LCRA’s Nightengale Archaeological Center at Kingsland will host its fifth annual fall fair and open house from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at the 10-acre outdoor educational facility on the shores of Lake LBJ. Activities will include American Indian dancing, storytelling and ancient spear throwing.

 

People can enjoy an afternoon exploring this prehistoric American Indian campsite dating possibly to 10,000 years ago. Staff will conduct tours of a new museum and visitors center, and visitors can follow guided tours of the interpretive trail that winds through the wooded site inhabited for thousands of years.

 

Along the way, visitors can view the open pits and see the artifacts and features left by the inhabitants. The campsite was excavated partially by archaeologists, teachers and students in the late 1980s. The site has produced more than 160,000 artifacts, mostly the remains of stone tools, but also arrowheads, knives, scrapers and cooking tools.  

 

Other fair activities will include spear throwing with an ancient device called an atlatl, pebble painting, fire making and cooking.

 

Also highlighted will be performances by artists with the Young Audiences of Northeast Texas and the Native American Dance Troupe. In addition, Joe Martinez, grandson of the last living American Indian code talker from World War II, will play flute and tell stories. He brings to life stories of his grandfather’s days as a young American Indian and his experiences as a vital part of Allied Forces communications in Europe. Martinez uses regalia, photographs and others memorabilia.

 

The Nightengale center is owned and operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority with assistance from the Llano Uplift Archeological Society. For more information, visit the Web sites or contact Dan Prikryl, LCRA staff archaeologist, 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 6714.

 

The center is open to the public from 2 to 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. Teachers can book field trips for schoolchildren by calling McKinney Roughs Nature Park, 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 8002.

 

LCRA provides energy, water and community services to help improve the quality of life for the people of Texas. These include providing electricity and water supplies, managing floods, owning and operating water and wastewater utilities, providing public recreation areas and supporting community and economic development.