Papers by Robert J Mallouf
La Vista de la Frontera, 2008
La Vista de la Frontera (newsletter), 2002
La Vista de la Frontera, 2022
Brief discussion of cruciform typology, age, occurance and function; eastern extension of crucifo... more Brief discussion of cruciform typology, age, occurance and function; eastern extension of cruciform distribution along Rio Grande.
Plains Anthropologist, May 1, 1989
The Callahan Divide in West Texas was a major source area of high-quality Edwards chert for Paleo... more The Callahan Divide in West Texas was a major source area of high-quality Edwards chert for Paleoindian and later human populations in the Southern Plains. Relict and modem hydrologic and biotic patterns across the divide suggest the existence of tenninal Pleistocene interconnected ponds and marshes, probably having abundant plant and animal resources. Recent stock pond construction in the divide has resulted in exposure of a small Clovis quarry-workshop site near the headwaters of an a"oyo system. A machinery-damaged workshop feature containing an association of cores, large blade-flakes, a bifacial point prefonn, and a hammerstone has yielded significant infonnation about early production stages of Clovis stone tools. Investigations into the Prehistory of the Upper Clear fork of the Brazos River, Fisher and Jones Counties, Texas. Unpublished Master's thesis,
Current Research in the Pleistocene, 1994
At the urging of local avocational archaeologists, test excavations were conducted by the Office ... more At the urging of local avocational archaeologists, test excavations were conducted by the Office of the State Archaeologist (oSA), Texas Historical Commission, in September 1993 at the River Spur Site (41VTl12) in Victoria County, Texas. This is one of several deeply buried sites in the central coastal prairie region known to have early cultural components (e.g., Brown 1987). Located in an occasionally flooded fossil floodplain terrace system of Meguin silty clay (Miller 1982) along the lower Guadalupe River, the River Spur Site is endangered by lateral and downward cutting of a short, intermittent tributary
Office of the State Archeologist, Archeological Survey Report 19, 1976
This report presents the results of an archeological survey conducted by the Texas Historical Com... more This report presents the results of an archeological survey conducted by the Texas Historical Commission for the Soil Conservation Service. The lands surveyed will be subject to permanent or intermittent inundation by construction of the proposed Tehuacana Creek Watershed Project in McLennan and Hill counties, Texas. Areas to be adversely affected by flooding and channelization of Tehuacana Creek have yielded a total of 17 archeological sites and an additional 24 minor scatters of cultural material. Investigations have yielded evidence of Middle and Late Archaic, as well as Late Prehistoric occupations in the project areas, and have resulted in the compilation of data concerning prehistoric settlement and subsistence patterns along minor waterways of the Blackland Prairie region.
Current Researdh in the Pleistocene, 1991
The discovery of three polyhedral blade cores with probable Paleoindian affinities was brought to... more The discovery of three polyhedral blade cores with probable Paleoindian affinities was brought to the attention of archaeologists in 1990. The find was traced to a plowed and deflated field on the crest of a narrow ridgeline of Cretaceous limestone in Hamilton County, Texas.
Current Research in the Pleistocene, 1994
Current Research in the Pleistocene 23:124-127, 2006
Constituting the great southern arc of the Rio Grande in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, the Texa... more Constituting the great southern arc of the Rio Grande in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, the Texas Big Bend has been viewed by archaeologists as marginal to early-Paleoamerican subsistence and settlement systems
Journal of Big Bend Studies, Vol. 25:7-71, 2013
A prehistoric human burial was discovered in a deep rock crevice in northwestern Brewster County,... more A prehistoric human burial was discovered in a deep rock crevice in northwestern Brewster County, Texas, and subsequently dug by relic hunters in 1968. The crevice assemblage, while mixed internally, was kept intact and uncontaminated, and was loaned for study to the Center for Big Bend Studies, Sul Ross State University, in 2005. Analysis indicates that a minimum of 8 individuals were interred in the crevice, which also contained 44 artifacts of stone and shell, and 235 specimens of faunal bone. Bone collagen samples from two individuals yielded 2-sigma calibrated assays of A.D. 880-1010 and A.D. 1170-1280, indicated that they were interred at separate events during the Late Prehistoric period. Artifactual evidence suggests that earlier remains from the Late Archaic period were interred in the crevice as well. The findings from Ghost Ridge (41BS2618) supplement a growing body of data concerning human health and mortuary practices in the Texas Big Bend.
Invited Papers from the Second Symposium on Resources of the Chihuahuan Desert Region , 1983
The northern Chihuahuan Desert region is characterized by a cultural continuum spanning some 12,0... more The northern Chihuahuan Desert region is characterized by a cultural continuum spanning some 12,000 years of human occupation. The rich cultural diversity of the region presents a fascinating field of study for the archeologist. A brief introductory overview of prehistoric cultures and environments is provided, and major weaknesses in the current regional database are pointed out.
The Artifact, Vol. 31, No. 1, 1993
During October 1992, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department initiated the first in a formal seri... more During October 1992, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department initiated the first in a formal series of volunteer participant scientific expeditions in Big Bend Ranch State Natural Area, Presidio County, Texas. Billed as Texas Adventures I, and sponsored by the Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Inc., this program placed 12 volunteer participants with two professional archaeologists for a 10-day archaeological reconnaissance of state-owned tracts in the poorly known Cienega Mountains. Using a non-collecting methodology, the group located 66 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites along the western and southern flanks of the Cienega range. Among the newly discovered prehistoric sites are rock art locations, rock shelters, stone quarries, stone workshops, open campsites, and plant processing stations. Historic sites include a variety of ranching-related camps, including stone and adobe houses, line-camp facilities, stock pens, a threshing floor, and related cultural features. The majority of prehistoric sites are attributable to Late Archaic and Late Prehistoric nomadic populations in the region, while historic sites are related to late Mexican- and Anglo-American ranching activities. Particularly noteworthy are the discoveries of a major rock-art site containing small petroglyphs that are reminiscent of Lower Pecos shaman figures and a butte-top campsite having affiliations wit the Cielo complex of the Late Prehistoric period.
Journal of Big Bend Studies, Vol. 1, 1989
THE JOURNAL OF BIG BEND STUDIES iS a publication of the Center for Big Bend Studies and is dedica... more THE JOURNAL OF BIG BEND STUDIES iS a publication of the Center for Big Bend Studies and is dedicated to studies relating to the history and culture of the southwestern United States, with emphasis on the Big Bend region of Texas. The subscription rate for 1989 is $f O.OO for the annual edition. Manuscripts for future editions will be considered but should not be submitted without preliminary communications with the editor.
Archaeological Explorations of the Eastern Trans-Pecos and Big Bend: Collected Papers, Vol. I, 2013
A utilitarian lithic cache discovered recently in Green Valley, Presidio County, Texas, contains ... more A utilitarian lithic cache discovered recently in Green Valley, Presidio County, Texas, contains eight specimens: both unifacial and bifacial end scrapers, a large bifacial preform, a bifacial knife, a flake blank, and a Middle Archaic (ca. 2500-1000 B.C.) dart point. Essentially comprising a small, portable toolkit, the Zodiac Cache is one of only two documented Middle Archaic cache assemblages from the Texas Big Bend. The feature provides much needed insights into technological and subsistence behaviors for a poorly known period in regional prehistory.
Archaeological Explorations of the Eastern Trans-Pecos and Big Bend: Collected Papers, Vol. 1, 2013
A lithic cache was discovered during a 1996 Sul Ross State University Summer Archaeological Field... more A lithic cache was discovered during a 1996 Sul Ross State University Summer Archaeological Field School near Elephant Mountain in Brewster County, Texas. Comprised of 15 bifacial preforms and two large flakes, the McHam Cache was found inside an open prehistoric campsite on a terrace of Calamity Creek, a significant drainage system of the Texas Big Bend. Largely exposed on the terrace surface by sheet erosion, the feature is one of only a few utilitarian caches reported from the region, and is inferred from several lines of evidence to have a Late Archaic (1000 B.C. - A.D. 700) origin. The cache assemblage is described and aspects of prehistoric caching behavior in the Big Bend are explored.
Archaeological Explorations of the Eastern Trans-Pecos and Big Bend: Collected Papers, Vol. 1, 2013
The eastern Trans-Pecos/Big Bend is home to a daunting array of stone projectile point styles, ma... more The eastern Trans-Pecos/Big Bend is home to a daunting array of stone projectile point styles, many of which are inadequately studied with respect to technology, chronology, and cultural affiliation. When working with point assemblages from the region, archaeologists have tended historically to assign point types on the basis of interpolation from better studied adjoining regions-particularly west-central Texas, south Texas, and the Lower Pecos River. An intensification of regional research during the past decade, however, has resulted tangentially in the refinement of typological categories. Moreover, enhanced data sets have allowed identification of two previously unrecognized arrow point types, the formalization of a third arrow point type, and the resurrection of a dart point style that had fallen into general disuse. A past proclivity on the part of researchers to "force" these point styles into pre-existing interregional typological categories is duly noted.
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Papers by Robert J Mallouf
Data from pertinent regional radiocarbon assays, artifactual assemblages, and archeological constructs provide a foundation from which to explore temporal and cultural affiliations of the cairn. The burial is believed to have been placed by a nomadic people who included the lower La Junta de los Rios area in their territorial range, sometime during the period A.D. 1500 to 1700.