Someone slipped this under the door of El Chuqueño World Headquarters last night. It appears to be a letter from the Texas Historical Commission to Douglas J. Mangum, an archeologist with Moore Archeological Consulting Inc., who were contracted to do the archeological survey on the property proposed for the arena.
Given that the proposed project is being conducted on land owned by the City of El Paso, a political subdivision of the State, and on land that is owned or will be acquired by the City, the project is subject to the Antiquities Code of Texas (13 TAC) §26.13, a Texas Antiquities Permit Application and Research Design should be submitted to THC for review. This draft research and scope of work should minimally include the following information.
results of completed archival and historical research of individual parcels within the overall project area, and recommendations of additional historical and archival research needed.
preliminary determination of archeological sensitivity of different parcels and portions of the overall site based on historical and archival results
recommendations concerning identification and assessment and resolution of archeological resources identified or alluded to during the historical and archival research
a plan for identification, evaluation, monitoring, and treatment, or archeological resources identified during field work
Once the Draft Research Design and Permit Application are received by this office, THC staff will respond withing thirty (30) days with either issuance of the permit, a request for additional information, issuance of the permit with special conditions, or denial of issuance. Once the permit is issued, it is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to carry out the research design and submit a Report of Findings to THC for review. Completion of the project will require curation of artifacts and project records pursuant to 13 TAC §26.13 and submittal of the final report, project shapefiles, and curation records.
Wow, looks like a lot of work.
And what are the odds that the archeologist won’t find anything, given that Duranguito is adjacent to the first site of the Ponce de Leon ranch and has been part of the meandering river bottom for millenia?
That the City fights so hard to build an arena that El Paso doesn’t need, in a location that no one except for a few land speculators and developers want, with a tremendous expense of money and destruction of cultural patrimony, is further evidence that something at City Hall stinks.
But we already knew that.
You can see the whole letter here.
Also of note is that Moore has never done archeological digs west of Austin to my knowledge. Different conditions than they’re used to. I get the feeling the state is a little perturbed at El Paso city government.