Our Mission
The Ancient Landscapes of South Texas project builds off the successes of earlier and on-going CHAPS Program projects and endeavors such as Native American Peoples of South Texas, From Porciones to Colonias – The Power of Place-Based Learning in K-12 Education, and the Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail. By incorporating previously published results with original research on the diachronic formation of local landscapes and how prehistoric and historic peoples adapted to and utilized area resources, we are able to bring this project to light. The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is characterized today as a largely waterless and inhospitable region of sand and brush. Yet in this same “Nueces Strip,” there is evidence of millennia-long, ongoing habitation by native peoples. Building on research in anthropology, archaeology, history, and the earth sciences, the creation of this project will illuminate how post-Pleistocene environmental change led to changes in habitation patterns and resource utilization.