Lower Pecos Canyonlands Archeological District National Historic Landmark Nomination
Kenmotsu, PhD N and Castaneda A. 2021. Lower Pecos Canyonlands Archeological District National Historic Landmark Nomination. National Historic Landmark Nominations. 71000968_NHL. National Park Service. Washington, DC
This document is the National Historic Landmark (NHL) nomination for Lower Pecos Canyonlands Archaeological District in the Del Rio vicinity, Val Verde County, Texas. The NHL nomination for Lower Pecos Canyonlands Archaeological District documents its national significance under NHL Criterion 5 and 6. The sites in the district contain a superlative, unbroken record of human occupation spanning at least 11,000 years, represented by extensive open and sheltered archeological deposits and pictographs painted on the walls of rockshelters and overhangs. For nearly a century, archeologists and art historians have recognized the outstanding significance of these sites, their cultural deposits, and their art. The cultural deposits contain remarkably well preserved perishable artifacts that do not commonly persist in archeological deposits. Such deposits can yield far more complete and complex information about the past than sites without this level of preservation. Pecos River style (PRS) rock imagery is unique to this area; it is the most abundant, well- preserved, and complex style in the region, and is among the most significant body of images in North America. The time span overlaps the Middle Archaic and Late Archaic periods, representing a long-standing religious tradition that lasted thousands of years. Because radiocarbon dates from cultural deposits show the Late Archaic period continued to 1000 BP, the period of significance for the district is 4200–1000 BP.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Kenmotsu, PhD, Nancy A.; Castaneda, Amanda
- Date of Issue
- 2021-01-13
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Keywords
- Art, Blue Hills Subperiod, Cibola Subperiod, Del Rio vicinity, Flanders Subperiod, Late Archaic, Middle Archaic, National Historic Landmark, Pecos River Style, San Felipe Subperiod, Texas