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

Mountain Fork Archaeology: A Preliminary Report On The Ramos Creek Site (34mc1030), Elsbeth L. Dowd

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

In May-June of 2010, the University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Archeological Survey co-sponsored a field school at the Ramos Creek site (34MC1030) in southeastern Oklahoma. Ramos Creek is located in the Ouachita Mountains along the Mountain Fork, a tributary of the Little River. Recently identified by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), this site is the northernmost known site with a Caddo component along this stream (Figure 1). The best-known Caddo sites identified for this drainage were tested during the Oklahoma River Basin Survey project of the 1960s and today are covered by the man-made Broken Bow Lake. Archaeological investigations …

Some Notes On Replicating Prehistoric Pottery, John Miller

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

My interest in pottery replication began about 30 years ago. As an archeologist, I was often required to analyze collections of prehistoric pottery. My analytical techniques were limited but standard for the day and usually involved classifying pottery according to previously defined pottery types and varieties. While this type of classification helps archeologists develop chronologies and determine cultural affiliation, it provides little understanding of how pottery was actually made. I felt that I might be able to enhance my analytical skills and possibly glean a little more from the archeological record if I could learn more about how pottery was …

Reconstructing Ancient Foodways At The Jones Mill Site (3hs28), Hot Spring County, Arkansas, Mary Beth D. Trubitt, Kathryn Parker, Lucretia Kelly

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

Analyses of botanical and faunal samples and a new radiocarbon date provide a detailed picture of Indian foodways at the Jones Mill site on the Ouachita River in Arkansas. Hunting, plant processing, and fishing with nets is seen from Middle Archaic artifacts and features. Burned hickory nutshell found among clusters of fire-cracked rock shows the importance of nut masts as food between 6000-4300 B.C. By 1450 A.D., a more substantial community of people lived at Jones Mill. Refuse associated with traces of a Caddo period house provided direct evidence for the cultivation of maize and native Eastern Complex starchy seed …

Sourcing Red River Jasper: An Archaeological And Geological Investigation Of A Gravel Chert In The Red River Drainage, Elsbeth L. Dowd

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

Red River Jasper, a lithic material found in the Red River drainage, is an understudied chert that was widely used by prehistoric populations in this region from the Archaic to late prehistoric (Caddo) periods. Despite its common occurrence at sites along the Red River, this tabular chert has received little attention compared to other raw materials on the eastern margin of the Southern Plains. Although the material is macroscopically diverse, ranging in color from brown to yellow to red, microscopic analysis indicates that the material is relatively homogeneous and likely came from a limited set of sources. The archaeological distribution …

Digital Preservation And Spatial Representation At The Washington Square Mound Site (41na49), Nacogdoches County, Texas, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

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

Thirty-one years of excavations at the Washington Square Mound site (41NA49) have produced a large number of artifacts, excavation records, field notes, photographs, slides, maps, excavation profiles, and plan view maps. This article is the product of an effort to synthesize the aforementioned information for the initial field school which occurred in the summer of 1979. Through the use of geographic information systems (GIS), a digital grid was constructed atop aerial photography to house the digitized information within a spatial representation of the provenience from which it was recovered. This allows a query of the artifact catalog to produce the …

Foster Trailed-Incised: A Gis-Based Analysis Of Caddo Ceramic Distribution, Duncan P. Mckinnon

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

The use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) allows for dynamic visualizations in the analysis of spatial distributions and the modeling of data clusters and outliers. An on-going analysis of Foster Trailed- Incised vessels found within the Caddo Homeland seeks to construct a distributional framework that can be applied and compared to additional Caddo ceramic types and site location attributes using a GIS database. Preliminary results show high frequencies of Foster Trailed-Incised vessels along the Ouachita and Red River drainages as well as along the Saline, Arkansas, and Little Missouri rivers in Arkansas. Additional possible varieties of Foster Trailed-Incised have …

An Earspool From Near Ada, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma?, Robert L. Brooks

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

Earspools are generally acknowledged as status markers for ranking elites in Caddoan populations occupying the Arkansas River basin as well as the Caddo homelands in the Red River basin. In the Arkansas River basin, Baerreis and more recently Brown have discussed the attributes of earspools found at Spiro. There is also documentation for earspools found at other Arkansas River basin sites such as Harlan and Huffaker. Earspools at sites reported for the Red River basin include Gahagan and George C. Davis among others. However, the appearance of earspools at sites outside of the core areas is not well documented. Two …

A Radiocarbon Date From A Middle Caddo Period Habitation Site On Hickory Creek, Houston County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The National Forests and Grasslands (U.S.D.A. Forest Service) in Texas (NFGT) conducted Passports in Time (PIT) projects in 2006 and 2007 on Hickory Creek in the Davy Crockett National Forest, Houston County, Texas. The work took place at four prehistoric archeological sites: 41HO13, HC-1, Hickory Creek #2 (HC-2), and HC-3, with the majority of the work occurring at the Hickory Creek #2 site. Following discussions with the NFGT, the NFGT agreed to turn over the collections and available notes/records to me for the purposes of completing a volunteer analysis of these collections and preparing a report on the analytical findings. …

Luminescence Dates From The Tuinier Farm Site (41hp237), Hopkins County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, James K. Feathers

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

The luminescence dating of ceramics has been applied with some considerable success in a variety of settings—and on different ceramic wares—in North America, but since the days of Alpha Analytic (a subsidiary of Beta Analytic) in the early to mid-1980s, there have been no luminescence dating of Caddo ceramic wares in Northeast or East Texas. Given the abundance of ceramics of several different kinds and styles at all Caddo sites, the luminescence dating of both plain and decorated sherds recovered in situ from these many sites should be explored since it is a method “that dates the manufacture and use …

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

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

In this, the second of a two part series on Dehahuit’s village, we will use period materials to further establish a circumstantial case for the location of the village of this historic figure on Paw Paw Bayou in eastern Harrison County, Texas. In our discussion we will make use of selected distances and directions noted in the archival record and present a time and distance problem based on the journals of the Freeman and Custis expedition. We conclude with an analysis of Father José Puelles’ 1807 map of Texas and William Darby’s 1816 map of Louisiana.

Architectural Variability In The Caddo Area Of Eastern Texas, T. Clay Schultz

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

This dissertation focuses on the nature of architectural space in the Caddo area of eastern Texas, in the southwestern portion of the Caddo archaeological area. The early European accounts and the archaeological record indicate there was a wide range in size, shape, form, and use of architectural space in the Caddo area. Buildings have a variety of structural attributes and may be found isolated or associated with plazas or earthen mounds. This dissertation is a detailed examination of this architectural diversity. The sites included in this study range from large multi-mound centers that have seen large-scale and long-term research, such …

Selected Prehistoric Caddo Sites In The Upper Sabine River Basin Of Northeast Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Leeanna Schniebs

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

Some years ago, I commented that the upper Sabine River basin in Northeast Texas had “a highly significant and diverse archaeological record, one that has intrigued professional and avocational archaeologists alike for at least 75 years." At the same time, I noted that “we still know very little about the prehistoric and early historic Caddoan groups who lived in the basin, and unfortunately it has been a number of years since dedicated archaeologists, professional or avocational, turned their attention to this region."

In this article, I present information on five different prehistoric Caddo sites in the upper Sabine River basin, …

Documentation Of Caddo Ceramic Vessel Sherds From The Shelby Site (41cp71) In The Vernon Holcomb Collection, Camp County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Shelby site (41CP71) is an important Late Caddo period, Titus phase, religious and political center on Greasy Creek in the Northeast Texas Pineywoods. The site, occupied from the 15th century A.D. until at least the late 17th century A.D., is a large and well-preserved settlement with abundant habitation features as well as plant and animal remains, evidence of mound building activities in the form of a 1.5 m high structural mound, and a large community cemetery with at least 119 burial pits and perhaps as many as 200. The Shelby site is the nexus of one of a number …

Archaeological Investigations Along James Bayou In Marion County, Texas And Caddo Parish, Louisiana, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Claude Mccrocklin

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

This is a report on archaeological investigations conducted along James Bayou in Marion County, Texas, and Caddo Parish, Louisiana, between 1991- 1993. This work was done primarily by Claude McCrocklin (Shreveport, Louisiana) and a large group of volunteers, some from the Northeast Texas Archeological Society and others from the Northwest Chapter of the Louisiana Archaeological Society, assisted by Perttula and Nelson on occasion. With the permission of McCrocklin, we analyzed the recovered artifacts and available notes/records/ site reports to prepare this article summarizing the archaeological findings of the project.

James Bayou, also known as Coushatta Jim’s Bayou, Jim’s Bayou, and …

Analysis Of The Prehistoric Caddo Ceramics From 41lr351, Lamar County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Site 41LR351 was first recorded during the 2005 Texas Archeological Society summer field school on the Stallings Ranch in Lamar County, Texas. This prehistoric site is on a natural knoll (420-430 feet amsl) in the headwaters of Pine Creek, a northward-flowing tributary of the Red River. The site is currently being excavated by the Valley of the Caddo Archeological Society, and a large prehistoric Caddo ceramic assemblage has been recovered that warrants study. In addition to characterizing the assemblage of vessel sherds in terms of decorative style and various technological attributes (i.e., temper and paste, firing conditions, surface treatment, etc.), …

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.

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 …

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.

Documentation Of Unassociated And Culturally Unidentifiable Funerary Objects In The U. S. Army Corps Of Engineers, Fort Worth District Collections Housed At The Texas Archeological Research Laboratory At The University Of Texas At Austin, Timothy K. Perttula, Robert Cast, Bobby Gonzalez, Bo Nelson

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

This report concerns the documentation of unassociated Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) funerary objects from prehistoric sites at several man-made reservoirs operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District (COE) in northeastern Texas: Lake Wright Patman, Lake O’ the Pines, and Lake Sam Rayburn in the Sulphur River, Big Cypress Creek, and Angelina River basins, respectively. These NAGPRA materials are presently held at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL).

Documentation Of The Native American Ceramic Vessels From Northeastern Texas, Southern Arkansas, And Eastern Oklahoma In The Boyce Smith Museum In Troup, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Bo Nelson

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

The Boyce Smith Museum opened in 1968 with the purpose of displaying a large collection of Historic artifacts as well as Native American artifacts collected and/or purchased over the years by Mr. Boyce Smith of Troup, Texas, now deceased. After learning of the museum in 2002, and taking a short visit to the museum at that time, it was apparent that the Boyce Smith Museum contained an important collection of Native American ceramic vessels that warranted documentation. With the permission of Jo Beth Smith, the wife of Boyce Smith, and their son Rial Smith, we returned to the Boyce Smith …

Caddo Pottery Vessels And Pipes From Sites In The Middle And Upper Sabine And Upper Neches River Basins, Smith And Wood Counties, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Shawn Marceaux, Bo Nelson

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

This report documents two collections of Caddo ceramic vessels and pipes from sites of prehistoric to early historic age in Smith and Wood counties, Texas, in the upper Sabine and upper Neches river basins in East Texas. Most of these Caddo artifacts are from the J. A. Walters collection, with the remainder being from the Bernie Ward collection.

Documentation Of Caddo Funerary Objects In The Gilcrease Museum Collections, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Mark Walters, Robert Cast, Bobby Gonzalez

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

This report is the latest in a series of reports produced and published by the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, Historic 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). 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 in the collections at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the documentation effort was supported by a …