Buckner Ranch, Bee County, Texas (41BE2): E.H. Sellards’ Forgotten Site

The Buckner Ranch site (41BE2) excavated 1938–1940 produced Paleoindian and Archaic artifacts from terrace fill. It was largely forgotten in the archaeological literature due to questions of artifact provenience and geologic context. Paleoindian material was recovered from alluvial sands and gravels ~35 cm thick in reverse stratigraphic order. Early Archaic artifacts were higher in the section in palustrine fines. Investigations at the site 2016–2023 and in the records at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory and the establishment of a geochronology clarify some of the artifact provenience. Alluvium that contained the Paleoindian artifacts is older than ~10,000 cal yr BP. Clovis, Midland, and Cody artifacts were likely out of place, but Early Side-Notched and Angostura material may have been in place. Archaic artifacts were in low-energy backwater muds and likely in place. This research shows that in place Paleoindian and Early Archaic archaeological records are likely preserved along Blanco Creek.