The Clemente and Herminia Hinojosa Site, 41JW8: A Toyah Horizon Campsite in Southern Texas

Site 41JW8 is a major prehistoric occupation site located along Chiltipin Creek in Jim Wells County, in southern Texas. Excavations at the site in 1981 recovered a single component that can be linked with the Toyah horizon. Radiocarbon dating of three fire features places the occupation to around A.D. 1350-1400. The excavation of 82 m2 clustered in blocks produced an abundance of well-preserved data. Special studies of faunal and botanical remains and analyses of artifacts and cultural refuse distributions provide the basis for addressing various research problems. The site is shown to be a base camp where hunting and animal processing were major activities. Contrary to earlier interpretations, deer were more important than bison, although the remains of over forty other species suggest a diverse subsistence base. The site is thought to have been occupied while Chiltipin Creek was a spring-fed reliable water source surrounded by a mosaic of grassland, riparian, and thorny brush vegetation. A review of regional Late Prehistoric sites suggests that the site represents an occupational pattern--the Toyah horizon--that spread from Central Texas in the 14th and 15th centuries during a period of increased rainfall.