Adair-Steadman Site
Sylvester vicinity, Fisher County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In this vicinity is a prehistoric archeological site discovered in 1969 near the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. Archeologists have conducted extensive scientific excavations and attribute most of the cultural materials to the Paleo-Indian Period. The Adair-Steadman Site was a large base campsite for makers of fluted points, who were part of the distinctive Folsom culture between nine and eleven thousand years ago. Prehistoric peoples chose to live here because of the availability of water at the time of occupation and the presence of a large stone resource area nearby. Stone tools and other material recovered include fluted point fragments, point preforms, channel flakes, scrapers, gravers, and large bifaces. Future archeological, geological, and paleontological studies of the site may yield sufficient data to reconstruct the physical appearance of the site during its period of occupation. One of the most significant locations of Folsom artifacts in North America, the Adair-Steadman Site is important as a valuable source of information on the prehistory of the state, the nation, and the entire continent. It is protected from disturbance by federal and state antiquities laws. (1984)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Discovered in 1969 near the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, the Adair-Steadman Site preserves traces of some of the earliest people to live in Texas. Between about nine and eleven thousand years ago, hunters of the Folsom culture made this a large base camp, drawn by fresh water and a nearby source of toolmaking stone. Excavations have recovered fluted-point fragments, preforms, channel flakes, scrapers, and other stone tools that speak to their daily craft.
Why it matters
As one of North America's most significant Folsom sites, Adair-Steadman offers a rare window into the Paleo-Indian world at the very dawn of human life on the continent.
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Themes & tags
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