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Book Reviews: The Hasinais: Southern Caddoans As Seen By The Earliest Europeans, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The writing and eventual publication of The Hasinais by Herbert Eugene Bolton, the founder of Spanish borderlands studies, has had a long and storied journey that is well-laid out in an introduction by Russell Magnaghi, the editor of the original 1987 hardback and 2002 paperback editions of the book. Bolton became interested in the Hasinai Caddo peoples of East Texas shortly after he arrived at The University of Texas at Austin in 1901, as he became aware “that American history had always involved the Indians and that, as he began to study southwestern history, he also had to study the …

Temporal And Spatial Patterns In The Prehistoric Settlement Of The Lake Bob Sandlin Area, Big Cypress Creek Basin, Northeastern Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson

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

Since many of the archeological sites documented during the course of previous archeological investigations at Lake Bob Sandlin contain temporally diagnostic lithic, ceramic, and/or historic artifacts, we have the opportunity to investigate prehistoric temporal and spatial trends in the use of this part of the Big Cypress Creek basin in Northeastern Texas. The discussion of temporal trends in the prehistoric settlement of the Lake Bob Sandlin area is based on the findings from the 108 sites reported by Nelson and Perttula, the different components identified by Thurmond in the 95 sites recorded and investigated in the 1960s and 1970s, and …

The Caddo, Edward R. Jelks, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Knowledge of early Caddo culture comes from both archaeological and ethnographic sources. Enough archaeological research had been completed by the early 1970s to provide a fairly thorough chronology for the major pre-Columbian developments in the Caddoan area. and archaeological research has been extensive since that time.

Accounts of the DeSoto expedition of 1541-1542 constitute the earliest source of ethnohistoric data on the Caddo. Translations of the De Soto documents may be found in Bourne, Robertson, Varner and Varner, and more recently, Clayton. Some scholars think it likely that Coronado reached the edge of Caddo territory in 1541, but the consensus …

Phelps Lake And Jim Burt: Two Middle Woodland Period Mounds In Northwestern Louisiana, Jeffery S. Girard

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

Clarence Webb defined the pre-Caddoan Bellevue focus on the basis of investigations at several isolated mounds located in upland settings in northwestern Louisiana. With the exception of the Bellevue Site (16B04), little detailed information is available about these mounds. Most were excavated many years ago and few notes, photographs, or other records exist This paper describes the results of recent cleaning of an old excavation trench through one of the Bellevue focus sites the Phelps Lake Mound (16B024). The work has provided a relatively detailed look at the mound strata. A radiocarbon assay on a sample of charcoal underlying the …

Archeological Investigations At The Frank Benson Site (41tt310), Titus County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson

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

The Frank Benson site (41TT310) is an extensive and significant prehistoric Caddo and historic 19th century archeological site on a broad upland landform (352- 372 feet amsl) overlooking the Big Cypress Creek Valley in Titus County, Texas. In this paper we discuss recent archeological investigations at the site, which identified extensive and well-preserved Middle and Late Caddo components associated with a clay mound and extensive daub deposits from at least one burned Caddo structure.

Three Mid-1800s Caddo Vessels From The Brazos Reserve, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Although a considerable body of historic archival and documentary information is available on the Caddo Indian peoples that lived in Texas between ca. 1836 and 1859 -- the removal period -- not much archaeological evidence has been uncovered for their settlements. By the late 1830s and early 1840s, most of the Caddo groups had been removed from Northeast Texas as their traditional homelands were taken and settled by Anglo-American farmers and planters. Instead, they took up residence in Oklahoma, or settled with other affiliated groups (such as the Delaware, Cherokee, and others) on the Brazos River in north central Texas. …

Initial Findings From The Archeological Investigations Of The Hardin A Site (41gg69), Gregg County, Texas, Bryan E. Boyd, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Hardin A site (41GG69) is a prehistoric Caddo Indian settlement located on a high terrace overlooking the Sabine River flood-plain in Gregg County, Texas. The modem channel of the river is about 650 m to the south, and there is a small, intermittent tributary ca. 180 m to the west. The senior author discovered the Hardin A site in 1997, after he was told about it by informants who were looting a midden and cemetery area, and he formally recorded it in February 2000.

In an effort to better understand the temporal and archeological context of the prehistoric Caddo …

The Eufaula Mound: Contributions To The Spiro Focus, Kenneth G. Orr

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

The main aim of the paper is the comparison of two archaeological sites, (1) the Eufaula site of McIntosh County, and (2) the Spiro site of Leflore County, Okla. Purpose of the comparison is to indicate the relationship between the 2 sites, thereby establishing a Spiro Focus, the ramifications and general affiliations of which will be suggested.

The thesis is based on original research coming out of my experience as Project Superintendent of various units of the Oklahoma WP A Project. The Project, sponsored by the university of Oklahoma and directed by Dr. F.E. Clements, has carried on large scale …

Preliminary Report On Cherokee County, Oklahoma Archeology, Lynn E. Howard

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

Cherokee County is the latest in the state to have its prehistoric conditions investigated by the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, in conjunction with the Federal Works Projects Administration. The preliminary survey located several likely sites. Work was begun in July 1939 on a village site and mound located at the junction of Barren Fork Creek and the Illinois River, on a farm owned by M.L. Brackett. It is located in the southwest quarter of Section 18, Township 16 North, Range 23 East. The symbol for this site is Ck. Bk. 1 (Cherokee County, Brackett site.

Human Effigy Pipes From Spiro Mound, Leflore County, Oklahoma, Sarah White

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

Animal and human effigy tobacco pipes are not uncommon in Middle and Lower Mississippi culture sites, but are often rather crudely worked. However, the five human figurine pipes found during the University of Oklahoma - Works Project Administration excavation of the Spiro Mound are unusually perfect specimens of primitive stone sculpture and represent relatively finished examples of prehistoric art. The accompanying pen and ink sketches of these pipes give a general idea of the artistry they represent.

Chemical Analysis Of Caddo Pottery: A Request For Assistance In The Study Of Prehistoric Caddo Trade And Exchange With Their Neighbors, Both Near And Far, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The prehistoric Caddoan archeological record contains a diverse set of evidence on the nature of trade and exchange conducted by the Caddo with their neighbors, both near and far. I am interested in studying the scope, timing, and direction of trade/exchange between Caddo groups and surrounding non-Caddo communities, and in exploring changes in the nature of social and economic relationships between particular Caddo groups and with other prehistoric peoples.

Archeological Investigations On The Weyerhaeuser Land Exchange Sites, Mccurtain County, Oklahoma: An Update, Meeks Etchieson

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

This paper provides a brief overview of the testing work completed to date on sites within the Tiak Ranger District. Ouachita National Forest. McCurtain County, Oklahoma. This work was part of the requirements outlined in the Programmatic Agreement for the Ouachita National Forest/Weyerhaeuser Company Land Exchange. Nine prehistoric sites have been tested to determine their eligibility for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Each site contains a Caddoan component. Six sites are believed to be eligible for listing.

Insect Effigy Pendants, Jesse Todd

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

This short paper concerns the presence of zoomorphic pendants on Caddoan sites and the hist my of possible belie ft concerning locusts and cicadas in the southeastern United States. The aspect of pendants used as trade items is mentioned also.

Caddo Ceramics From 41cv41a At Fort Hood, Coryell County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Prehistoric Caddo ceramics made in Northeast Texas after ca. A.D. 900 were widely traded in Texas, and other parts of the Caddoan area, being found in some quantity on North central, East central, central, and inland Southeast Texas archeological sites. They were also traded with prehistoric peoples in the Midwest, the southeastern U.S., and the southern Plains. However, the ceramic evidence for prehistoric Caddoan trade and exchange with other Native Americans has not been systematically compiled and studied for the prehistoric and historic periods. Consequently, it is impossible to confidently discuss the scope, timing, or direction of trade/exchange between Caddoan …

An Early Caddoan Period Cremation From The Boxed Springs Mound Site (41ur30) In Upshur County, Texas, And A Report On Previous Archaeological Investigations, Timothy K. Perttula, Diane E. Wilson, Mark Walters

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

The Boxed Springs Mound site (41UR30) is one of three major Early Caddoan (ca. A.D. 900- t 200) multiple mound centers in the Sabine River basin of northeastern Texas, the others including the Jamestown (41SM54) and Hudnall-Pirtle (41RK4) sites upstream and downstream, respectively, from Boxed Springs. It is situated on a large and prominent upland ridge projection that extends from a bluff on the Sabine River about 500 m north to where the landform merges with a broader stretch of uplands and Bienville alluvium. Sediments on the site are Trep loamy fine sand, a relatively fertile soil. The site is …

The Caddoan Ceramics From The Gray's Pasture Site (41hs524), Harrison County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Mike Turner

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

This paper discusses the Caddoan ceramics recovered during the 1992 Northeast Texas Archeological Society Field School at the Gray's Pasture site (41HS524) on Clark's Creek, a few miles south of Hallsville, Texas and about 2 miles from the Sabine River floodplain. During the course of the excavations, an extensive Caddoan settlement was documented on a series of knolls on a broad terrace landform overlooking the Clark's Creek floodplain, and each of those areas contains Caddoan ceramics. Most notably, a dense concentration of Caddoan ceramics, as well as two burials with whole ceramic vessels, was encountered in the northwestern part of …

Field Report On The Excavation Of Indian Villages In The Vicinity Of The Spiro Mounds, Leflore County, Oklahoma, Kenneth G. Orr

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

A wealth of strikingly unusual and beautiful objects of Indian manufacture were excavated from the burials of the Spiro Mound, Leflore (sic.) County, Oklahoma during 1936-37. Engraved Gulf Coast conch shells, shell beads of a dozen types, river pearls, effigy pipes, long delicately chipped flint blades, feather and textile cloths and precisely incised pottery vessels were excavated in quantities. So unusual was this material that, at the time, the archaeological science was unable to answer a host of questions which immediately arose concerning the identity of the tribe who had made the artifacts and who were buried with them. How …

Chronometrics At The Norman Site, J. Daniel Rogers, Lois E. Albert, Frank Winchell

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

Unfortunately, some of the most significant sites in eastern Oklahoma have been those with the least published information. This is a well-known consequence of the pre-World War II social aid-sponsored excavations that produced large fieldwork projects, but very little in the way of laboratory work or publication. The Norman site, in Wagoner County of eastern Oklahoma, is a major mound center that falls into this category. This report presents a specific orientation to the further analysis of the site, documentation of the available radiocarbon dates, and a few interpretive comments on regional chronology. Although the authors have an interest in …

Current Status Of The Norman Site, 34wg2, Louis E. Vogele Jr.

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

As defined by Finkelstein in his description of excavations at the site, the Norman site currently is completely located within the waters of Fort Gibson Reservoir, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) lake on the Grand (Neosho) River in northeastern Oklahoma. Due to a combination of archeological excavations at the site during the 1930s and 1940s, pothunting, large-scale earthmoving activities associated with the construction of a nearby highway bridge, and approximately 50 years of wave action and seasonal inundation by Fort Gibson Reservoir, portions of Mounds I-1 and I-2 are all that remain of the Norman site.

The Norman Site Excavations Near Wagoner, Oklahoma, J. Joe Finkelstein

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

The Norman site is seven miles southeast of Wagoner, Wagoner County, Okla., on State Highway 51. It is on the upper terraces on the west side of Grand River just north of the approach to the new bridge. Principal mound is a double unit; the larger mound, clearly visible from the highway, is conical, 27' high and 90' in diameter; the low mound, on the north, is circular, 7' high and 100' in diameter; a low, broad saddle 12' long connects the 2 mounds. An extensive habitation area, Unit IV, extends to the north and northeast of Mound I-2. Unit …

Notes On The Mollusca From Site 41dt59, Cooper Lake, Delta County, Texas, Jesse Todd

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

This paper focuses on the information about the mollusca from site 41DT59. The author takes the information from Dr. Fullington, the noted malacologist, and illustrates how the archeologist can take the information and apply it to site analysis. This information derived from the analysis mainly supports what the authors have concluded about site 41DT59, but does discuss material not covered in the original text. The analysis is divided into two sections. The information derived from the gastropods is discussed first, and the information derived from the mussels second.

Archeological Investigations At The Harrison Bayou Site (41hs240) In Harrison County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson

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

We recently completed archeological investigations on approximately 1400 acres of land on Harrison Bayou, Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant, Harrison County, Texas, leased by the Caddo Lake Institute, Inc. (Perttula and Nelson 1999). The Caddo Lake Institute, Inc. leased this portion of the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant (LHAAP) for 30 years under a September 1996 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of the Army. These archeological investigations were completed under Archeological Resources Protection Permit DACA63-4- 97-0580 issued September 1, 1997, by the Real Estate Division of the Department of the Army, Fort Worth District, Corps of Engineers to the Caddo …

The Norman Site: Descriptions, Lois E. Albert

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

The Norman site (34WG2) lay on a terrace on the west side of the Neosho (Grand) River in Wagoner County, Oklahoma. Throughout much of its course within Oklahoma, this river flows along the western boundary of the Ozark Uplift. East of the river, the limestones, shales, and sandstones deposited during the Upper Mississippian and Pennsylvanian geological periods form the Boston Mountains and the Springfield Plateau. Several of these formations contain knappable cherts, often of good quality. West of the river, the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian deposits thin and dip under the surface to form the Prairie Plains Province, characterized by low, …

Two New Cultures In Delaware County, Oklahoma, David A. Baerreis

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

The Mode site is an extensive village site on the banks of Grand River. Only a small portion of the site has been explored as yet, so the scope of our knowledge of this aspect will soon be considerably expanded.

Cultural remains were found scattered through about three feet of soil and in three cache pits which extended below this into yellowish, sandy subsoil. The pottery found in the various levels appeared to be quite homogeneous.

A Bluff-Shelter Site In Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, H. R. Antle

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

In the wildly rugged hills near Canyon Springs, in southeastern Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, a unique sandstone formation has produced evidence of once sheltering a prehistoric people.

Technically, the sandstone is of the Wilcox series, and is faulted to a position above the McLish limestone beneath which it normally lies. The fault line runs from the north southward a distance of 25 yards, then runs at right angles to the east for 40 yards. The sandstone ranges from 6 feet in height on the northern extremity to 35 feet along the southeastern portion. Multiple fractures, generally parallel to the fault lines, …

The Hurricane Hill Site (41hp106) The Archaeology Of A Late Archaic/Early Ceramic And Early-Middle Caddoan Settlement In Northeast Texas, Vol. I, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Hurricane Hill site (41HP106) in Hopkins County, Texas, is a large, multi-component prehistoric site located on the South Sulphur River along the Cooper Lake dam embankment constructed by the Ft. Worth District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A series of four phases of archaeological investigations were completed at the site by the Institute of Applied Sciences, University of North Texas, between September 1986 and July 1987, as part of the mitigation of adverse effects on important cultural resources necessitated by the construction of the Cooper Lake dam. This report summarizes the research objectives, and methods of excavation …

Late Caddoan Occupation Along Cowhide Bayou: An Update On The Belcher Mound And Village Sites, Jeffery S. Girard

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

In the early 1930s, a northwestern Louisiana farmer cleared an area along Cowhide Bayou near the small town of Belcher. As he attempted to level a rise with a slip, he encountered a human skeleton. Fortunately, although he continued work in the surrounding area, he left the rise alone. Dr. Clarence Webb heard of the find in 1936 and began a project that would continue more than 20 years. It resulted in what remains today as the most completely excavated and reported mound investigation in the Caddoan area. Webb's work at the Belcher Site (l6CD13) not only provided a remarkably …

Caddoan Ceremonial Sites Of The Caddoan Cultural Area Of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, And Texas: Draft Caddo National Landmark Nomination, Mark R. Barnes, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Since 1997, we have been working on the development of a National Historic Landmark (NHL) cover nomination for Caddoan ceremonial sites - earthen mounds in the Caddoan cultural area of southwestern Arkansas, northwestern Louisiana, eastern Oklahoma, and northeastern Texas. Such a nomination establishes the historic context within which all similar cultural properties can be evaluated for significance according to the NHL criteria, as it establishes the research and other criteria by which a cultural property may be identified as a significant archeological resource.

Current Archaeological Investigations At The Pilgrim's Pride Site (41cp304) In Camp County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Pilgrim's Pride site (41CP304) is a large (12+ acres) Archaic and Late Caddoan Titus phase site on the crest of a projecting upland landform overlooking, and 18 m above, the Big Cypress Creek floodplain to the east and the Walkers Creek floodplain to the south. The site is marked by several concentrations of ceramic sherds, midden deposits, and various features (including burials) from the Late Caddoan Titus phase component, along with at least one area in the eastern part of the site with Middle-Late Archaic tools, lithic debris, and fire-cracked rock. No features of Middle-Late Archaic age have been …

Deconstructing The "Sanders Focus" And The "Sanders Phase": A Reply To Perttula Regarding The Taxonomy And Significance Of The So-Called Sanders Focus, Or Sanders Phase, Pottery Of Northeast Texas And Southeast Oklahoma, Frank F. Schambach

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

Perttula is correct in pointing out that there are numerical errors in a recently published table of mine. A revised version is presented here as Table 1. Although several of these errors are numerically large and might have caused problems had they gone uncorrected, Perttula is not correct in suggesting that they are "serious" in the sense that they have affected the conclusions I "reached based on the table," the insinuation being that they weaken my Sanders entrepot hypothesis. They do not. That hypothesis is part of the reinterpretation of the archeology and bioanthropology of the Arkansas Valley and the …