There is a 30-acre spot in central Texas that has become known for upending ideas about when the first people came to the Americas. The Gault Site, located in Central Texas, near the border of Williamson and Bell counties is one of the most significant archaeological sites in North America for understanding the early peopling of the continent.
For decades, it was believed that the Clovis culture, dating back about 13,000 years, represented the first inhabitants of the continent. However, discoveries at the Gault Site have challenged that assumption, providing evidence of human occupation several thousand years earlier.
At Gault, archaeologists have uncovered stone tools, weapons, and other artifacts, including ancient art stone carvings. The presence of these artifacts, some dating back to at least 20,000 years ago, suggests that humans arrived in North America much earlier than previously believed. This has reshaped theories about how the first people migrated, leading scholars to question the traditional view that the first Americans arrived solely via the Bering Land Bridge.
For much of the 20th century, the Gault Site was privately owned, poorly protected and heavily looted. Collectors and treasure hunters dug through the site, destroying valuable archaeological context in search of artifacts. This looting posed a severe threat to the preservation of evidence crucial for understanding early human history.
The site was ultimately saved by archaeologist Mike Collins, a respected researcher who played a key role in its preservation and study. Collins used his own personal funds and resources to purchase the Gault Site. He helped establish the Gault School of Archaeological Research and worked to protect the site from further destruction, leading to controlled excavations that revealed its groundbreaking discoveries. The Gault Site is now recognized as a treasure trove of early human history, offering invaluable insights into the first Americans and the migration patterns that brought them to the continent.
The documentary about Mike Collins and the Gault Site "The Stones are Speaking" airs on KLRN-TV on March 19th at 10pm.
Guests:
Jon Lohse has been a professional archaeologist for 30 years and currently works for Terracon Consultants, Inc. Since the mid-1990s, he has conducted multidisciplinary research into Archaic and Paleoindian cultures in the south-central US, and in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. Recent publications include Preceramic Mesoamerica, co-edited with Aleksander Borejsza and Arthur Joyce (Routledge Press, 2021) and The Calf Creek Horizon, co-edited with Marjorie Duncan and Don Wyckoff (Texas A&M University Press, 2021). Dr. Lohse completed his graduate degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. He was born in Houston, where he currently lives with his family.
Olive Talley is an award-winning producer, writer and journalist with a career that spans documentary filmmaking, network television and news reporting for newspapers, an international wire service and radio stations in Texas. Her first feature-length film, ALL RISE For the Good of the Children, premiered at the 2019 USA Film Festival in Dallas and was nominated for a Lone Star Emmy. Olive’s work in New York as a producer at Dateline NBC and ABC’s Prime Time Live! news magazine shows won two Emmy nominations, a National Headliner Award for Outstanding Network Documentary, a Du-Pont Columbia Award for Hurricane Katrina team coverage, and a CINE Golden Eagle Award. Her investigative reporting in radio and newspapers earned dozens of state and national awards, most notably a citation as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, a George Polk Award, and two Texas Headliner Awards. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Olive also attended Harvard University on a Nieman Fellowship. She lives in Dallas.
"The Source" is a live call-in program airing Mondays through Thursdays from 12-1 p.m. Leave a message before the program at (210) 615-8982. During the live show, call 833-877-8255, email thesource@tpr.org.
This interview will be recorded on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
