Horn Shelter

The Horn Shelter exhibit was written by Susan Dial and Albert Redder, based on Redder's work and that of Frank Watt,  Diane Young Holliday and others referenced below. Dial interviewed Redder on numerous occasions, examined the artifacts, and added new research findings and previously unpublished imagery to create this exhibit. Dee Ann Story served as reviewer for this online project, providing critical insights based on her previous synthesis of findings from the Horn Shelter site and others in the region. Ken Brown also served as a review editor for the exhibit, offering numerous suggestions informed by his research.

Heather Smith developed the exhibit for the web and created the artistic collages. Artist and archeologist Frank Weir painted the scene of the Paleoindian burial at Horn Shelter. LaVern Dutton and George Larson of the Bosque Museum in Clifton also helped make the exhibit possible, contributing photographs, information, and assistance. Photographs were also provided by Calvin Smith of the Western Heritage Museum, and the Mayborn Museum of Baylor University.

The exhibit was funded through donations from the William P. Clements Foundation, Dr. and Mrs. Warren Whitlow of Dallas, the Council of Texas Archeologists, Texas Archeological Society, Friends of TARL, and individual TBH supporters.

Research Credits

Albert Redder traces his interest in archeology to childhood, when his mother brought him an arrowhead from one of the fields on the family's Knox County ranch near Seymour, Texas. "After that, I was hooked," he recalls. Even while serving in the Army in France during World War II, Redder kept a watchful eye for artifacts while digging slit trenches or walking patrol. Returning to Waco, he joined the Texas Archeological Society in the early 1950s and began attending the organization's meetings and field schools. "I began to realize just how much information was being lost when artifacts and their provenience were not carefully documented." An active member of the Central Texas Archeological Society, he served as president, field coordinator, and an outreach speaker. In 1988, Redder was named a Fellow of the Texas Archeological Society (TAS), in recognition of his efforts in the field and, in particular, his decades of work at Horn Shelter.

Frank Watt  was a principal founder of the Central Texas Archeological Society in 1934. A prodigious avocational archeologist, researcher, and writer, Watt served as editor and publisher of the society's bulletin, Central Texas Archeologist, and contributed articles on his fieldwork and analyses in numerous other journals and publications. A member of the TAS since 1938, he served a a regional vice president and trustee, and was elected as Fellow of the organization in 1976. Following his death in 1981, a special issue of the CTA bulletin was written in his honor. This 1985 issue includes Redder's first article on Horn Shelter and tributes to Watt's work.

Diane Young Holliday first met Texas archeologists as an Earthwatch volunteer working with the Texas A & M field school at a Mimbres pueblo.  She followed the Aggies back to College Station and began a new life and career.  Under the direction of Dr. Gentry Steele, she analyzed the Horn Shelter human remains for her Master’s thesis and published aspects of the study in the Central Texas Archeologist, Current Research in the Pleistocene, and Plains Anthropologist. 

Dee Ann Story is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin and former Director of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory. She has been a content contributor and reviewer for numerous exhibits on TBH and is a longtime supporter. Her 1990 overview of native peoples of the Gulf Coastal Plain includes a synthesis of Horn Shelter, based on her discussions with Albert Redder and examination of some of the materials.

Ken Brown is a Research Fellow at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory and he has worked in the field for nearly 40 years. Ken's Ph.D. dissertation on the Berger Bluff site provides unique insight into the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene climatic history of the coastal plains of Texas.

Print Sources

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Links

The Bosque Museum
The Bosque Museum, located in Clifton, Texas, features an exhibit focused on the Horn Shelter burial and the work of Albert Redder and Frank Watt. Displays include a reconstruction of the burial as well as a facsimile of the excavations. See website for museum visiting hours and information about tours and speakers.

The Mayborn Museum
Part of a museum complex on the grounds of Baylor University in Waco, the Mayborn Museum holds a variety of exhibits including a display on Horn Shelter and an interactive walk-through exhibit based on on the Waco Mammoth site.

Central Texas Archaeological Society
Founded in 1935, the society has been involved in numerous significant site discoveries and excavations across the region and publishes the journal, Central Texas Archeologist, which reports on many of these sites. The group meets monthly at the Mayborne Museum in Waco.

See also these Texas Beyond History web exhibits to learn more about other Texas Paleoindian sites: Kincaid Shelter, Wilson-Leonard Site, Gault Site, Pavo Real, McFaddin Beach.