Gatlin Site
Kerrville, Kerr County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The construction of the new Spur 98 bridge across the Guadalupe River in Kerrville in 2004 was the catalyst for an archeological investigation yielding an extensive ancient Native American site near this location. The site yielded an unusually large and diverse assemblage of chipped stone projectile points and other stone tools, some older than 7,500 years, adding significantly to the understanding of how they changed form through time. These cultural artifacts, and many others found at the site, are older than the earliest Egyptian dynasty artifacts. Radiocarbon dates indicate that Native Americans returned to the site intermittently between 7500 to 1250 years ago. These ancient Native Americans were likely small groups of hunters and gatherers who moved frequently and harvested fruits, nuts, cactus pads and roots of native plants, along with hunting game such as bison, deer and rabbit. They used the local limestone to construct hearths and ovens to cook a variety of foods, requiring an intimate understanding of the local environment and its resources. Through the thousands of years the site was visited, the ancient climate was variable but overall, cooler and wetter than today. The ancient landscape of the Edwards Plateau contained savannah, grasslands and some woodlands, and springs and streams flowing from the limestone outcrops were more common then. The Gatlin Site contains a record of more than 6,000 years of lifeways and adaptations of the native peoples of Texas who camped here on the banks of the Guadalupe River. (2013)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When crews built the Spur 98 bridge over the Guadalupe River in 2004, they uncovered an extraordinary Native American site with stone tools and projectile points older than 7,500 years—predating Egypt's earliest dynasties. For thousands of years, small bands of hunter-gatherers returned to these banks to harvest fruits, nuts, and roots and to hunt bison, deer, and rabbit, cooking in limestone ovens they built themselves. Radiocarbon dating shows people camped here across more than six millennia in a cooler, wetter Edwards Plateau.
Why it matters
The Gatlin Site is a deep archive of the earliest peoples of Texas and how they adapted to a changing land over thousands of years.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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