AYALA SITE. The Ayala Site (41HGl) is located 1½ miles south of
McAllen, on a fifteen-foot bluff on the north side of the
Sardinas Resaca, an old channel of the Rio Grande. It is one of
several cemeteries known from the Rio Grande valley. Almost all
of these date to the Brownsville Complex and constitute a
distinctive mortuary pattern with similar kinds of burials and
grave offerings. The site was first discovered in 1948 during
construction of a sewer trench on N. E. Ayala's farm. Several
human burials were exposed. In July 1948 a University of Texas
student, Jack Frizzell, visited the Ayala farm. He helped to
uncover a total of eleven prehistoric burial sites. Except for
one group burial, the remainder had been individual inhumations.
There are two distinct silt (alluvial) layers at the site; the
upper ("light silt") goes from the surface to about six feet
below ground level, with the lower ("dark silt") beneath. All of
the burials came from the light silt alluvium. A number of
ornaments were associated wit