The Levi Site: A Paleo-Indian Campsite in Central Texas

Abstract

AbstractThe recent discovery and excavation of the Levi site, a stratified campsite near Austin, Texas, has uncovered several artifact types previously unknown in Paleo-Indian cultures. In the earliest occupation zone a scraper, two utilized flakes, and a chopper were associated with the remains of tapir and dire wolf. Following this is a zone dated at 10,000 ± 175 B.P. in which a possible Clovis point and a Plainview point were associated with bones of Equus sp. and Platygonus sp. Artifacts from this zone include burins, burin spalls, scrapers, and prismatic blades. Above this lies the major occupation zone with a large sample of projectile points showing a combination of attributes characteristic of both Plainview and Angostura points. These are considered as belonging to the Plainview-Angostura complex. Radiocarbon dated at 9300 ± 160 B.P. to 7350 ± 150 B.P., this zone yielded burins, burin spalls, polyhedral cores, prismatic blades, seed-grinding stones, knives, and scrapers; in all, over 400 artifacts. The uppermost zone at the Levi site contained a mixture of artifacts assignable to Archaic and later cultures.