Other American Studies Commons^™

Documenting Caddo Ceramic Sherd And Lithic Collections From Prehistoric Sites At Lake Bob Sandlin, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Bo Nelson

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

Following on the heels of a previous archaeological effort where we documented collections of ceramic and lithic artifacts from a wide variety of prehistoric archaeological sites along the shoreline at Lake Bob Sandlin, this article puts on record the range of prehistoric ceramic and lithic artifacts in collections we recently documented from four sites at the lake in Camp and Titus counties, Texas. One of the four sites has been previously reported in the Caddo archaeological literature, but the other three have not.

Analysis Of Prehistoric Artifacts From 2003 Excavations At The George C. Davis Site (41ce19), Cherokee County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

A small sample of artifacts were recovered in 2003 archaeological excavations at the George C. Davis site (Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site) by The University of Texas at Austin. The work was done in conjunction with a large-scale geophysical survey of the site to locate archaeologically significant geophysical anomalies (i.e. Caddo structures, pit features, palisades, burial features, etc.). The excavations in Unit 113, ca. 150 m east of Mound B (Figure 1), were focused on Feature 237, a kind of circular Caddo structure called a “Button House” because of its four support posts around a central hearth feature.

The principal …

Documentation Of Additional Vessels From The Johns Site (41cp12), Camp County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Mark Walters

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

The Johns site (41CP12) is a Titus phase cemetery in the Prairie Creek valley in the Big Cypress Creek stream basin of the Northeast Texas Pineywoods. The Caddo artifacts from the site are from the Robert L. Turner, Jr. and Tommy John collections. Both men are current residents of Camp County, Texas.

total of 35 Late Caddo (ca. A.D. 1400-1680), Titus phase, burials were excavated between May 1966 and December 1984 at the Johns site. The first 19 burials were excavated by Tommy Johns and Robert L. Turner, Jr., and Johns continued to excavate burials at the site until 1984. …

Archaeological Findings From An Historic Caddo Site (41an184) In Anderson County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

This article reports on the archaeological findings from a Historic Caddo site (41AN184)1 in the upper Neches River basin in Anderson County, in East Texas. The site was found in about 1960 by Ron Green (of Rockdale, Texas) when he was a teenager. In 2007, he donated the collection of artifacts to the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, noting that “[n]othing can undo what has been done, but I know that the Caddo Nation will ensure these artifacts are given the proper respect and honor they would get no where else”. The artifacts donated by Mr. Green are from a late …

The Jack Walton Site (41sa135), San Augustine County, Texas, Tom Middlebrook

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

This article describes archaeological excavations I conducted at the Jack Walton site (41SA135) in San Augustine County, Texas, between November 1981 and July 1982, with the assistance of Suzanne Middlebrook and John Hart. During a total of 20 days in the field, 14 m² were excavated in four areas of the site. The excavated units are designated Areas 1, 2, 3, and 4.

The site is located on a high bluff overlooking the Attoyac Bayou. It was apparently wooded until the 1930s, when the timber was clear cut; the present open field has been used for pasture and cultivation …

Analyzing The Arkansas River Caddoan Cultural Landscape, Robert L. Brooks

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

This paper examines the Arkansas River Caddoan cultural landscape through use of “architectural grammar”. Architectural grammar presents a mechanism to look at the practices of Arkansas River Caddoans as they construct their mound and residential places. Through this analysis, five different cultural landscapes were constructed: residential places, single mounds without residential occupation, single mounds with residential occupation, multiple mounds of the same construction type, and multiple mounds of different construction type. Further analysis of these places on the landscape suggest that rather than ordered hierarchy of centers, that the Caddoan cultural landscape represents an effort to build to a formalized …

Further Investigations Of A Prehistoric Caddo Habitation Site In The White Oak Basin Of Northeast Texas: The James Owens Site (41tt69), Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Bo Nelson, Leeanna Schniebs

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

The James Owens site (41TT769) is a Middle to Late Caddo period settlement in the White Oak Creek drainage basin in Northeast Texas that was first investigated in June of 2001 at the request of the landowner, Mr. James Owens of Irving, Texas. At that time, the landowner was planning on building a house on the site, and during the course of clearing the land and constructing a gravel drive way to the future house site, he noted some archeological materials on the surface. Discussions between Mr. Owens, Bryan Boyd (Texas Archeological Steward Network), and Mark Parsons, then regional archeologist …

A Case For Dehahuit’S Village Part I, Jim Tiller

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

During the late 1700s, the Kadohadacho (hereafter Caddo), a peaceful tribe of agriculturists and hunters, weakened by near-constant pressure from the more war-like Osage and the ravages of various epidemics, began to migrate from their traditional homeland near the Great Bend of the Red River south into northwestern Louisiana and adjacent East Texas. By the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the Caddo villages under their caddi Dehahuit were concentrated in the Sodo Lakes region west and northwest of modern-day Shreveport. Much of what we know today about the location of these settlements, and specifically Dehahuit’s village, are found …

Two Shell Gorgets From Southwest Arkansas, Mary Beth D. Trubitt

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

Recently, there has been great interest in marine shell gorgets from the Mississippian period Southeast, not only in identifying styles or types and their geographic distributions, but in refining the chronology of engraved shell gorgets and other artwork. There have also been new studies looking at iconography of the engraved shell art, such as Reilly’s work on the petaloid motif on Spiro shell cups as a locative that indicates a celestial location for depicted objects, individuals, or events, and Lankford’s examination of Cox Mound and Hixon style gorgets as cosmological models portrayed on shell in plan and profile.

Clay Pipes From The Tuck Carpenter Site (41cp5) Camp County, Texas, Jesse Todd, Robert L. Turner

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

In this paper, four clay elbow pipes are described from the Tuck Carpenter site (41CP5) in Camp County, Texas, and compared to clay pipes from other areas.

Two Catlinite Pipe Fragments From The Womack Site, Lamar County, Texas, Jesse Todd

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

Two catlinite pipe fragments from the Womack site in Lamar County, Texas are discussed as well as other catlinite pipe fragments on Caddo sites from Northeast Texas.

Book Review: Our Unprotected Heritage: Whitewashing The Destruction Of Our Cultural And Natural Environment, Mark Walters

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

Before becoming involved in archeology, I was a commercial nurseryman for thirty years in East Texas. Finally though, I had my fill of fighting weather, unstable markets, pests and yes, government agencies. After retirement I sought what I thought would be tranquility in the field of archeology. Archeology was a topic that I had been interested in since I was a teenager and I thought it would provide the peace-of-mind I was seeking. Wrong again.

Redwine Or Pie-Crust Mode Forms In East Texas Caddo Ceramics And Comparisons With Sprocket-Rims Of Southwest Arkansas, Mark Walters, Tom Middlebrook, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Caddo ceramics served many purposes, including cooking, storage, and the serving of foods and liquids. The various forms and shapes of these vessels were subject to the ideas of the potters themselves and the larger community of which they were a part. Products of human behavior reflect conscious and predictable actions that can be identified and measured in time and space. Artifacts are “embodiments of human behavior."

The various elements that make up an artifact are termed attributes. Certain attributes that reflect customary usage or current fashion are termed nodes. Irving Rouse describes a mode as “any standard, concept, or …

Book Review: The American Indian Oral History Manual: Making Many Voices Heard, Hiram F. Gregory

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

The times have changed. American Indian people, like indigenous population worldwide, have finally begun to impress scholars with the fact that in spite of centuries of colonial exploitation their cultures are alive and they hold ownership of them. Oral history and ethnology both have to listen to this new voice and come to understand the ethical and legal implications for the academic disciplines. These three authors bring unique experiences as well as “best practice training” to this small book.

Recalibrated Chronological Framework For Texas Archaeology-Geoarchaeology, Ken L. Lawrence

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

Radiocarbon assays from select archaeological-geoarchaeological research projects within Texas river basins were compiled and recalibrated using the same calibration curve (i.e., INTCAL09). Chronometric data from investigations within the Nueces, San Antonio, Colorado, Brazos, and Trinity River basins were uniformly calibrated to construct a consistent chronological framework. Once calibrated, the analogous chronometric data were then used to compare drainage basins, paleoenvironmental data, and cultural chronologies across Texas and the region. These comparisons revealed four periods (Synchronous Events I–IV) in the Holocene that occurred simultaneously within all of the examined drainage basins. Synchronous Event I dating to 8,750–8,250 cal yr BP (~6800–6300 …

Archeological Testing And Data Recovery At 41zv202, Zavala County, Texas, Raymond P. Mauldin, Russell D. Greaves, Jennifer L. Thompson, Cynthia M. Munoz, Leonard Kemp, Barbara A. Meissner, Bruce K. Moses, Steve A. Tomka

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

At the request of the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT-ENV), the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducted archeological significance testing at 41ZV202, a prehistoric site located in northwestern Zavala County, in March of 2003. The work, conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3071 issued to Dr. Steven A. Tomka, was done in anticipation of the potential widening by TxDOT of FM 481. While materials dating to the Archaic were also present, the testing demonstrated the presence of significant Late Prehistoric (Austin Interval) deposits with good integrity within a …

Testing And Data Recovery Excavations At 41bu51, Burleson County, Texas, Cory J. Broehm, Jennifer K. Mcwilliams, Ross C. Fields, Karl W. Kibler

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

Prewitt and Associates, Inc. (PAI), conducted archeological testing and data recovery excavations at prehistoric site 41BU51 in Burleson County, Texas, for the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division, in three phases of investigation. The first phase of testing, conducted in Spring 2003, resulted in the discovery of a single human burial as well as diagnostic artifacts ranging from the Archaic period through the Late Prehistoric period. A second phase of testing was conducted to search for additional burials in January 2004. This work resulted in the discovery of three additional burials and two isolated human bones. Finally, data recovery …

Intensive Cultural Resources Survey Of The Proposed Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project From Blanco Road To Wetmore Road, Bexar County, Texas, Mary Jo Galindo, Kevin A. Miller

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

SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), of the proposed Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project in San Antonio, Texas. TxDOT proposes to extend the existing Wurzbach Parkway approximately 5.3 miles between Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 2696 (Blanco Road) and Wetmore Road. The undertaking involves the new construction of a four-lane divided roadway within an approximately 250-foot right-of-way (ROW) that is state-owned property. Overall, the Area of Potential Effects (APE) is 27,984 feet long, 250 feet wide, and maximally 10 feet deep. Additionally, the APE covers roughly 51.77 acres of permanent …

Cuatro Vientos: A Reconsideration Of Seven Prehistoric Sites In The Lower Rio Grande Plains Of South Texas, Stephen M. Carpenter, Michael Chavez, Kevin A. Miller, S. Christopher Caran

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

With this report, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) begins a reconsideration of approaches to the evaluation and treatment of those areas where surface lithic scatters are the main constituent of the archeological record. The reconsideration was inspired by the Cuatro Vientos project in Laredo, Webb County, Texas. The project and the ideas surrounding it developed slowly. The ideas continued to evolve through discussion between SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) and TxDOT as additional work on the project occurred. Because this project proceeded in an idiosyncratic fashion, some words of explanation might be helpful. The following discussion provides an account of how …

National Register Of Historic Places Eligibility Testing Of Site 41le326 Lee County, Texas, Andrea Stahman, Candace Wallace, Linda Ellis, Chris Heiligenstein

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

Between March 5 and 12, 2007, PBS&J conducted National Register of Historic Places eligibility testing at site 41LE326, under contract to the Texas Department of Transportation Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT ENV) (CSJ No. 0211-03-032). This investigation was conducted in advance of proposed improvements to U.S. Highway 77 in central Lee County, Texas, under regulations of the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 USC §470 et seq.) and the Antiquities Code of Texas (Title 9, chapter 191, Texas Natural Resource Code). Site 41LE326 is a prehistoric campsite that was initially recorded by PBS&J in October 2006 during a cultural resources …