Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons^™

Documentation Of Ceramic Vessels And Projectile Points From The C. D. Marsh Site (41hs269) In The Sabine River Basin, Timothy K. Perttula, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Bo Nelson

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

A total of at least eight Caddo burials were excavated at the C. D. Marsh site on Eight Mile Creek, a southward-flowing tributary to the Sabine River, by Buddy C. Jones in 1959-1960. This includes Burial 1, an historic (dating after ca. A.D. 1685) Nadaco Caddo burial; European trade goods found with this burial include two small silver disks. The other burials (Burials 2-8) are part of an earlier Caddo cemetery that is thought to be associated with the ca. A.D. 1350-17th century Pine Tree Mound community along the Sabine River and its tributaries. Jones suggests that these latter burials …

The Clay Ball Site In The Upper Neches River Basin Of East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson

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

The Clay Ball site is an ancestral Caddo site believed to be located in the upper Neches River basin in East Texas. The site is notable for its series of small, square vessels with Frankston phase (ca. A.D. 1400- 1650) engraved motifs, as such vessel forms have not been previously documented in studies of Frankston or later Allen phase (ca. A.D. 1650-1830) vessel assemblages.

The unique ceramic vessels from the site were excavated by Buddy C. Jones, and although his main site collecting and excavation work was in the mid-Sabine River basin, he did excavate several sites in the upper …

The Ceramic Sherd Assemblage From The Boatstone Site In Gregg County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Boatstone site (GC-50 in Buddy Jones' site numbering system) is one of many Caddo sites that Buddy Jones investigated along the Sabine River and its tributaries in the Longview, Texas, area. In most cases, his investigations at the sites consisted of the surface collection of ceramic and lithic artifacts, and only in rare cases did Jones complete analyses or publications on his investigations. This article discusses the ancestral Caddo ceramic assemblage from the Boatstone site, which is situated near the confluence of Iron Bridge Creek and the Sabine River in southeastern Gregg County in the East Texas Pineywoods. This …

A Woodland Period Ceramic Assemblage From Rabbit Creek In The Sabine River Basin, Gregg County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The GC-123 site was located and investigated by Buddy C. Jones during his years of archaeological work and surface collecting at numerous aboriginal sites in the mid-Sabine River basin in East Texas. The site is in south-central Gregg County, on Rabbit Creek (a northern-flowing tributary to the Sabine River), but only a few miles from the Sabine River valley.

The site is notable for its ceramic sherd assemblage. Based on characteristics of Woodland period ceramics from the mid-Sabine River basin, including sites such as 41HS231 and 41RK562 (see Dockall and Fields 2011; Dockall et al. 2008), Hawkwind (41HS915), Folly (41RK26), …

Plant Remains From Shelby Mound (41cp71), Camp County, Texas, Leslie L. Bush

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

Nine lots of botanical samples collected during 1988 and 1992 excavations at the Shelby Mound site (41CP71) were submitted for identification prior to their eventual curation at Stephen F. Austin State University. Some botanical samples from these excavations have been previously reported. Excavations at Shelby Mound were conducted in a 10 x 10 ft. unit divided into four 5 x 5 ft. squares. Botanical samples were recovered using 1/4-inch screen. Shelby Mound, also known as the Tracy site and the Greasy Creek site, is a large Late Caddo village, community cemetery, and mound center. Most of the community cemetery at …

Archaeological Investigations At The Wade (Gc-38) And Estes (Gc-49) Sites In The Sabine River Basin, Gregg County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Bo Nelson

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

Buddy C. Jones conducted extensive archaeological investigations in the 1950s and 1960s at many sites in the mid-Sabine River basin of East Texas, especially on Caddo sites of various ages in Gregg, Harrison, and Rusk counties. However, that work has not illuminated our understanding of the archaeology of the Caddo Indian peoples that lived along this stretch of the Sabine River as much as it could have, primarily because little of the work completed by Jones was ever published, or the results and findings shared with professional and avocational archaeological colleagues working in the region. The Caddo archaeology of the …

41sm53 (P-4) On Prairie Creek, Smith County, Texas, Mark Walters, Timothy Perttula

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

In February 1957, Sam Whiteside of Smith County, Texas, excavated a burial at 41SM53. This site was designated P-4 in Mr. Whiteside’s notes and it was one of several Caddo sites along Prairie Creek in the upper Sabine River basin that he investigated to varying degrees in the 1950s and 1960s. As an a vocational archeologist Mr. Whiteside made many important contributions to East Texas archeology. Dr. Dee Ann Story, of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin, who corresponded with Mr. Whiteside, later obtained the trinomial 41SM53 for the site.

Analysis Of Faunal Remains From Selected Contexts At The Shelby Mound Site (41cp71): Results From Mound Excavations, Leeanna Schniebs, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Additional faunal material from earlier mound deposits at the Titus phase Shelby Mound site (41CP71) on Greasy Creek in Camp County, Texas, total 459 faunal specimens, weighing 339.8 grams. Sixty-one (13.3%) bone fragments are identifiable, and 201 specimens are burned (43.8%). Standard zooarchaeological identification techniques have been employed in this analysis, using comparative skeletal collections. Attributes that have been examined for each of the bone fragments include taxon, element, and portion of that element, symmetry, burning, and weight. This analysis focuses on identifying general preferences of animal exploitation at this site during the Late Caddo Titus phase. Table 1 summarizes …

Additional Artifact Collections From The Gardener Site (41cp55), Camp County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson

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

The Gardener site (41CP55) was first recorded by Sullivan (1977) prior to construction of Lake Bob Sandlin on Big Cypress Creek. A surface collection of sherds and daub suggested that the site was the locus of a Late Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1450-1680) settlement and burned house. However, no further archaeological work was done at the site before it was inundated by Lake Bob Sandlin in the late 1970s.

Recently, because of lower flood pool levels (about 9 ft. below normal flood pool) at Lake Bob Sandlin due to East Texas drought conditions, archaeological materials from the Gardener site have …

Freshwater Mussel Shells: A Status Symbol At The Roitsch/ Williams Sites In Red River County, Texas?, Jesse Todd

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

Upon examining unmodified bone and shell from the Sanders site (41LR2), the Dan Holdeman site (41RR11), the Roitsch site (41RR16), the Bob Williams portion of the Roitsch site (41RR16), the Rowland Clark site (41RR77), and the Roden site (34Mc215), which are located in the Middle Red River Valley of Texas and Oklahoma, freshwater mussel shells were more apparent as burial furniture at the Roitsch and Bob Williams site than any other of the above mentioned sites.

Analysis Of The Hardin A Site (41gg69) Faunal Remains, Leeanna Schniebs

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

The excavation of the Hardin A site (41GG69), a late 14th to early 15th century A.D. period Caddo site in Gregg County, Texas, yielded 495 faunal specimens. This sum includes all bone fragments, and pieces of antler and turtle shell. Total weight of the assemblage is 266.6 grams. Faunal material was recovered from 15 levels in a single 1 x 2 m unit comprised of a midden deposit and feature fill. The remainder of the article discuss the methods employed in the faunal analysis, results of taxonomic identification and quantification, and the distribution of these remains.

The Joe M. Smith Collection From The Roseborough Lake Site (41bw5), Bowie County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Joe M. Smith collection is held by the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin. It appears to have been given by Mr. Smith to A. T. Jackson in the early 1930s, around the time of The University of Texas excavations at the nearby Eli Moores site (41BW2). The collection is said to have come from the Rochelle Plantation, which is an earlier name for the Roseborough Lake site (41BW5). The Roseborough Lake site is on an old meander of the Red River “that was cut off in 1872 and named Roseborough Lake." It lies …

Renewed Archaeological Investigations At The Sanders Site (41lr2), Lamar County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Mark Walters

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

At the request of one of the landowners, Ms. Julia Crawford, renewed archaeological investigations took place at the renowned Sanders site (41LR2) in November 2013. These investigations consisted solely of a pedestrian survey of the main part of the Sanders site—the location of two ancestral Caddo earthen mounds and associated habitation deposits—on a broad alluvial terrace (450 ft. amsl) of the Red River, in conjunction with a surface collection of observed material culture remains. Other recent archaeological investigations at the Sanders site have taken place more than ca. 400 m south of the main part of the site, at the …

New Radiocarbon Dates From The Shelby Mound Site (41cp71) On Greasy Creek In The Big Cypress Creek Basin Of East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

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

Six new radiocarbon dates have been obtained from the Shelby Mound site (41CP71) in the Big Cypress Creek basin in East Texas. They are on charred organic remains—corn cupules and glumes and Hickory (Carya sp.) nutshell—identified in several levels in and immediately below the mound deposits.

The Shelby Mound site on Greasy Creek is the social and political center of an ancestral Caddo Greasy Creek political community. It stretches for several hundred meters along Greasy Creek and a small tributary, with an earthen mound at the northern end of the village and a large cemetery at its southern end. Domestic …

The Steck Site (41wd529), A Titus Phase Settlement In The Lake Fork Creek Drainage Basin, Wood County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bob D. Skiles

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

The Steck site (41WD529) is a 15th to early 16th century A.D. Caddo settlement situated in the far western margins of the modern Pineywoods of East Texas, in the upper Sabine River basin in Wood County. The site is specifcally situated in the uplands more than 12m above the Dry Creek foodplain, in the upper part of the Lake Fork Creek drainage basin. Two natural springs emerge from the Queen City Eocene formation immediately below the site.

There are two midden deposits at the Steck site, as well as evidence for structures arranged around an open plaza in a small …

East Texas Archeological Society, Tyler, Texas, 1956-1959, Mark Walters

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

The East Texas Archeological Society (ETAS) was formed in Tyler, Texas, on June 26, 1956. The last record of any activity by that society was in 1959. This article is an attempt to document the brief history of that organization and identify some of the key players associated with it. One of those that played a major role was my late uncle, Sam Whiteside. His family graciously gave permission to study his notes and records, which included the records from the ETAS. Unfortunately, Mr. Whiteside suffered from a debilitating disease that became acute in the summer of 1959, requiring hospitalization, …

The Petrographic Analysis Of Sherds From The Musgano Site (41rk19), Rusk County, Texas, Steve A. Tomka, Lori B. Love, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Characterizing the mineralogical composition of ceramic vessels and sherds from Caddo sites in East Texas by means of petrographic analysis provides a unique opportunity to gather and investigate empirical evidence from ceramic vessels on: (1) technological and manufacturing practices, and (2) their trade and exchange at varying scales conducted by ancestral Caddo people with their neighbors, both near and far (i.e., other ancestral Caddo groups as well as non-Caddo communities). This evidence in turn can be used to explore changes in the nature of social and economic relationships between particular Caddo groups and other prehistoric populations. Identified compositional and paste …

The Late Paleoindian Occupation Of The Western Ouachita Mountains Of Southeast Oklahoma: The Archaeology Of Component V At The Quince Site (34at134), Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Quince site (34AT134) is a well-preserved and relatively deeply stratified Ouachita Mountains archaeological site in Atoka County in southeastern Oklahoma. The site’s archaeological deposits are buried in Late Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial terrace deposits of McGee Creek, a tributary to Muddy Boggy Creek, itself a southern-flowing tributary to the Red River, that cuts through the western edge of the mountains.

Excavated in 1982 and 1983 prior to the creation of McGee Creek Reservoir by the Bureau of Reclamation, the 3.0 m deep archaeological deposits at the Quince site contained a record of prehistoric occupations spanning most of the Holocene …

Documentation Of Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Vessels In The Smith County Historical Museum Collections, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Mark Walters

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

This report puts on record the collection of 34 ancestral Caddo vessels held by the Smith County Historical Museum (SCHM) in Tyler, Texas. Most of the collection was donated to the SCHM in 2013, but several were also donated in 1985 (Carol Kehl, April 2014 personal communication).

The vessels in this collection have been documented following the methods employed by the Friends of Northeast Texas Archaeology and Archeological & Environmental Consultants, LLC on a number of ancestral Caddo ceramic collections from East Texas archaeological sites (e.g., Perttula 2011, 2013, 2014; Perttula and Nelson 2013; Perttula and Thacker 2014; Perttula et …

Documentation Of Caddo Vessels In The Robert L. Turner Collection At Stephen F. Austin State University, Timothy K. Perttula, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Mark Walters

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

Perttula et al. (2010) documented more than 300 ceramic vessels in the Robert L. Turner, Jr. collection from ancestral Caddo burial sites in East Texas, primarily from the Big Cypress Creek basin, but also including vessels from sites in the middle Sabine, lower Sulphur River, and Neches/Angelina River basins. When the Turner collection was donated to Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) in 2012, it was noted that some of the vessels in the collection had not been documented by Perttula et al. (2010). In the spring of 2014 we had an opportunity to remedy the situation, and with the …

Documentation Of Cemeteries And Funerary Offerings From Sites In The Upper Neches River Basin, Anderson, Cherokee, And Smith Counties, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

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

This publications concerns the documentation of ceramic vessels, a ceramic pipe, a stemmed arrow point, and glass beads from several post-A.D. 1400 ancestral Caddo sites in the upper Neches River basin in Smith, Anderson, and Cherokee counties, Texas. Two of the sites have been recorded and have state of Texas trinomials: Vanderpool (41SM77) on Saline Creek and Pipe (41AN67) along the Neches River, but the other sites (one also on Saline Creek) and collections have not been.

These artifacts were recovered from a series of burials excavated and recorded by Buddy Calvin Jones at the sites in 1956 and 1960. …

Caddo Ceramic Vessels From Sites In The Upper Neches River Basin Of East Texas, Anderson And Cherokee Counties, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, P. Shawn Marceaux, Bo Nelson, Mark Walters

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

This report concerns the analysis and documentation of 129 ancestral Caddo ceramic vessels from seven burial/cemetery sites in the upper Neches River basin in East Texas: R. L. Jowell (41AN13, n=13 vessels), Mrs. Emma Owens (41AN21, n=1 vessel), Richard Patton (41AN26, n=29 vessels), Pierce Freeman (41AN34, n=19 vessels), E. W. Hackney (41CE6, n=8 vessels), Jim P. Allen (41CE12, n=55 vessels), and R. F. Wallace (41CE20, n=1 vessel). These sites are part of a cluster of Late Caddo and Historic Caddo period sites in northeastern Anderson County and northwestern Cherokee County (Figures 1 and 2).

Documentation Of Caddo Funerary Objects From The Crenshaw Site (3mi6) In The Gilcrease Museum Collections, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Mark Walters, Robert Cast

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

This report is one in a series of reports produced and published by the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, Cultural Preservation Program, that concern the documentation of funerary objects in museum facilities that are subject to the provisions and regulations of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) (Gonzalez et al. 2005; Cast et al. 2006; Perttula et al. 2007, 2009a, 2009b, 2010). These documentation studies have been done either with grants from the National Park Service, or through funding provided by the museum facility. In the case of the present study of Caddo funerary objects from the Crenshaw …

Documentation Of Caddo Vessels And Sherds In The Herrington Collection At Tyler Junior College, In Smith County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Mark Walters

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

This report puts on record the collection of ancestral Caddo vessels and sherds held by Tyler Junior College (TJC) in Tyler, Texas. This collection was donated by Al Herrington to TJC in 2012. The vessels and sherds in this collection have been documented following the methods employed by the Friends of Northeast Texas Archaeology and Archeological & Environmental Consultants, LLC on a number of ancestral Caddo ceramic collections from East Texas archaeological sites (e.g., Perttula 2011, 2013, 2014; Perttula and Nelson 2013; Perttula and Thacker 2014; Perttula et al. 2007, 2009a, 2009b, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c, 2012a, 2012b, 2012c, 2013, 2014). …

Shrub, Scrub, And Grass: The Importance Of Shrubland And Grassland Plant Communities To The Diet Of The Late Prehistoric (A.D. 900-1535) Hunter-Gatherers Of The Eastern Trans-Pecos Region Of Texas, Casey W. Riggs

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

The Eastern Trans-Pecos archeological region of Texas is an area rich in botanical diversity, a resource heavily utilized by both prehistoric and historic hunter-gatherers. A comparison of four paleoethnobotanical investigations of archeological sites dating to the Late Prehistoric Era (A.D. 900-1535) with ethnobotanical information of the Mescalero Apache reveal that the botanical component of prehistoric and historic diets have been similar for the past 1,000 years. Differences in the degree of similarity can be contributed to differential preservation and analytical techniques. Further, ecological sites from the Ecological Site Information System are demonstrated as a novel and useful tool for landscape-scale …

Post Of Lampasas: Forgotten Reconstruction Era U.S. Army Post (1867-1870), Richard S. Jones

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

While it is well known that troops were stationed in and around Lampasas during the Reconstruction era (1865-1877), the existence of an army post in Lampasas County, Texas, has been rediscovered through the recent digitization of army post returns. The post returns, available through the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and Ancestry.com, indicated that the post operated between 1867 and 1870. These post returns are utilized to highlight significant events that occurred in this area during the Reconstruction era. Circumstantial evidence obtained while conducting this research has identified the actual location of the post within the City of Lampasas.

Deflation Troughs, Water, And Prehistoric Occupation On The Margins Of The South Texas Sand Sheet, Juan L. González, Russell K. Skowronek, Bobbie L. Lovett

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

Within the South Texas Plains, the area broadly defined by the Rio Grande to the south and the Nueces River to the north, a distance of ca. 175 km, evidence of open human occupation is remarkably abundant. Because it is predominantly a region of loose, sandy soils and active and relict sand dunes where wind processes dominate, the area is known as the South Texas Sand Sheet (STSS). There is no running water within the STSS and all streams are ephemeral. Existing drainage systems are small, localized, and not integrated, carrying water for a few days and up to two …

Archival Research Of The History Of The Francisco Flores Ranch, Adriana Munoz Ziga

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

The Francisco Flores Ranch, located northwest of Floresville, Texas, encompassed five sitios of land and one labor on the west bank of the San Antonio River at the paraje known as Chayopines. The Flores Ranch is one of the last surviving privately owned colonial ranches that have been identified in the San Antonio River valley containing standing structures possibly dating to the original date of occupation. I outline previous research on the property and offer new interpretations on the farm and ranch complex.

Negative Findings Phase I Survey Report Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area Brazoria County, Texas, Jeff Turpin

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

During October of 2014, Turpin and Sons Inc. (TAS) conducted a cultural resource assessment of two potential horizontal directional drill (HDD) locations and one additional baseline trench location along Jones Creek within the Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The area of interest is located along an existing pipeline corridor between the San Bernard and Brazos rivers in southwest Brazoria County, Texas. The project was sponsored by Gremminger and Associates Inc., acting as agents for Air Liquide Large Industries U.S. LP, and conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit Number 7029 issued to Dr. Jeff …

Data Recovery Investigations At The Tank Destroyer Site (41cv1378) At Fort Hood, Coryell County, Texas, Douglas K. Boyd, John E. Dockall, Karl W. Kibler, Gemma Mehalchick, Laura M. Short

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

Data recovery investigations at the Tank Destroyer site (41CV1378) were conducted in August 2007 for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This work was required because of potential impacts to the site from TxDOT’s planned improvements of Tank Destroyer Boulevard and State Highway 9. The investigations focused on a burned rock mound (Feature 1), one-half of which has been destroyed by an adjacent tank trail. The mound contained two internal features: an off-centered earth oven and a small cluster of Rabdotus sp. shells. With the exception of the location of its earth oven, the mound at the Tank Destroyer is …