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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Debra L. Friedkin made a site along Buttermilk Creek |
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in Bell County available to Texas A&M University's Center for the |
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Study of the First Americans in 2006, and research at the site is |
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adding immeasurably to our understanding of the first Americans; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Since the 1930s, archeologists have believed that |
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early inhabitants of the Americas, named the Clovis people for |
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artifacts found near Clovis, New Mexico, arrived in North America |
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from Asia, by way of the Bering Land Bridge, as the last Ice Age |
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waned about 13,500 years ago; over the past few decades, however, |
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credible evidence has emerged for pre-Clovis human occupation of |
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the Americas, but until now the evidence has been incomplete; and |
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WHEREAS, The land in Bell County, now known as the Debra L. |
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Friedkin site, has been under excavation for five years by Michael |
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R. Waters, director of the Center for the Study of the First |
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Americans, and his team of scientists and researchers from TAMU, |
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Baylor University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the |
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University of Minnesota, and Texas State University--San Marcos, |
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and the group has found artifacts that support the pre-Clovis |
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theory; and |
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WHEREAS, The excavation of the Debra L. Friedkin site has |
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revealed deposits that testify to human occupation spanning the |
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last 15,500 years; layers near the surface show evidence of late |
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Prehistoric and Archaic occupants of the region, while deeper |
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layers reflect Folsom and Clovis occupations dating back 12,000 to |
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13,000 years; below this, researchers have discovered nearly 16,000 |
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artifacts that appear to be pre-Clovis in origin; and |
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WHEREAS, Multiple studies suggest that the Debra L. Friedkin |
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site is undisturbed and intact; because the lack of organic |
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material at the site made carbon dating impossible, researchers |
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employed a technique known as optically stimulated luminescence, |
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which detects the last time the sediment surrounding the artifacts |
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received exposure to sunlight, and more than 60 such measures show |
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that people had arrived there by 15,500 years ago; and |
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WHEREAS, The discoveries from the excavation at the Debra L. |
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Friedkin site are bringing archaeologists and other members of the |
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scientific community much closer to solving mysteries of early |
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human habitation of the Americas, and their work would not be |
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possible without the generosity of Ms. |
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Friedkin; now, therefore, be |
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it |
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RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby honor Debra L. Friedkin for her support of the ongoing |
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research at the Debra L. Friedkin site and extend to her sincere |
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gratitude for the advances in knowledge of human history she is |
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helping to realize; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That |
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an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Ms. Friedkin as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives and Senate. |
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S. Davis of Harris |
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______________________________ |
______________________________ |
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President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.C.R. No. 143 was adopted by the House on May |
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12, 2011, by a non-record vote. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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I certify that H.C.R. No. 143 was adopted by the Senate on May |
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17, 2011, by a viva-voce vote. |
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______________________________ |
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Secretary of the Senate |
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APPROVED: __________________ |
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Date |
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__________________ |
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Governor |