9500-year-old remains found in Leander in 1982
9500-year-old remains found in Leander in 1982
Written by compiled by Katie Burba Wednesday, 07 June 2006
In 1973, the Texas Highway Department (now known as the Texas Department of Transportation) discovered the site of a prehistoric camp during their initial survey for the extension of RM 1431 east of IH 35 between Round Rock and Leander. The routine core samples revealed an early culture had once occupied the area, but was buried many feet below the surface.
The Archeology Division of the Highway Department was charged with the task to survey and possibly excavate the site. On December 29, 1982, a skeleton of a female who died during the closing days of the last Ice Age, about 9,500 years ago, was uncovered in what appeared to be a family burial ground.
It was apparent that care had been taken for her burial. In the carefully arranged grave, state-employed archeologists found the remnants of a last meal, the bones of a small rodent, and a shark’s tooth, probably worn as an ornament, a grinding stone and evidence of a bison.
She was in a fetal position with her head cradled in her arms. Examination revealed her collarbone had been broken prior to her death. The woman, named Leann or the Leanderthal Lady (due to her proximity to Leander), was between 20 and 30 years old.
Human remains of such antiquity in the Western Hemisphere number only about a dozen and, of those, few are intentional burials.
The Paleo-Indian burial of the woman drew international attention. Smithsonian staffers came to examine the site. The news media questioned department personnel and the public hovered around the dig, which was guarded day and night.
Scientists date the earliest human activity in Texas at 12,000 years ago during the Pleistocene Age. Archeologists have found river terraces containing burned rock from hearths and baking pits revealing human inhabitants along the rivers of North Central Texas.
The Pleistocene Age was not only a time during which climates and temperatures shifted dramatically, but the fossils from this time period are often abundant, well-preserved, and can be dated very precisely.
The Leanderthal Lady’s remains are at the J.J. Pickle Research Center of the University of Texas in Austin.
A marker for the Wilson-Leonard Brushy Creek Burial Site of the Leanderthal Lady is located .03 miles east of the intersection of FM 1431 (East Whitestone Blvd.) and West Parmer Lane, on the south side of FM 1431.
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