The Lower Pecos Canyonlands, where the Pecos River and Devils River join the Rio Grande, is a region of global archeological significance. Its caves preserve an unmatched record of Native American life, stretching back to the Ice Age. Thousands of Texans come each year to admire its ancient rock art.
In the coming months, the Trump administration's construction of border barriers could impact hundreds, even thousands, of archeological sites here.
Now, scientists have mobilized – to advocate for this imperiled West Texas heritage, and to document it before it's damaged or inaccessible.
Today, southern Val Verde County is hauntingly lonely. But for untold generations, foraging peoples gathered along the Rio Grande and its side canyons here, with caves preserving the evidence – in tools, textiles and, most vividly, in painted murals imbued with ceremonial purpose.
Current border plans call for a continuous vehicle barrier along the length of the Rio Grande here. Construction would likely destroy some ancient sites. Federal plans make no mention of gates in the barrier, and many sites could become inaccessible to researchers, or anyone else.
Amanda Castañeda is the archaeology director at the Shumla Archeological Research & Education Center, which was created to study and preserve canyonlands rock art.
"There are 425 – give or take – known archeological sites, sites that have been recorded in the past, that will be south of the barrier," Castañeda said. "I think if we were to actually have a comprehensive survey over that entire area, that number would skyrocket into the thousands. And that's just Val Verde County."
Shumla has pioneered rigorous techniques for rock-art documentation, including high-resolution and 3D imaging. Based on current "Smart Wall" maps, Castañeda said, 84 rock-art sites would be cut off by the vehicle barrier.
Shumla has documented 50 of those sites, and it's coordinating with landowner partners to move quickly to record the remaining sites if construction proceeds. Recording the imagery ensures that researchers can continue to study the rock art, even if they can't visit it.
And Castañeda and her colleagues are working quickly. In mid-August, they documented a rock-art site just downstream of Amistad Reservoir, where contractors were installing a new segment of 30-foot-high border wall.
Dust and vibrations could compromise or facture the imagery, and the archeologists did the most thorough documentation they possibly could.
"For these sites that are potentially endangered and we don't know what's going to happen to them, we try to give them as much love and documentation as we can," Castañeda said, "to really make sure we're capturing them before anything might happen."
The border-barrier project calls for the construction of bridges across scores of narrow canyons here, many of which contain shallow caves painted with intricate murals. Castañeda is concerned that blasting for those bridges could cause cave walls to collapse.
Seminole Canyon State Park is the primary place where the public can experience this rock art, and the vehicle barrier is slated to pass through the park. Unless a gate is installed, hikers would be unable to access the Panther Cave Overlook, which, in addition to offering a stunning vista, is one of the main ways visitors see the region's most famous pictograph site.
Some archeological features in the barrier's pathway are humble – sites of cooking or toolmaking. Others are artful evidence of a rich religious world. All are important and irreplaceable, Castañeda said.
"Archeology is a non-renewable resource," she said. "Once you destroy a site, it's gone. There's no bringing it back. Shumla's in that mode now of trying to spread awareness, encourage people to talk with their representatives. We're trying to do what we can."
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