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CBS News
24-05-2025
- Science
- CBS News
The Gault in Central Texas is reshaping history, telling the story of the earliest humans in the Americas
On an unremarkable stretch of roadway, just north of Austin, you'll find Gault. It's an archaeological site so significant that textbooks have been rewritten and experts have challenged what they thought they knew about when the first humans came to the Americas. And it's right in our backyard. A look at the Gault's history "It's a place that has been known and used by indigenous people for tens of thousands of years, probably, back maybe 18,000 years," said archaeologist Mike Adler, PhD. Adler also chairs SMU's Anthropology department. He, too, is eager to see what is uncovered at Gault. "What did they eat? What were they doing?" Adler pondered. "People were here. And people were here very early, much earlier than we used to think. That's exciting." The earliest humans in the Americas have been called "the Clovis Culture". The findings at Gault predate even that by thousands of years. Experts haven't agreed on what to call the evidence of those even earlier humans, so right now they're described as "earlier than Clovis". And the sheer magnitude of the evidence of their existence uncovered at Gault is astonishing even to veteran scientists. "And it's not a played-out site. It's not a place that's used up," Adler added. "There's more mystery under that dirt." A man on a mission And it is a mystery that most likely would have remained buried were it not for the perseverance of UT Austin Archaeologist Dr. Mike Collins. "He had the faith," Adler explained, before adding, "the personality, and the humility of someone to say, 'You know, I'll just keep being patient. I'll keep asking, and I'll try and get this place saved.' And then to put his own resources into it? Again. Not many colleagues would do that. So, it took a unique person to save a unique site." The story of Gault and how Dr. Collins fought to save it is shared in a new independent film called "The Stones are Speaking". Former journalist turned filmmaker Olive Talley, of Dallas, wrote, directed and produced the film. "The Gault site now is what it always has been," Talley said. "It's a bucolic little pasture along Buttermilk Creek in central Texas. If you walked out there today, and I hope your viewers will someday, you will wonder, 'Really, how could this place be so extraordinary when it looks so ordinary?' And that was the question, one of the questions that drove me." The film has generated new interest in the site and in exploring how the earliest Texans-- yes, even before there was a Texas – lived and survived. "There were these persistent places that people knew, depended upon," Adler said. "They knew when they could go there, what would be available, when the deer would show up. And so, you had this predictability that humans crave. We don't like unpredictability." And that's true, he said, of humans 18,000 years ago, as well. "Absolutely," Adler insisted. "We've been the same for a long time." Part of the fascination in finding places like Gault, he said, is in the natural curiosity about how people survived. "And, you know, in some cases, they didn't. And then you want to find out what happened," he said. People traveling across country to visit the historic site After many challenges, Dr. Collins purchased the site and then donated it, so that it could be preserved for future scientists. It's now in the care of the Gault School of Archaeological Research. The site is also open for monthly tours. "A couple of months ago, we had two ladies who were visiting a friend in San Marcus, and they heard about it," Mary Condon with GSAR said. "And they were from Pacifica, California. So, people are coming from all over. And they're like, 'We had no idea.' And it is one of the most important sites in the Americas." Visitor Al Kaufman said he has always been interested in archaeology and came out with a group from Austin. "Well, I learned some things," Kaufman said. "I mean, it's fun to be on the ground and see stuff because history tells us who we are." Experts said the Gault site is significant, in part, due to the sheer magnitude of what was found. Just 3% of the site has been excavated, but scientists have uncovered more than 2.5 million artifacts. Most of those are Clovis artifacts, but some 150,000 of those have been attributed to the as-yet-unnamed culture that is older than Clovis. The excavated site has since been covered to protect it. But the good news for those who want to preserve this space is that it's all still here. Honoring Dr. Collins' legacy "I started coming out here when I was nine," Elizabeth Collins said. She's a geophysicist with an interest in archaeology. How could she not be? She's also Dr. Collins' granddaughter. "And he's just so kind and so open, and he's never talking down to you," Elizabeth shared. "He's just sharing what he knows. And he's excited about it. And that always helps bring out the excitement in other people to learn and to see all of these amazing things." Elizabeth helps lead tours of the site and said she is incredibly proud to be able to help others experience Gault. "This is the biggest part of his legacy. And I am honored to be able to be a part of it, she said as she wiped away tears. "I've seen a lot of it, and I want other people to see it too." In her film, Talley shared that part of what drove her to document the Gault story and Dr. Collins' fight to save it is that he can no longer share it for himself. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2022. "Because, for me," Talley added with her eyes filling with tears, "if we don't have people like this in our society, if we don't have people who are driven to make a difference, what do we have?" Talley's movie about the fight to save Gault is winning awards at film festivals across the country. The 85-minute director's cut is now available on Apple TV, Google Play and Amazon Video Prime. As for Gault? "It's something to be proud of for so many reasons," Adler said. "First, that it's unique, that it's in Texas, that it's so old, but also, it's a story of potential harm, potential loss, and in the end, triumph. Mike Collins got it done. And saved this place." And that, he said, is a big deal. "It's a really big deal."
CBS News
26-04-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Former journalist uncovers ancient human activity at Gault Site in Central Texas
If you've never heard of Gault, lean in. "So, leave it to a Texan to go to Antarctica and come home with a story about Texas," said Dallas' Olive Talley with a laugh. CBS News Texas It was 2017. The former journalist was enjoying a lecture on the peopling of the Americas. Her ears perked up when she heard Texas. "And he told us about this place in central Texas that has helped rewrite history," said Talley. "And all of us Texans turned to each other and said, 'Have you ever heard of this? No.' And I thought, as a journalist, 'Why not? Why the heck had I never heard of this place?'" Talley's natural curiosity kicked in and she reached out to Mike Collins, the University of Texas at Austin archaeologist responsible for discovering the site. So, yes, she began to dig. Sorry, I couldn't resist, and Talley played along. "Yes, I do love that pun," she said with a chuckle. "Yes, I dug into Gault and realized that we have this special gem, this hidden treasure of an archaeological site here in our backyard in central Texas. And most people have never heard of it." Talley's five-year journey to change that became an award-winning independent film called "The Stones Are Speaking." "Experts thought the first people came into the Americas around 13,000 or 13,500 years ago," said Talley. "But how can that be if, in fact, there's this little spot in what is now modern-day Texas where there's evidence of people living here and camping here 20,000 years ago?" Those first humans in the Americas are called the Clovis Culture. Evidence that Collins and his team discovered put them in central Texas thousands of years earlier than experts once believed. But securing the artifacts that proved it was at times like shoveling quicksand. "The first time he walked onto the site, it looked like a World War I battlefield with all these big holes gouged out," said Talley. "But he looked beyond that, and he saw a landscape. And he's looking through the eyes of a geologist and an archaeologist, and he's saying, 'There's a constant supply of water. There's a big supply of chert, which people make their stone tools out of... and there were food sources for people and animals. You had everything here to sustain life in prehistoric times.'" And it almost remained hidden. The site had been on the radar of both expert and amateur collectors for nearly a century. Generations of landowners had allowed visitors to dig for arrowheads for a fee. But treasures far more precious were hidden in the bedrock below, just waiting for the right mix of curiosity, commitment and expertise. UT archaeologist Dr. Mike Collins, said Talley, was all these and more. "And as I got to know Mike Collins and as I learned about all the thousands of volunteers who he rallied, who felt the same way about him that I was feeling, I just thought, 'There's a wonderful, untold story here about the perseverance and the passion that it took to develop this place, protect this place, and reveal all these secrets.'" Although it would take years for Talley to tell Collins' story, it took much longer for him to prove that there was a story that needed to be told. He first began exploring the site in 1991. But at one point, citing ethical concerns, the university pulled its support and the dig was shut down. Later, after those issues were resolved, the landowners stopped cooperating and the site was closed to scientists again. But Collins, said Talley, was as stubborn as the rocks being dug out of the ground around him. "After overcoming many odds, he purchased the property with his own money, mortgaging a lot of personal property that he and his wife had, and they bought the place to save it because the landowners were going to sell it," said Talley. Collins not only purchased what is now known as the Gault Site, he then promptly gave it away, turning it over to local nonprofits to ensure that its treasures would be protected for generations to come. "It could have become a development," said Talley. "There could have been houses there. It's surrounded by 20 different rock quarries! So I mean, who knows what would have happened to the property?" Talley's moviemaking mission was to allow the stones to speak. The celebration of its success, though, is not how the story ends. "So I feel such pressure to tell his story..." Talley paused, fighting for composure, and her eyes filled with tears. "Mike Collins is one of the most passionate, selfless, inspiring people I've ever met in my life. I guess what I find so tragic about this story is that this brilliant mind is being eroded by this horrible disease called Alzheimer's, and I feel compelled and I felt compelled throughout the whole project to do this story and get it done, because I knew that at some point Mike could not tell his own story. And so I'm telling his story on his behalf." The history-altering site that Collins saved is now open for monthly tours and future scientists, all drawn to hear what the stones have to say. And when asked why we should listen? "It's history," said Talley. "It's our history. It's human history, and it's really fascinating. If you'll just stop and think and let the stones speak to you." "The Stones Are Speaking" will air as part of the USA Film Festival on Sunday, April 27 at 4 p.m. at the Angelika Theater in Dallas.
