting, 10 early ranching and homesteading, 4 railroad and industry related, 1 cemetery,

and 14 trash sites of unknown function. 74 sites contained rock art, 33 of which were

aboriginal (Boyd 1987).

Stephen Phillips
ANTH. 2301

Due to the research potential of the finds, Prewitt and Associates charged that

“238 sites are assessed to be eligible or potentially eligible for listing on the National

Register, while 137 are not eligible. Those sites worthy of further attention and situated

on lands to be purchased by the City of Lubbock will, if purchased, be eligible for State

Archaeological Landmark designations” (Boyd 1987).

A history of investigations began in the 1950’s with the South Plains

Archeological Society; “Professional archeological investigations, however, did not begin

until Justiceburg Reservoir was in the early planning stages in the 1970’s” (Boyd 1994).

Initial surveys in 1974-75 resulted in an inventory of sites with minimal

recommendations for treatment. A second investigation in 1982 reported that the initial

sites surveyed “were not adequately recorded and that their true significance had been

underestimated (Boyd 1994, pg.6). These prior investigations initially led to the Phase I

investigations of 1987.

The immediate goal of research at Lake Alan Henry was “to determine how

individual sites fit within the collector-forager continuum”, while the long-range goal

was, “to identify, through intersite studies, the relationships between resource structure

and land-use patterns through time and space” (Data 10). Though there were many sites

recorded and excavated during the investigations, there are several which are here worth

individual mention. They are: prehistoric sites 41GR291, 41GR303B, and historic site

41GR474. These sites provided much evidence in meeting both the short-term and long-

term goals.

Site 41GR291, also known as The Sam Wahl Site, yielded 387 artifacts from the

testing phase (29). Subsequent investigations included 3 blade cuts, 36 backhoe trenches,
Stephen Phillips
ANTH. 2301

and 106 excavation units. Features discovered included 14 burned rock features, 3 of

which were classified as hearths, 10 storage pits, a pit house, and a cairn burial (38).

3,578 artifacts were recovered, and included projectile points, bifaces, unifaces, cores,

unmodified debitage, ground stone tools, ceramics, cobble tools, and other lithics (65-79).

Dating places the site at several distinct occupation periods.

Site 41GR303B, known as The Cat Hollow Site, was excavated in 37 units, and

returned 9 cultural features, and 2,317 artifacts (130, 133, and 139). These artifacts

consisted of much the same types as the Sam Wahl site. Among the artifacts were

Scallorn type arrow-points, and Darl type dart-points (139, 142). Radiocarbon assays

from the site place the date-range in A.D. 1020-1382, with a single incept at A.D. 1230

(160).

Site 41GR474, or The Justice Dugout, represented a dugout depression and house

complex. “Historic documents indicated that the dugout probably was constructed in

1899 and subsequently occupied by Jeff D. Justice and his family only for a short time.

The house, a much larger and more elaborate structure, was built by the Justice family

while they lived in the dugout” (165). 2,321 artifacts were recovered during excavations

on the dugout and trash fill, which were then grouped into assemblages. Dugout artifact

assemblage consisted of 468 items, including metal, ceramic, glass, and bone; the trash

fill assemblage contained 1,853 items and consisted of much the same items as the

dugout (179-183). Site Function was indicated “as a homestead and ranching

headquarters for Jeff Justice and his family from 1900 through the 1920s and

subsequently was occupied by tenants who used the land in a similar manner until the

1940s (200).
Stephen Phillips
ANTH. 2301

The dates for the prehistoric sites at Lake Alan Henry were “calibrated

radiocarbon on charcoal, bone, and soil humates [which] indicate that the occupations

occurred from as early as 2 B.C. to as late as ca. A.D. 1700 but were most intensive

between ca. A.D. 500-1300 (255). Given the most recent occupations of homesteading

and farming of the 1940s, this area’s occupation was well over 1900 years.

Ultimately, the data recovery conducted at Justiceburg Reservoir/ Lake Alan

Henry met both stated goals. The report then went beyond in reaching important

conclusions based on their recovered evidence, namely in challenging “the traditional

archeological view that the Texas Southern Plains comprises only two regions –the High

Plains and Lower Plains” (Perttula 297).

Stephen Phillips
ANTH. 2301

References:

1989 Phase 1 Cultural Resource Investigations at Justiceburg Reservoir on the

Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River, Garza and Kent Counties, Texas

1994 Data Recovery at Lake Alan Henry (Justiceburg Reservoir), Garza and

Kent Counties, Texas: Phase III, Season 3