Burro Mesa Archeological District

The Burro Mesa Archeological District encompasses a quarry in Big Bend National Park used by Native Americans as a source of chert for chipped-stone tools. The quarry was used intermittently beginning in the paleoindian period starting about 12,000 to 13,000 years ago. The chert is found in a variety of colors and rests on top of tuff beds which themselves contain veins of kaolinite that was suitable for making claystone ornaments and beads. The quarry area is carpeted with lithic debris from the initial knapping process by which chert was rough-shaped into material of suitable size and shape for later refinement at more convenient locations.[3]

Burro Mesa Archeological District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Location	Address restricted[1]
Nearest city	Panther Junction, Texas
Area	260 acres (110 ha)
NRHP reference No.	85002309[2]
Added to NRHP	September 11, 1985

The quarry was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 11, 1985.[2]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Big Bend National Park
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Brewster County, Texas

References

1. Federal and state laws and practices restrict general public access to information regarding the specific location of this resource. In some cases, this is to protect archeological sites from vandalism, while in other cases it is restricted at the request of the owner. See: Knoerl, John; Miller, Diane; Shrimpton, Rebecca H. (1990), Guidelines for Restricting Information about Historic and Prehistoric Resources, National Register Bulletin, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, OCLC 20706997.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
3. "Burro Mesa Chert and Kaolinite". Texas Beyond History. Texas Archeological Research Laboratory.