Monthly Meetings

NTAS Monthly Meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of the month, at 7:00pm except in June and December. The monthly meetings are located at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in the Research & Education Building, Room 114. The NTAS meetings are hybrid meetings held in-person and offered via Zoom.

NTAS meetings are a staple of our membership. In these meetings, we discuss NTAS Announcements, which include upcoming volunteer opportunities, upcoming NTAS events, upcoming Texas Archeology Society (TAS) events, and each month we feature a guest speaker. Our guest speakers deliver programs on various archeological topics. Past topics include geoarcheology, bioarcheology, regional archeological sites and topics, and more. NTAS meetings are open to the general public.

Guests are welcome to join all NTAS monthly meetings in-person or via Zoom. To receive the Zoom link for our programs, please email info@ntxas.org .

september 12th, 2024 Monthly Meeting

Topic: "The Bison Kills at Bonfire Shelter: An Update, Some Conclusions, and Future Directions"

Guest Speaker: Dr. David Kilby

Abstract: Bonfire Shelter contains an extensive record of human prehistory in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Southwest Texas, and a correspondingly long history of competing interpretations of that record. The initial investigations of the site in the 1960s led to the announcement of the earliest known bison jump in North America, attributed to Plainview and perhaps Folsom hunters. Subsequent investigators argued the deposits had been misinterpreted, and that the Paleoindian bone bed represents a single butchering event associated with a kill that occurred elsewhere. Vigorous debate ensued. This presentation summarizes new data collected over the last 7 years by ASWT, arguing that multiple avenues of evidence support the original interpretation, and at least two Paleoindian bison jump drives occurred at Bonfire Shelter.

About: David Kilby

Bio: David Kilby is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University and Director of the Ancient Southwest Texas Project. His research focuses on the archaeology of the earliest inhabitants of the Americas, with particular emphasis on the relationship between Ice Age foragers and the changing physical environment of the North American Southern Plains, West, and Southwest. Current projects include the excavation of Bonfire Shelter, perhaps the earliest bison jump in North America, new work at the Mockingbird Gap Clovis site, and ongoing research into Clovis lithic technology and caches.

Monthly meetings

september 12th, 2024 Monthly Meeting

Topic: "The Bison Kills at Bonfire Shelter: An Update, Some Conclusions, and Future Directions"