Wilson-Leonard Site - Land battle over 'Leanderthal Lady' site United States

Submitted by bat400 on Sunday, 26 September 2010 Page Views: 3916

Country: United States The Wilson-Leonard Site contains stratus from Clovis era to Late Prehistoric time, a period of 13500 years. Discovered during road construction, it revealed information on human ecology, chronology, and paleoenvironmental changes. Portions donated to the Archaeological Conservancy have reverted to the original owners, claiming the Conservancy hadn't fulfilled promises; the organization fought twice in court, but lost.

A brief summary from the Dallas morning news:

"A property fight over where the prehistoric skeleton of the so-called "Leanderthal Lady" was discovered in the 1980s has ended with the land returning to the original owner. The Austin American-Statesman reported Monday that the dispute involved the Archaeological Conservancy.
"The skeleton, estimated by experts to be about 9,500 years old, was discovered on the shore of Lake Travis. The land in 1991 was donated by the Wilson Land and Cattle Co. for preservation.
Court records indicate attorney Will Wilson Jr. in 2005 took the land back, alleging the conservancy had not followed through to build an interpretive center for the public.
"The Albuquerque, N.M.,-based conservancy sued and lost in 2007, appealed and lost again, then in August decided to drop the challenge, instead concentrating on using its funds on other sites."

A slightly more detailed account comes from the Leander Ledger.

Reading between the lines, it looks as if the wording in the deed to the conservancy might have been equivocal in regards creating an "interpretive center", but a factor may have been the Conservancy attempting to trade a a less important part of the site for different land. Its difficult to say why the owner's expectations were so different from the Conservancies goals, and why the original deed may not have clarified this.

More on the "Leanderthal Lady" at Texas Parks and Wildlife.
The location of the site can be found here. More on the on human ecology, chronology, and paleoenvironmental changes.

Note: Archaeological Conservancy Loses court fight. Donated land reverts to owner in Texas.

Contributor Bio for bat400: Located in the Lower Ohio River Valley, United States.

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