An 18,000 Year Old Occupation Along Petronila Creek in Texas

For those that have access to the Texas Archeological Society Bulletin there is a very interesting 40 page site report "An 18,000 Year Old Occupation Along Petronila Creek in Texas" by C.R. Lewis. This site in Nueces County has broken mammoth bones with cut marks with a 14C date of 18180+/-330BP as well as numerous other species represented. One of the unique features of the site is the presence of broken mammoth molars which were used for pounding and grinding, some even showed facets from use. However the most unique feature of the site is thousands of rodent teeth, many broken and about 35% acid etched recovered from what the author termed "latrine lenses". His interpretation was that these people were pounding the skulls of rodents (mostly prairie dogs) into a mush for consumption.

The author also discusses several lines of faunal evidence that indicate the site could possibly be as old as Sangamon interglacial.