CBBS Summer E-Newsletter

Photo: Left to right: Dr. Justin Garnett, Dr. Devin Pettigrew, Maya Tinajero, Bailey Larremore, Riley McNutt, Erika Blecha, and Dr. Bryon Schroeder

We are so proud to be honored by Sul Ross State University for our Archaeology Club and its student advisors. At the university’s annual award ceremony in May, the club won the “Rising Star Award” in the Student Organization category while Dr. Devin Pettigrew and Dr. Bryon Schroeder were selected for the “Outstanding Achievement Award” as club advisors.  

“This award goes to the student organization that has wonderful ideas and always shows up for their peers and the Sul Ross and Alpine communities,” the university says. “They are full of life, and they are wonderful leaders on our campus and in the Alpine community. These students have risen to the challenge and have shown initiative.” 

This year, the club has grown — as many as 30 students have joined the interactive meetings on flint knapping and other activities. 

“These students bring so much passion and excitement to everything they do,” Schroeder says. “Encouraging that enthusiasm as they interact with artifacts and observe the ingenuity of past people is a wonderful experience. 

During a year filled with non-stop archaeological action out in the field as well as teaching duties, the two advisors still find time to devote to the members of the Archaeology Club. 

Photos: CBBS Team Members Dr. Justin Garnett, Erika Blecha, and Caiti Carvajal behind the CBBS boot at the SAA conference.

Sul Ross State University’s new Masters in Anthropology Program was front and center at the 90th Annual Society for American Archaeology Conference in April in Denver. Many thanks to the Permian Basin Area Foundation for the outreach grant that made this trip possible for our representatives.  

“It was a fantastic few days representing Sul Ross and sharing the exciting news about our new program,” says Director Dr. Bryon Schroeder, who attended with Erika Blecha, Dr. Devin Pettigrew, Dr. Justin Garnett and Caiti Carvajal. “We loved connecting with students, colleagues and fellow archaeologists.” 

The SAA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of archaeologists of the Americas, with general sessions, symposium, forums, debates, lightning rounds, posters and workshops. The wide audience comprises enthusiasts and experts, with attendees from across the U.S. and more than 45 countries.  

CBBS presentations at the conference included Dr. Schroeder’s “No Context: Can We Achieve Meaningful Research with Unprovenienced Legacy Collections?” and Dr. Pettigrew’s “Is It Possible to Distinguish Spears, Darts, and Arrows in the Archaeological Record?” 

Baylor University PhD student Jasmine Kidwell presented a poster “Molecular Geoarchaeology and the Sedimentary Archives of Far West Texas: Human Demographics, Hydroclimate, and Paleoecology from the Late Pleistocene through Holocene.” Her connection to CBBS: Dr. Schroeder is on her committee and Dr. Schroeder and Blecha were co-authors on the poster, helping Kidwell collect data for her research.

Upper Photo: Basement renovation is almost ready for cabinets and tables!

Lower Photo: Basement at the beginning of renovation.

Our growing pains will soon be relieved as renovation races along in the basement of Ferguson Hall, currently busting at the seams as our lab, curation area and workspace. A new space for collections and analysis will provide more lab space for our flourishing department and research. 

Funding is provided by the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans Grant. Renovation is expected to be completed quickly, despite having to excavate nearly four feet of dirt in some spaces, create a doorway into the new lab, lay the concrete for the floor and retain that extra dirt in a portion of the wall. 

“It's a game changer,” says Schroeder. “It triples our space and allows us to do more analysis on materials and be more effective teachers and researchers.” 

Photo: Haley Bjorklund and Dr. Justin Garnett excavating the mammoth tusk found on the 02 Ranch in Brewster County.

In a recent interview on Marfa Public Radio’s Nature Notes, Director Dr. Bryon Schroeder discussed the discovery of a 6-foot fragment of mammoth tusk on the O2 Ranch. The CBBS team carefully removed the artifact and transported it for testing. 

“Everybody wants to know the next step for the mammoth,” he said. “We've got to figure out how to sample the whole thing to better understand the life history of that mammoth. The more we can do that, the better understanding we’ll have of this place.” 

Nature Notes producer Andrew Stuart asked Dr. Schroeder about the chance of finding mammoth and Ice Age bison “kill sites” in the Big Bend, such as the ones identified in other Southwestern locales. If the tusk’s dates overlap with human occupation, these kill sites might exist. 

“I think I would say that it's probably 40,000 years old,” Dr. Schroeder said. “That’s my guess. It's probably too old for us, but it's old enough to radiocarbon date.” 

To enhance that pursuit, Kansas University (a CBBS partner) grad student Haley Bjorklund will lead tusk analysis with a new technique. She’ll study the tusk’s rings (like a tree) for chemical traces that reveal where the animal wandered and what it ate. 

Photo: Sul Ross State University fieldschool students Nathaniel Thompson and Sydney Miller excavating at the upper entrance of Spirit Eye Cave.

Every summer, CBBS takes learning out of the classroom and into action at desert sites. It’s hard and hot, but it’s also deeply rewarding. We’ll share the results in our next e-newsletter. 

Summer fieldwork with the University of Kansas: June 9–18 and June 23–July 2 at Genevieve Lykes Duncan site and July 7–18 at San Esteban Rockshelter. 

Sul Ross Archaeological Field School at Spirit Eye Cave and Genevieve Lykes Duncan sites (consecutive, with four-day breaks): May 27–June 5, June 10–19 and June 25–July 4.  

Come join us at the 31st Annual CBBS Conference at Sul Ross State University in Alpine on Nov. 7–8. We’re pleased to announce that Dr. Meradeth Snow of the University of Montana is our banquet speaker.  

Please send abstracts and titles for presentation slots with a short bio to cbbseditor@sulross.edu. Deadline Oct. 1. 

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