Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Sam Whiteside’S Prairie Creek Sites In Smith County, Texas, Mark Walters, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

During primarily the late 1950s Sam Whiteside investigated a slate of sites on the upper reaches of Prairie Creek in eastern Smith County, Texas. Archaeological investigations ranged from fairly extensive efforts at a couple of sites, including the Chapman site (41SM56), to fairly limited excavations at others based on the amount of recovered artifacts. Artifacts and notes from a number of the sites were donated by Sam Whiteside to the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin. However, artifacts and notes from other Prairie Creek sites were kept by the family and after Mr. Whiteside’s death …

The Caddo Ceramic Sherd Assemblage From The W. T. Robinson Farm (41an4), Anderson County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The W. T. Robinson Farm site (41AN4) is one of a number of ancestral Caddo sites known in the Caddo Creek valley in the upper Neches River basin in East Texas. The site, about 2.5 miles northwest of Frankston, Texas, was investigated by archaeologists from the University of Texas (UT) in 1931 in an area where locals had reportedly excavated 15 Caddo vessels some 20 years earlier. The UT investigations found no Caddo burials or vessels, and recovered only a small assemblage of ceramic vessel sherds.

Archaeological Sites Along Cuthand Creek And The Sulphur River In The Mid–Sulphur River Basin, Red River County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Gary W. Cheatwood

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Cuthand Creek and Little Mustang Creek drainage basins in the mid–Sulphur River basin are in the Post Oak Savannah of East Texas. Prehistoric archaeological sites are abundant in both basins and along the Sulphur River, dating from as early as Paleoindian times to the Late Caddo periods. Nevertheless, this area remains poorly known and there have been few professional archaeological investigations conducted here. In this article, we present information on a range of prehistoric sites and associated artifact assemblages known along Cuthand Creek and the Sulphur River in the mid–Sulphur River Basin, in Red River County, Texas. The artifacts …

The A. S. Mann (41he7/41an201) And M. S. Roberts (41he8) Sites In The Upper Neches River Basin, Henderson County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Waldo Troell

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The upper Neches River basin in East Texas has been the scene of archaeological research since the early 1900s, with a particular focus on the post-A.D. 1000 archaeological record of the Caddo peoples in the region. The A. S. Mann (41HE7) and M. S. Roberts (41HE8) sites are ancestral Caddo sites located in the modern-day Pineywoods that were investigated by University of Texas (UT) archaeologists in the 1930s. I want to thank Waldo Troell for bringing these sites to my attention.

Ceramic Beads From The Cloud Hammond Site (41sm244), Smith County, Texas, Mark Walters, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

During investigations at the Cloud Hammond site (41SM244) during the 1960s, J. A. Walters recovered Caddo ceramics, two clay beads, Perdiz arrow points, and two Gary dart points. The site is located in northern Smith County, Texas, about 400 m east of the Middle Caddo period Jamestown Mound site (41SM54).

Of the artifacts reported to have been recovered from the site, only one clay bead was available for study. No record survives of the extent of investigations at the Cloud Hammond site or if any cultural features such as burials were found during the 1960s work.

The Wollard #2 Site (41he22) In The Upper Neches River Basin, Henderson County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Wollard #2 site (41HE22) was first identified by Leroy Johnson, Jr. and Edward B. Jelks in August 1957 during their survey of then proposed Blackburn Crossing Reservoir, now Lake Palestine, in Henderson County, Texas. The site was described by Johnson as located in an old cultivated field on the high ground directly to the west of Caney Creek and the Neches River floodplain, is one of the most prolific sites located in the reservoir area…The midden soil at the site extends to a depth of 16 inches and is rich in animal and shell remains as well as stone …

The Frank Norris Farm Site (41rr2) On The Red River In East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Frank Norris Farm site (41RR2) was an ancestral Caddo settlement and mound center, with an associated cemetery, on the bank of the Red River, about five miles northeast of the community of Manchester, Texas, and just southeast of the Sam Kaufman/Roitsch site (41RR16). The site was reported by B. B. Gardner of the University of Texas to have three earthen mounds. Apparently the site eroded into the Red River in 1936.

The three mounds at the site were located east of a local farm road, and the bank of the Red River was a short distance to the east. …

Further Surface Collecting And Shovel Testing Investigations At The Sanders Site (41lr2), Lamar County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Archaeological investigations at the Sanders site (41LR2), an important ancestral Caddo mound center and village on the Red River in Lamar County, Texas, have been ongoing since 2013. The latest round of work at the Sanders site primarily concerned Dr. Chester P. Walker’s conducting geophysical work there in December 2014. Bo Nelson went to the site to show Walker the areas where artifactual materials have been collected from surface clusters in earlier investigations.

The weather was cold and rainy the entire time. Dr. Walker was able to work in between rain episodes. The fields were wet and muddy. Most of …

Recent Artifact Surface Collections From The M. S. Roberts (41he8) Mound Site In The Upper Neches River Basin In East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In January 2015, the junior author obtained, with the assistance of the landowners, a surface collection of artifacts from the M. S. Roberts site (41HE8), a long-forgotten ancestral Caddo mound center and settlement in the upper Neches River basin in Henderson County, Texas. This collection of artifacts is discussed in this article, and comparisons are made to the larger assemblage of Caddo ceramic vessel sherds obtained during 1931 investigations at the site by Pearce and Jackson.

Two Radiocarbon Dates From The Salt Lick Site (16sa37a) At Toledo Bend Reservoir, Sabine Parish, Louisiana, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Salt Lick site (16SA37) is an ancestral Caddo site at Toledo Bend Reservoir in Sabine Parish, Louisiana. Before the creation of the reservoir, archaeological investigations on the Sabine River and tributaries in both Louisiana and Texas took place primarily took during the 1960s, with survey and excavations, sometimes of a very limited nature by the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University. The Salt Lick site was investigated by McClurkan in the Fall of 1964.

The Salt Lick site (16SA37a) was a Caddo habitation site (with midden deposits) on a natural rise south of La Nana bayou, a westward-flowing …

The W. A. Ford Site (41tt2), Titus County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The W. A. Ford site (41TT2) is an ancestral Caddo cemetery on a natural sandy knoll on an alluvial terrace about 2 km south of the Sulphur River, along Sanders Slough, in the northwestern part of Titus County, Texas. There are also habitation deposits of both Woodland and Caddo age at the site, but no features were identified in these habitation deposits during the 1934 University of Texas investigations. The site is located in the modern Blackland Prairie habitat, but just to the north of the northern extent of the modern Post Oak Savannah. In this article, I focus on …

An Artifact Assemblage From Area B At The Grace Creek Site (41gg33), Gregg County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Grace Creek #1 site (41GG33, GC–1) was situated on a natural alluvial rise on the east side of Grace Creek, about 0.4 km north of its confluence with the Sabine River. On the north side of the site was an abandoned Sabine River lake bed, while to the south was an old channel, as well as a channel lake (Muddy Lake), of the Sabine River. Jones divided the site into three areas (A, B, and C); a midden deposit was apparently located in Area B on the central part of the rise.

Buddy Calvin Jones identified and worked at …

The Oil Road Site In Rusk County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Oil Road site (D–2) in Rusk County is along Tiawichi Creek in northern Rusk County in the East Texas Pineywoods, about 1 mile east of the small town of Monroe, Texas. Tiawichi Creek is a tributary to Cherokee Bayou, which is in turn a northeastern–flowing tributary to the Sabine River. The Early Caddo period Hudnall–Pirtle mound site (41RK4) is on the Sabine River just east of its confluence with Cherokee Bayou.

The site was located by Buddy Calvin Jones, probably in the 1950s; it has not been formally recorded or received a site trinomial. The recovered artifacts discussed in …

Ceramic Sherd Assemblage From The Cherokee Lake Site (41rk132), Rusk County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Cherokee Lake site (41RK132), also called the Tiawichi Creek Burial site, was discovered by Buddy Calvin Jones in 1956, on a terrace area along Tiawichi Creek at its confluence with Mill Creek, inundated by the construction of Lake Cherokee in 1947, that had been graded for the construction of fish hatcheries there. Tiawichi Creek is a tributary stream in the mid–Sabine River basin. Jones identified a single burial and a large storage pit in Area A at the southern end of the terrace, where there was a shallow (0–30 cm bs) midden deposit.

The burial in Area A is …

Ceramic Sherds From The Millsey Williamson Site (41rk3), Rusk County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Millsey Williamson site (41RK3) is an 18th century Nadaco Caddo settlement and cemetery situated on an alluvial terrace on the east side of Martin Creek in the Sabine River basin. Some portions of the site are now covered by the waters of Martin Creek Lake, constructed in the 1970s. The site was first investigated in the 1930s, when at least 11 historic Caddo burials were excavated in the cemetery at the western end of the landform. Buddy Calvin Jones excavated a disturbed historic burial at the site in 1955, and also occasionally collected glass beads from the surface of …

The Ceramic Sherd Assemblage From The C. D. Marsh Site (41hs269) In Harrison County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Patti Haskins

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The C. D. Marsh site (41HS269) is an ancestral Caddo settlement and cemetery on Eight Mile Creek, a southwestward–flowing tributary to the Sabine River in southeastern Harrison County, Texas. It is on an alluvial terrace about 1.6 km from the confluence of Eight Mile Creek and the Sabine River.

Buddy Calvin Jones discovered the site in January 1958, and he estimated that the habitation area covered ca. 1–2 acres, with substantial midden deposits. Jones collected a substantial sample of plain and decorated ceramic vessel sherds (n=1736) from the habitation deposits (Jones 1968:96), in addition to a number of ceramic vessels …

Bird Bone Flageolet From The Walter Bell Site (41sb50) At Lake Sam Rayburn, Sabine County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Walter Bell site (41SB50) at Lake Sam Rayburn in the Neches–Angelina river basins in the deep East Texas Pineywoods was excavated by an National Park Service team in 1957. This was a small prehistoric Caddo farmstead or hamlet with two circular houses, a portion of a third house in the area of House 2, midden deposits, and six burials. Based on the kinds of artifacts found at the site (i.e., clay elbow pipes, a high proportion of brushed utility ware sherds from Broaddus Brushed vessels, and lower proportions of Pineland Punctated–Incised vessel sherds), the Walter Bell site was apparently …

The E. Williams Site On Martin Creek In Panola County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The E. Williams site is an ancestral Caddo site on the north side of Martin Creek, an eastward–flowing tributary to the Sabine River, in Panola County in the East Texas Pineywoods. The site is just a few miles west of the confluence of Martin Creek and the Sabine River. Buddy Calvin Jones located the site (which he labeled as Panola–2) and obtained a small collection of ceramic vessel sherds, probably from surface contexts. This collection is among the holdings of the Gregg County Historical Museum.

The Woodland Period Component At The Wolfshead Site (41sa117), San Augustine County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Wolfshead site (41SA117) was excavated by the Texas Archeological Salvage Project at The University of Texas in the fall and winter of 1960 prior to the inundation of the site by the waters of Lake Sam Rayburn in the Angelina River basin in East Texas. The site was located on a sandy terrace and covered ca. 1 acre in size; the sandy deposits were a maximum of ca. 60 cm in thickness below an historic plow zone.

The excavations were in the northern and southern parts of the site, and indicated that the Wolfshead site had an extensive Late …

The Jonas Short Site (41sa101), San Augustine County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Jonas Short site (41SA101) is one of a few known and investigated Woodland period mounds in the Trans–Mississippi south (i.e., East Texas, Northwest Louisiana, Southwest Arkansas, and Southeast Oklahoma). In fact, the site is one of only four identified mound sites of possible Woodland period age—and Mossy Grove cultural tradition—in the Neches–Angelina and Sabine river basins in East Texas and Northwest Louisiana: Coral Snake (16SA48), Anthony (16SA7), Jonas Short, and Westerman (41HO15).

The Jonas Short site was located on an alluvial terrace of the Angelina River. It was investigated in 1956 by archaeologists from the University of Texas and …

Funerary Offerings From The Keasler Site Cemetery (41hs235), Harrison County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Bo Nelson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Keasler site (41HS235) is a post-ca. A.D. 1430 Late Caddo period, Titus phase cemetery with at least 31 burials in the East Texas Pineywoods. The site was excavated by collectors in the late 1970s on the property of Sid Keasler of Hallsville, Texas. Minimal records on the burials at the site, and their contents, were provided by Red McFarland, one of the collectors, to the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas (TARL).

The Keasler site is near Little Creek, a northward-flowing tributary to Little Cypress Creek. It is perhaps one of the easternmost-known Titus phase cemeteries …

Late Paleoindian–Early Archaic Dart Points From The Wolfshead Site (41sa117) In The Angelina River Basin In East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Wolfshead site (41SA117) was excavated by the Texas Archeological Salvage Project at The University of Texas in 1960 prior to the inundation of the site by the waters of Lake Sam Rayburn in the Angelina River basin in East Texas. The site was located on a sandy terrace and covered ca. 1 acre in size; the sandy deposits were a maximum of ca. 60 cm in thickness below an historic plow zone.

The excavations in the northern and southern parts of the site indicated that the Wolfshead site had an extensive Late Paleoindian–Early Archaic San Patrice culture occupation estimated …

Possible Engraved Canebrake Rattlesnake Motifs On Sherds From The Etoile Site (41na11) In The Angelina River Basin In East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Engraved canebrake rattlesnake motifs on bottles has been found in ceramic assemblages in at least 18 Middle (ca. A.D. 1200–1400) and Late Caddo (ca. A.D. 1400–1680) period sites in the Big and Little Cypress Creek, mid–Sabine, Red River, and Angelina River basins in East Texas. The motif consists of “representational images of snakes with entwined or interlocking tails."

The Archaeology Of The Archaic Periods In East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The archaeology of the Archaic periods—Early, ca. 10,000–8000 years B.P., Middle, ca. 8000–5000 years B.P., and Late, ca. 5000–2500 years B.P.—in East Texas is not well understood in broad terms, although valuable information on the archaeological character of the Archaic peoples in the region has been gained over the years from the detailed investigation of a few specific sites. New knowledge concerning the archaeology of the Archaic periods in East Texas is slow in coming, due in part to the kinds of Archaic sites that have been identified by archaeologists during survey investigations and/or recommended by archeologists, state agencies, and …

Ceramic Sherd Assemblages From The Hawkins Bluff (41cs2), Snipes (41cs8), And 41cs44 Sites On The Lower Sulphur River At Lake Wright Patman, Cass County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Many documented sites on the lower Sulphur River in the East Texas Pineywoods were occupied by Caddo peoples, and there are a number of such sites at Lake Wright Patman, including better known sites such as Knight’s Bluff (41CS14) and Sherwin (41CS26). These sites appear to have been small villages with family cemeteries, occupied between ca. A.D. 1200-1400. In this article, I discuss the ceramic sherd assemblages from three less well-known Middle Caddo period occupations at other sites at Lake Wright Patman.

A House Burning At Redwine (41sm193), Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

I explore an unusual Caddo vessel from the Redwine site (41SM193), a Middle Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1200-1400) habitation/mound site located in Smith County, Texas. This vessel has been described as part of the Walters Collection by Perttula.

Archaeological Survey Investigations Of Private Land Within The Boundaries Of The Proposed Lower Bois D’Arc Creek Reservoir Project, Fannin County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Rodney J. Nelson, Gary W. Cheatwood

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

At the request of a private landowner that has property within the boundaries of the proposed Lower Bois d’Arc Creek Reservoir in Fannin County, we completed volunteer archaeological survey investigations on a portion of this tract of private land on July 18, 2015. The proposed Lower Bois d’Arc Creek Reservoir is to be more than 16,500 acres in size; the project sponsor is the North Texas Municipal Water District, and the Tulsa District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently reviewing the project sponsor’s application for a Department of the Army permit under Section 404 of the Clean …

The 7-J Ranch Site (41ho4) In The Post Oak Savannah Of East Texas, Houston County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The 7-J Ranch site (41HO4) is a multi-component Woodland period and Early Caddo period habitation site on a natural rise in the Trinity River floodplain in the Post Oak Savannah of East Texas. It is in an area of the middle reaches of the Trinity River where Woodland period sites (dating from ca. 500 B.C. to A.D. 800) are notably common on alluvial landforms, in particular Holocene Terrace-1 and alluvial rise landforms.

The site appears to be a midden mound built up from the accumulations of habitation debris along the edge of the modern floodplain and the modern river channel. …

41sm91: A Frankston Phase Settlement On The Neches River At Lake Palestine, Smith County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Site 41SM91 is an ancestral Caddo habitation site on an upland landform east of the Neches River, in the area of Lake Palestine, a large reservoir constructed on the Neches River in the East Texas Pineywoods; the dam is located about 11 km south of the site. The site was found and recorded during a 1957 survey of the proposed reservoir flood pool, and Johnson described it as “a large Frankston Focus habitation site located in a cultivated field on the slope of a large hill to the east of the Neches floodplain”. A large assemblage of ceramic vessel sherds …

Another Look At The Urbankte Site (41cv26) In Coryell County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Harry J. Shafer

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Perttula (2016) had analyzed ceramic sherds and other material culture remains curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL) from four sites in the Brazos River basin in the Central Texas prairie that had been identified as Prairie Caddo sites by Shafer; one of the sites was the Urbankte site (41CV26). The Urbankte site is on the Leon River in Coryell County, at Belton Reservoir; the Leon River is a southward-flowing tributary to the Brazos River. The term “Prairie Caddo” used by Shafer refers to Caddo groups affiliated with Caddo communities in East …