Gatlin Site

An extensive ancient Native American site near the Guadalupe River in Kerrville yielded an unusually large and diverse assemblage of chipped stone projectile points and other stone tools, some older than 7,500 years, significantly improving understanding of how such tools changed form through time. These artifacts, along with many others found there, are older than artifacts from the earliest Egyptian dynasty. Radiocarbon dates indicate that Native Americans returned to the site intermittently between 7,500 and 1,250 years ago. They were likely small groups of hunters and gatherers who moved frequently and harvested fruits, nuts, cactus pads, and roots of native plants while also hunting bison, deer, and rabbit. Using local limestone, they built hearths and ovens to cook a variety of foods, reflecting an intimate understanding of the local environment and its resources. Over the thousands of years the site was visited, the climate varied but was overall cooler and wetter than today. The ancient Edwards Plateau landscape included savannah, grasslands, some woodlands, and more common springs and streams flowing from limestone outcrops. The site preserves more than 6,000 years of lifeways and adaptations of the native peoples of Texas who camped on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

Texas · United States