This is not a simple observation about personal preference.

It reflects a seasonal economy in which river and coast resources were central, in which the technology of fishing and shellfish harvesting was important, and in which the ecology of the lower Guadalupe corridor was being systematically exploited.

The archaeological record from Early Archaic Texas sites confirms this picture.

Shell middens — enormous accumulations of freshwater mussel shells, representing thousands of processing events — are common features at Archaic sites along the major rivers of southern and central Texas.

These middens document not just what people ate but how they ate it: in recurring camps at favored locations, returning season after season to the same sites where resources were reliable.