South Texas and northeastern Mexico was home to a small group of Native Americans classed as hunter-gatherers for more than 8,000 years. These peoples left tools in areas such as Starr County and Sal del Rey, a salt lake located north of Edinburg. Brandi Reger, a student at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley, will present her current findings about their usage of stone tools during the Sunday Speaker Series presentation, “What Can We Learn about the Prehistoric Peoples of South Texas from their Stone Tools?” on Sunday, Sept. 30, at 2 p.m. at the Museum of South Texas History.
Reger’s presentation will be based on research conducted on chipped stone artifacts from collections of the Museum of South Texas History and Rio Grande Valley collectors. She became interested in how native peoples survived on the limited resources from water and stones in the region. How did the native peoples know that a stone would be a good tool for hunting food? How did they realize that stone tools could provide the necessary resources to survive in a subtropical area? Reger will pose and attempt to answer these questions in her presentation.
After ten years working as a Computer Aided Design technician creating computer programs, Reger decided to follow her dreams to become an archaeologist. Currently, she is a student at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley pursuing a bachelor’s degree.
Sunday Speaker Series is included in the fee for regular museum admission. FRIENDS of the MOSTHistory are admitted free as a benefit of FRIENDship and must show their FRIENDship card upon entrance.
This program is made possible with generous support from the Carmen C. Guerra Endowment. Mrs. Guerra was deeply committed to supporting educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley. This named endowment was created at the museum by her family to honor her memory and to continue her commitment to providing opportunities for education to the community.
About Museum of South Texas History
The Museum of South Texas History is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. It is located in downtown Edinburg at 200 North Closner Boulevard on the Hidalgo County Courthouse square. Hours of operation are from 1 p.m.–5 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday. Founded in 1967 as the Hidalgo County Historical Museum in the 1910 Hidalgo County Jail, the museum has grown over the decades through a series of expansions to occupy a full city block. In 2003, following the completion of a 22,500 square foot expansion, the museum was renamed the Museum of South Texas History to better reflect its regional scope. Today, the museum preserves and presents the borderland heritage of South Texas and Northeastern Mexico through its permanent collection and the Margaret H. McAllen Memorial Archives and exhibits spanning prehistory through the 20th century. For more information about MOSTHistory, including becoming a FRIEND, visit MOSTHistory.org, like us on Facebook, follow on Twitter, find on Google+ or call +1-956-383-6911.