codzienność: History of Texas

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Indigenous people lived in what is now Texas more than 10,000 years ago, as evidenced by the discovery of the remains of prehistoric Leanderthal Lady. In 1519, the arrival of the first Spanish conquistadors in the region of North America now known as Texas found the region occupied by numerous Native American tribes. The name Texas derives from táyshaʼ, a word in the Caddoan language of the Hasinai, which means "friends" or "allies." In the recorded history of what is now the U.S. state of Texas, all or parts of Texas have been claimed by six countries: France, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederacy during the Civil War, and the United States of America. The first European se…

Evidence: 41 • authority: 72

Leanderthal Lady is the skeletal remains of a prehistoric woman discovered in January 1983 near the city of Leander, Texas. The remains were alternatively labeled "Leanne". Both names were inspired by the proximity of the site to the town of Leander, a suburb of Austin. Contrary to her name, the Leanderthal Lady lived during the end of the Ice Age, long after the Neanderthals. Leanne was discovered by the Texas Department of Transportation at the Wilson-Leonard Brushy Creek Site (an ancient Native American campsite) during the construction of the highway RM 1431. Scientists described the location as "one of the oldest intact human burial sites discovered in the United States." The land, onc…

Evidence: 38 • authority: 94

In this vicinity is a prehistoric archeological site discovered in 1973 by a team of Texas Highway Department archeologists. Scientific excavations have produced evidence that the site was a major camping ground for prehistoric peoples, particularly during the Archaic Period (2,000-8,000 years ago). More than 150 fireplaces, numerous projectile Plainview points, and several types of spear points have been uncovered. In 1982, archeologists discovered the skeleton of a human female, 10,000 to 13,000 years old, that became known as the Leanderthal Lady. (1985) Details - Wilson-Leonard Brushy Creek Burial Site - Atlas Number 5507013894 - Atlas: Texas Historical Commission Details for Wilson-Leonard Brushy Creek Burial Site

Evidence: 34 • authority: 69

Speaking to us through the ages, the woman—known variously as the “Leanderthal Lady,” or simply, Leanne, (for the nearby community of Leander, Texas)—had a powerful story to tell. Although she was young at the time of death by today’s standards—somewhere between 18 to 25 years of age—she was middle-aged by the standards of her day. There was no sign of disease or health problems other than tooth decay. We do not know why she died. Some 11,000 years ago, near the present town of Leander, Texas, the body of a young woman was gently laid in a shallow grave near a small stream. Whoever buried her had first carefully prepared the spot by digging out an oval depression in the hard, compacted soil, perhaps using a sharpened wooden stick. They placed her body on its side in a flexed position, with knees drawn up, arms crossed, and right hand resting beneath her head. Next to her side, they laid a heavily worn sandstone tool—a handstone, or mano— used first for grinding food and later for chopping. Last, they placed a limestone slab over the burial, perhaps to secure a hide wrapping around the body, or to mark the grave. Rapidly covered over by sediment, the burial lay virtually undisturbed over the millennia, although scores of other hunting and gathering groups camped over and over again above her resting place. In 1982, archeologists from the Texas Department of Transportation uncovered the site (dubbed Wilson-Leonard after the landowners) during research in advance of highway construction, and the saga of the ancient Paleoindian woman continued.

Evidence: 20 • authority: 72

Paleo-Indians (also spelled Paleoindians) were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The word comes from the prefix paleo-, taken from the Ancient Greek adjective: παλαιός, romanized: palaiós, lit. 'old; ancient', and "Indian", which has been historically used to refer to Indigenous peoples of the Americas. The term Paleo-Indian applies specifically to the lithic period in the Western Hemisphere and is distinct from the term Paleolithic. Traditional theories suggest that big-animal hunters crossed the Bering Strait from North Asia into the Americas over a land bridge (Beringia). This bridge existed from 45,000 t…

Evidence: 20 • authority: 80

The Prehistoric Skeletal Remains from the Crestmont Site, Wharton County, Texas. Carol R. Vernon. Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, Austin, 1989. vi + 67 pp., figures, tables, references, appendix. $6.50 (paper).

Evidence: 20 • authority: 80

An Examination of Prehistoric Human Remains at the Victoria Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, Victoria County, Texas

Evidence: 0 • authority: 71

Evidence: — • authority: 72

It is believed that the peopling of the Americas began when Paleolithic hunter-gatherers (Paleo-Indians) entered North America from the North Asian Mammoth steppe via the Beringia land bridge, which had formed between northeastern Siberia and western Alaska due to the lowering of sea level during the Last Glacial Maximum (26,000 to 19,000 years ago). These populations expanded south of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, either by sea or land, and spread rapidly southward, occupying both North and South America no later than 14,000 years ago, and possibly before 20,000 years ago. The earliest populations in the Americas, before roughly 10,000 years ago, are known as Paleo-Indians. Indigenous peoples…