The Ancient Atlas

Gault Site (Buttermilk Creek)

SettlementNorth AmericaUnited States

Open-air site on Buttermilk Creek near Florence, Texas, with one of the densest Clovis assemblages in the Americas — and, beneath it, the reason it matters: Area 15 yielded an assemblage stratigraphically below the Clovis horizon, with OSL dates of roughly 16,000-20,000 years, published as the Gault Assemblage. Together with the adjacent Debra L. Friedkin site, it broke the Clovis-first model of the peopling of the Americas in the mainstream literature. No monumental architecture: the open question here is purely stratigraphic — how deep does the human horizon go? Managed by the Archaeological Conservancy with research by UT Austin and Texas A&M; access is restricted, so coverage is documentary rather than walkthrough. Coordinates approximate.

30.8800°, -97.7200°

Look Closer — this site carries open questions: dating rests on thin stratigraphic evidence.
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Walkthrough videos (3)

The Gault Site and the Peopling of the AmericasThe Gault Site and the Peopling of the AmericasThe Archaeological ConservancyTexas' 18,000(!?!) Year Old Gault SiteTexas' 18,000(!?!) Year Old Gault Sitecf-apps7865The Stones are Speaking: Gault Site Documentary - Ep 316The Stones are Speaking: Gault Site Documentary - Ep 316Archaeology Podcast Network

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