Bill Text: TX HCR143 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Honoring Debra L. Friedkin for her support of the ongoing anthropological research at the Debra L. Friedkin site by Texas A&M University's Center for the Study of the First Americans.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Signed by the Governor [HCR143 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HCR143-Enrolled.html
H.C.R. No. 143 |
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WHEREAS, Debra L. Friedkin made a site along Buttermilk Creek | ||
in Bell County available to Texas A&M University's Center for the | ||
Study of the First Americans in 2006, and research at the site is | ||
adding immeasurably to our understanding of the first Americans; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, Since the 1930s, archeologists have believed that | ||
early inhabitants of the Americas, named the Clovis people for | ||
artifacts found near Clovis, New Mexico, arrived in North America | ||
from Asia, by way of the Bering Land Bridge, as the last Ice Age | ||
waned about 13,500 years ago; over the past few decades, however, | ||
credible evidence has emerged for pre-Clovis human occupation of | ||
the Americas, but until now the evidence has been incomplete; and | ||
WHEREAS, The land in Bell County, now known as the Debra L. | ||
Friedkin site, has been under excavation for five years by Michael | ||
R. Waters, director of the Center for the Study of the First | ||
Americans, and his team of scientists and researchers from TAMU, | ||
Baylor University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the | ||
University of Minnesota, and Texas State University--San Marcos, | ||
and the group has found artifacts that support the pre-Clovis | ||
theory; and | ||
WHEREAS, The excavation of the Debra L. Friedkin site has | ||
revealed deposits that testify to human occupation spanning the | ||
last 15,500 years; layers near the surface show evidence of late | ||
Prehistoric and Archaic occupants of the region, while deeper | ||
layers reflect Folsom and Clovis occupations dating back 12,000 to | ||
13,000 years; below this, researchers have discovered nearly 16,000 | ||
artifacts that appear to be pre-Clovis in origin; and | ||
WHEREAS, Multiple studies suggest that the Debra L. Friedkin | ||
site is undisturbed and intact; because the lack of organic | ||
material at the site made carbon dating impossible, researchers | ||
employed a technique known as optically stimulated luminescence, | ||
which detects the last time the sediment surrounding the artifacts | ||
received exposure to sunlight, and more than 60 such measures show | ||
that people had arrived there by 15,500 years ago; and | ||
WHEREAS, The discoveries from the excavation at the Debra L. | ||
Friedkin site are bringing archaeologists and other members of the | ||
scientific community much closer to solving mysteries of early | ||
human habitation of the Americas, and their work would not be | ||
possible without the generosity of Ms. | ||
Friedkin; now, therefore, be | ||
it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby honor Debra L. Friedkin for her support of the ongoing | ||
research at the Debra L. Friedkin site and extend to her sincere | ||
gratitude for the advances in knowledge of human history she is | ||
helping to realize; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That | ||
an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for Ms. Friedkin as an expression of high regard by the | ||
Texas House of Representatives and Senate. | ||
S. Davis of Harris | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.C.R. No. 143 was adopted by the House on May | ||
12, 2011, by a non-record vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.C.R. No. 143 was adopted by the Senate on May | ||
17, 2011, by a viva-voce vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |