CONSERVATION ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE RICHLAND/CHAMBERS DAM AND RESERVOIR
PRODUCED BY
Archaeology Research Program
Department of Anthropology
Southern Methodist University
WITH FUNDS PROVIDED BY
Tarrant County Water Control and
Improvement District Number 1
written by:
L. Mark Raab
and
Randall W. Moir
typesetting by:
James E. Bruseth
graphic layout by:
Chris Christopher
1981
CONSERVATION ARCHAEOLOGY
Archaeology[1] has a number of popular stereotypesusually involving expeditions to remote partsof the Earth in search of ancient tombs, lost cities orlong-extinct races of Man. The archaeologist isseen working a “dig” for years, looking for bits ofbone or stone of little importance to anyone butother scientists.
In reality, however, archaeology departs from thispicture considerably. Many modern archaeologistswork in their own communities on projects thatinclude things familiar to most of us. The scope oftheir studies may range from 10,000 year oldAmerican Indian sites to early twentieth centuryfarms. Excavations are carried out with the aid oftools, including small dental instruments, largeearth-moving machines, and electronic computers.Often, archaeologists do not dig at all, but gatherinformation from maps, photographs, written histories,and living informants. In fact, more time byfar is spent working on artifacts in a laboratory, andespecially in writing reports of excavations, than isspent in the field. Even more surprising, manyarchaeologists today work in cooperation with privateand governmental agencies to protect archaeological remains,as required by state and federallaws. A specialized field of archaeology, calledpublic or conservation archaeology, has come intoexistence in the last twenty years to meet this need.
The archaeological studies in the Richland CreekReservoir area are a good example of conservation archaeology inaction. This report explains what theRichland Creek Archaeological Project (RCAP) is,how it works, and what it has accomplished thus far.Above all, the report tries to show why conservation ofour archaeological heritage is important to us all,and to future generations.
A series of archaeological studies are planned forthe Richland-Chambers Dam and Reservoir areanear Corsicana, Texas (Figure 1). The first phase ofthose studies was carried out during 1980-81. TheTarrant County Water Control and ImprovementDistrict Number 1, developer of the Reservoir,employed Southern Methodist University[2]to conduct archaeological studies. Like other constructionprojects requiring state and federal permits, theReservoir cannot be completed unless state andfederal laws pertaining to archaeological and historicalsites are adhered to. Since 1906, sever