What is the oldest archeological site in Texas?
A. There are quite a few sites across the state that have the distinctive remains associated with Clovis people, the earliest well documented archeological culture in North America about 13,000-13,500 years old (11,000-11,500 B.C.). One of the largest and most important Clovis sites in North America is deep in the heart of Texas, the Gault site near Georgetown (see the Gault site exhibit). There is also tantalizing evidence that people may have visited Texas several thousand years earlier. One example is at Bonfire Shelter, where humans may have have killed and butchered now-extinct animals including mammoth, horse, and camel about 14,400-15,000 years ago (12,400-13,000 B.C.). As explained in the Bonfire site exhibit, the evidence for human involvement is fairly convincing, but still not certain. The search for definitive evidence of “preClovis” peoples is one of the most exciting and controversial problems in North America. Texas has several candidates, but none that are beyond questi
