Siren Site Chronology: A Reconsideration of the Late Archaic to Late Prehistoric Temporal Sequence of Eastern Central Texas

The Siren site (41WM1126) is a stratified prehistoric camp on the terraces of the San Gabriel River near Georgetown, Texas. Sustained archeological investigations in 2005 and 2006 yielded data that contribute to a refined temporal sequence for eastern Central Texas. The site’s best-defined components comprise intermittent occupations from about 2600 to 900 years ago, a time covering the long shift from Late Archaic to Late Prehistoric lifeways. The chronological data, primarily comprising 65 radiocarbon dates from feature contexts, supports some prevailing notions on the regional prehistoric chronology, but strongly contradicts others. We present the Siren site data here and consider the implications for synthesizing past and present efforts.