2008 Speaker Schedule
Every meeting of The Houston Archeological Society features a prominent figure in archeology.
July 11, 2008
HAS members discuss their experiences at the 2008 TAS Field School.
May 9, 2008
Douglas K. Boyd, Vice President, Prewitt and Associates, Inc. presents "History and Archeology of the First Capitol of the Republic of Texas."
In conjunction with the proposed development of a historical park by a local nonprofit group, archeological and historical investigations were conducted on the site of the first capitol of the Republic of Texas in West Columbia, Texas. The work focused on Lot 4, Block 2 of the old Columbia townsite because it once contained a wooden structure used by the House of Representatives during the First Congress from October to December 1836. Archeologists from Prewitt and Associates, Inc. and the Brazosport Archaeological Society completed a week of field investigations at the site in December 2007. Mechanical and hand excavations exposed a brick-lined cistern filled with twentieth-century debris, several pit features containing nineteenth-century artifacts, numerous postholes, and scattered nineteenth- and twentieth-century artifacts. Following the field investigations, archival research was undertaken to define the legal history of this property and identify its historic uses. This work is revealing part of the story behind one of Texas' most important historical places - the First Capitol of the Republic of Texas.
April 11, 2008
Bob Shelby, member and past president of HAS, has also served as a regional director of the Texas Archeological Society. He was awarded the Southeast Texas Archaeological Research Award in 2007 for his work on the 41FB269, the Powell Site.
Beginning in 1999 and for the next few years, the Houston Archeological Society conducted archaeological investigations at the Powell site to find the exact location of the historic Powell house and develop more information about the people who lived there. In the course of the research, many half-truths and misconceptions were encountered about the people and events connected with this spot of land. The focus of the presentation is to correct some of these myths and amplify the recent HAS report published about the site.
March 14, 2008
Steve Hoyt is the State Marine Archeologist with the Texas Historical Commission, a position he has held since 1998. He has over 25 years of experience in the study of historic shipwrecks, performing much of his early work in the islands of the Caribbean and in Bermuda, including several years with the Institute of Maritime History and Archaeology at the Bermuda Maritime Museum. The topic of the March, 2008 meeting is "Indianola: Rediscovering the Ruins of a Lost Port City."
February 8, 2008
Leslie Bush is an Austin-based archeobotanist who analyzes plant remains from archeological sites though her small business, Macrobotanical Analysis. She presents "Assessing Seasonality Through Archeological Plant Remains."
January 11, 2008
HAS Member Fred Kelly showed two interesting and entertaining films of recent excavations in England. The first film involves excavating a Roman site near London, England. And, the second film concerns exploring a Medieval village in Devonshire, England.