HistoricSiteMarkers
Pre-Contact America

Wilson-Leonard Brushy Creek Burial Site

Cedar Park, Williamson County, Texas

Marker Inscription

In this vicinity is a prehistoric archeological site discovered in 1973 by a team of Texas Highway Department archeologists. Scientific excavations have produced evidence that the site was a major camping ground for prehistoric peoples, particularly during the Archaic Period (2,000-8,000 years ago). More than 150 fireplaces, numerous projectile Plainview points, and several types of spear points have been uncovered. In 1982, archeologists discovered the skeleton of a human female, 10,000 to 13,000 years old, that became known as the Leanderthal Lady. (1985)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Discovered in 1973 by state highway archeologists, this site along Brushy Creek proved to be a major camping ground for prehistoric peoples, especially during the Archaic Period thousands of years ago. Excavations turned up more than 150 hearths along with Plainview points and other spear points. In 1982 archeologists uncovered the skeleton of a woman 10,000 to 13,000 years old, since known as the Leanderthal Lady—among the oldest human remains found in North America.

Why it matters

It offers a rare, deep glimpse into the lives of the earliest human inhabitants of North America, long before written history.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related events

  • · Discovery of the Leanderthal Lady

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

Merrilltown Cemetery

Austin, TX

Captain Nelson Merrell settled here in 1837, opening a store and post office and giving his name to the Merrilltown community. He deeded land for a church, a school, and this burial ground, served as a Travis County commissioner, helped build Congress Avenue in Austin, and led a company of Rangers guarding the settlement. The cemetery's graves—marked by obelisks, fraternal-order stones, and curbing—hold community leaders and veterans reaching back to the Civil War.

San Gabriel Park

Georgetown, TX

The springs here drew Native peoples for centuries and later Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo colonists competing over land grants in the 1820s and '30s, until George W. Glasscock secured the site as part of his headright in 1839. As “The Fairgrounds” it hosted revivals, reunions, and even the county's first public hanging, and Sam Houston spoke here in 1859. After a 1921 flood, Georgetown bought the land in 1933 and, with WPA labor, transformed it into San Gabriel Park.

Balcones Fault Aids Colonization of Texas

Austin, TX

The rugged Balcones Escarpment, curving through central Texas from Hill County to Uvalde County, shaped where people settled long before towns arose, its springs, wooded hills, and fertile prairies drawing Indian peoples and then Spanish colonists. Spanish explorer Bernardo de Miranda named the formation 'Los Balcones' in 1756, and part of El Camino Real, the King's Highway, followed the fault line past missions and presidios near San Antonio and Austin. Anglo-American settlers led by Stephen F. Austin arrived along the escarpment before 1830, and Austin—chosen capital of the Republic of Texas—grew up on its edge.

Williams-Buck Cemetery

Liberty Hill, TX

Legend clings to the earliest years of this hilltop burial ground, where oral history places the graves of an enslaved man, an unknown Native American, and a settler family said to have been ambushed and buried in their own wagon in 1854. The oldest marked grave is that of infant Polly Williams, interred that same year on land owned by W. W. Williams. Honored veterans of both Confederate and U.S. forces lie here, along with graves relocated when Lake Georgetown was formed.