This is a collection I have just recently started, and parts of it are a bit creepy. The house Im sitting in is built on top of a giant shell midden built up by the Karankawa indians, who were known to eat an enemy or two. From prehistoric times to about 1850 they would camp on this bluff overlooking the bay each spring and summer. The property was then in the hands of the same family from that time until last year. The current house is a large 1950s ranch, but it is built over the shellcrete foundation of the original 1850s house. Every time we go below the thin topsoil, we find clam, conch or welk shells... and sometimes more... At lower left is a piece of conch shell, the edge of which has been tooled to either be a scraper, or the blade of an adze. Next to it is part of a large blue glass trade bead, probably acquired from the French in the 17th century. At lower right is a pork shank (I think). What is interesting is there are tally marks on it, like it was being used to keep track of something. The Reddy Kilowatt cup was dug from the courtyard garden, along with the cat bones in it... but no skulls. Thats the part I find creepy. A few hundred yards away in the bay is a small spoils island where the Corps of Engineers deposits material dredged from the channel. I understand some people have found mastodon teeth there. I found the two petrified bone fragments in the middle. I think they are the ribs of a large mammal. Whats interesting is they are both broken the exact same way and there appear to be tool marks. Finally, from the same island, are the fused cervical vertebrae of a dolphin with osteoarthritis. Life is tough, even for Flipper.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 02:22:15 +0000
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