http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1529357
Archaeologist wants to keep digging
Next step depends on tribes' go-ahead
By TERRY KLIEWER Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
The archaeologist who found what may be the oldest human skeletal remains yet discovered in North America hopes the federal agency in charge of the excavation site will approve further digging before the end of this year.
Robert d'Aigle, owner of CRC International Archaeology & Ecology in Spring, said Friday that he believes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which controls the land where the bones were found, should promptly allow more exploration.
D'Aigle this week disclosed that the bones he found in 1999 were radiocarbon-dated to at least 11,000 years ago. He said he had not been free to reveal his discovery until after he had submitted a final report to his federal sponsors this week.
Other scientists on the project speculate that the remains come from a young woman who became trapped in heavy mud, d'Aigle said.
He said he and a team of scientists probably could be ready to return by December for more work at the now re-covered site in the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge in southern Brazoria County.
But an official's response wasn't encouraging.
"It's way too early for us to do anything but preserve and protect the remains in place," said Dave Siegel, historic preservation officer for the Fish and Wildlife Service's southwest region.
He said additional excavation depends on response from Native American tribes who, by law, must be consulted first. The comment process has just begun, Siegel said, and no closing date has been set.
Siegel said the remains -- a skull, a partial jaw with teeth and two vertebrae -- will stay with d'Aigle while arrangements are made to move them to the University of Texas Center for Archaeological Research in Austin.
D'Aigle, whose company serves as an archaeological consultant for government and private-sector clients, said he understands the federal comment period that Siegel mentioned will conclude by December or earlier.
"We could be ready to go back within two weeks of that time, which would be prime time for excavation because of dry weather," he said.
D'Aigle said he would like to follow up first on a promising area near the discovery site where core-drilled soil samples suggest the presence of a cache of oyster shells several feet down.
He said the shells may have been piled there to provide footing for the prehistoric people who hunted and fished along an ancient waterway through the area.
Another scientist familiar with d'Aigle's discovery speculated this week that other skeletons may be buried there as well.
Boulder, Colo., geologist Bob Stafford said it seems likely that the area, once a bog, probably claimed other victims in its day. The discovery and dating of more remains would help to verify initial indications that the skeleton d'Aigle found is indeed about 11,000 years old, he said.
