Marker Details

Marker Text: In this vicinity lies a prehistoric Indian campsite and burial ground that takes its name from the property on which it resided at the time of its discovery. It is classified as a shell midden site because of the presence of a midden, or refuse pile, of oyster and Rangia clam shell. The midden collected as the result of early inhabitants consuming shellfish and leaving the empty shell where they are, which was usually at or near their campsite.



Archeological excavations revealed a variety of artifacts, including a Plainview dart point, which is associated with very early Indians. Its discovery supported radiocarbon testing that had dated part of the midden to 1476 B.C.



Evidence of 32 burials was uncovered in another section of the site. Ceramics interred with the burials dated the cemetery from the first millennium A.D.



Scientific investigation of the Harris County Boys' School Archeological Site led to other studies of the cultural aspects of the prehistoric inhabitants of the area. The site remains as a significant example of the shell midden, once relatively common along the Texas Coast, but now rarely found due to beach erosion and subsidence. (1985)