RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — On a distant ranch in Starr County, some 4 miles north of the Rio Grande, tucked away amidst thorny tasajillo and spiny yuccas, is a singular archaeological web site the place native peoples gathered to arrange meals harvested from surrounding chaparral.
Naturalist Benito Treviño, from Rio Grande Metropolis, has spent a lifetime exploring the rugged brush nation of the world and has by no means encountered something like this.
“I don’t know of any in South Texas aside from this one. It’s a pestle and mortar utilized by the indigenous individuals for grinding seeds to eat, and medicinal crops for tea. There are literally two sorts of pestle and mortar. It is a bedrock which is one type, right here ceaselessly, and the opposite one is a conveyable one like a molcajete.”
The distinctive facet of this web site is the sheer dimension of the “communal molcajete,” as historic bedrock has at the least 19 totally different depressions gouged into sandstone over centuries the place a whole tribe of nomadic individuals would collect to periodically put together sustenance reminiscent of mesquite beans, ebony seeds, and tunas or cactus fruit.
Nobody is aware of how outdated this historic web site is, however native tribes such because the Coahuiltecans roamed the area for 1000’s of years.
“We all know that individuals lived right here 11,000 years in the past. Now, I’m very assured that’s going to vary. I feel they lived right here longer than 11,000,” mentioned Treviño.
Two rigorously crafted depressions have been apparently used collectively to grind tunas and extract juice.
“Bon appétit…tunalicious,” Treviño jokes.
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