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Excavations At The Early Caddo Period Mound Pond Site (41hs12) In Harrison County, Texas, Glenn T. Goode, Timothy K. Perttula, Leslie L. Bush, Shawn Marceaux, Leeanna Schniebs, Jesse Todd

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

This publication summarizes major archaeological findings from the July 1977 excavations at the Mound Pond site (41HS12), in the Pineywoods of Harrison County, Texas. The site lies on the south, or right, bank of Big Cypress Creek in the upper reaches of Caddo Lake, approximately 4 km north of the village of Uncertain.

The Mound Pond Site was recorded by Dr. E. Mott Davis (The University of Texas at Austin) in the 1950s, during the time that he was conducting investigations at nearby Lake O’ the Pines Reservoir. Early in 1977, Forrest Murphey, of Marshall, Texas, approached Glenn Goode about …

Caddo Ceramic Vessels From The Hatchel Site (41bw3) On The Red River In Bowie County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

This monograph concerns the analysis and study of the ancestral Caddo ceramic vessels (n=68) recovered at the Hatchel site (41BW3) on the Red River in Bowie County, Texas. These vessels were excavated from burial and non-burial features in the platform mound, village areas, and cemetery areas (burial plots 1-4) excavated by University of Texas archaeologists during 1938-1939 Works Progress Administration (WPA) investigations. The vessels are curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas (TARL).

The Caddo Ceramic Assemblage From The Hardin A Site (41gg69) On The Sabine River In Gregg County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Hardin A site (41GG69) is an ancestral Caddo settlement on a high alluvial terrace landform overlooking the Sabine River floodplain in Gregg County, Texas, a few miles west of Longview, Texas. The modern channel of the river is ca. 650 m to the south. The site, which is in the East Texas Pineywoods, has well preserved midden deposits, pit features, as well as a looted cemetery area.

The Bert W. Davis Site (41hp3) On The South Sulphur River In Hopkins County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Bert W. Davis site in the South Sulphur River valley in East Texas was investigated by archaeologists from the University of Texas (UT) in 1919 and 1934, because an aboriginal cemetery had been exposed by plowing and later looting. The UT work consisted of a reconnaissance by J. E. Pearce in September 1919 and trenching by A. T. Jackson and crew in July 1934. A small assemblage of artifacts were recovered by UT during this work, but the collection (now at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at UT) had never been fully studied or the results of the work …

East Texas Caddo Ceramic Sherd Database, Timothy K. Perttula

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

A considerable amount of effort has been expended over the years by archaeologists in the identification, description, and classification of ancestral Caddo ceramic vessels and sherds recovered from sites across East Texas, beginning with the masterful efforts of Alex D. Krieger. These analyses have led to an appreciation of the stylistic, technological, functional, and morphological character of Caddo ceramics, as well as their age, and their role in the identification and scale of social networks of different Caddo communities in existence as early as ca. A.D. 850 to the early 19th century.

The purpose of the compilation of attribute-level data …

Additional Radiocarbon Dates From East Texas Caddo Sites, Timothy K. Perttula, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

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

This article reports on two new radiocarbon dates obtained from ancestral Caddo sites in East Texas. These dates provide new information on the ages of Caddo occupations at the sites, and they contribute to the further expansion of the East Texas Caddo radiocarbon database.

The Womack Site (41lr1), An Ancestral Caddo Settlement On The Red River In Lamar County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Womack site (41LR1) is an ancestral Caddo settlement situated on an alluvial terrace in a horseshoe bend of the Red River in north central Lamar County in East Texas. Harris completed the analysis and study of their 1938-mid-1960s investigations at the site, but the findings from the earlier archaeological investigations conducted at the site by the University of Texas (UT) in 1931 have not been previously published. In this article I discuss the 1931 investigations by UT at the Womack site, and also summarize the character of the artifact assemblage recovered at the site during this work. Lastly, I …

The Harling Site (41fn1): An Ancestral Caddo Mound Site On The Red River In Fannin County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Harling site (41FN1), also earlier known as the Morgan Place, is a little-known ancestral Caddo mound site located on the first alluvial terrace of the Red River in the northeastern corner of Fannin County in East Texas. The only professional archaeological investigations at the Harling site took place in November-December 1960 by a University of Texas crew led by Dr. E. Mott Davis, in advance of proposed mound leveling by the landowner. Other than short summary articles by Davis, the results of the excavations and analyses of the recovered artifacts from the Harling site have not been previously published. …

The T. N. Coles Site (41rr3): An Early Caddo Period Burial Mound Site On The Sulphur River, Red River County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The T. N. Coles site (41RR3), also known as the Mustang Creek site, is an Early Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1000-1200) site with a single burial mound constructed on a tributary to the Sulphur River in East Texas. The site was never investigated by a professional archaeologist, but the available information about the site and the artifact findings indicate that the burial mound contained (and may still contain) at least one burial with multiple interments, very similar to Early Caddo period shaft tombs at the Gahagan and Mounds Plantation sites on the Red River in Northwest Louisiana, the Crenshaw site …

The Sanders Site (41lr2): A Middle To Historic Caddo Settlement And Mound Center On The Red River In Lamar County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Mark Walters, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

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

The T. M. Sanders site (41LR2) is one of the more important (although still not well known or intensively studied) ancestral Caddo sites known in East Texas, primarily because of its two earthen mounds and the well-preserved mortuary features of Caddo elite persons buried in Mound No. 1 (the East Mound). Archaeological work began at the site in 1931 by The University of Texas at Austin, with sporadic work by members of the Dallas Archeological Society in the 1940s and 1950s. Archaeological and bioarchaeological interpretations of the findings from this work at the Sanders site began with Krieger’s analyses of …

The Goss Farm Site (41fn12) On Bois D’Arc Creek, Fannin County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Goss Farm site (41FN12) is an ancestral Caddo settlement on an alluvial landform on the west side of Bois d’Arc Creek near its confluence with the Red River. The Sanders site (41LR2) lies east of the Goss Farm on Bois d’Arc Creek; the Goss Farm site is likely part of the same ancestral Caddo settlement as the Sanders site. The recovered artifacts from Goss Farm strongly suggest that the occupations there are culturally related to that of the Sanders site.

In August 1930, B. B. Gardner of the University of Texas conducted limited archaeological investigations at the site. He …

The R. L. Jaggers Site (41fk3): An Early Caddo Period Settlement And Cemetery In The Sulphur River Basin, Franklin County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The R. L. Jaggers site is an Early Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1000-1200) settlement and cemetery in the Sulphur River basin Post Oak Savannah in East Texas. The University of Texas (UT) completed archaeological investigations at the site in 1930. The site has received no professional archaeological investigations since that time. Thurmond has provided a short and cursory review of the funerary offerings recovered in the excavated burials at the site.

The Westerman Mound Site (41ho15), Houston County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Westerman site is located in the middle Neches River basin in the Pineywoods of East Texas. The site, first recorded in 1969, is on an alluvial terrace lying between Armstrong Creek to the south and Cochino Bayou to the north; these are eastward-flowing tributaries to the Neches River.

The site has a single earthen mound and an associated settlement that is estimated to cover ca. 10-15 acres; there are several areas at the site where aboriginal artifacts were noted at the surface, on each side of the mound. The mound, which was well preserved when it was visited in …

The Colony Church Site (41ra31): A Caddo Mound Center In The Upper Sabine River Basin, Rains County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Colony Church site (41RA31) is an ancestral Caddo mound center in the Post Oak Savannah of the upper Sabine River basin in East Texas; it is the westernmost Caddo mound site on the Sabine River. The site was recorded in the late 1960s, as part of an archaeological survey of the proposed Mineola Reservoir on the Sabine River. The reservoir was never constructed.

A Titus Phase Midden Mound At The Earl Jones Farm (41wd3) In The Lake Fork Creek Basin, Wood County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Earl Jones Farm site is one of a number of Late Caddo period, Titus phase (ca. A.D 1430-1680), sites along tributaries of Lake Fork Creek in the upper Sabine River basin in East Texas, nor far from Quitman, the county seat for Wood County. This includes sites such as J. H. Reese (41WD2), L. L. Winterbauer (41WD6), 41WD19, 41WD44, Pine Tree (41WD51), Burks (41WD52), and Steck (41WD529) with habitation features, midden deposits, and family cemeteries.

The T. M. Joslin Site (41vn3) In The Sabine River Basin, Van Zandt County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The T. M. Joslin site (41VN3) is a multi-component prehistoric site that was investigated by the University of Texas (UT) in September 1940 as Works Progress Administration (WPA) Project No. 15409. The excavations began immediately after the UT WPA crew had finished work at the nearby Yarbrough site (41VN6). The site is on a sandy knoll on Caney Creek, a northward-flowing tributary of the Sabine River in the Post Oak Savannah of East Texas.

Supervised by William A. Duffen of UT, a crew of 16 local laborers excavated a 100 x 100 ft. block (30.5 x 30.5 m) on the …

The Joe Meyer Estate #1 Site (41sm73) On Saline Creek In The Upper Neches River Basin In East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Joe Meyer Estate #1 site (41SM73) is an ancestral Caddo settlement and cemetery on an upland landform west of Saline Creek, a southern-flowing tributary of the Neches River in the upper Neches River basin. In the spring of 1957 members of the East Texas Archeological Society (ETAS), including John Mulligan, Sam Whiteside, Derrell Sanders, and Jowell Proctor, had located the site and commenced excavations. The site had substantial midden deposits as well as Caddo burial features.

W. A. Davis and E. Mott Davis of The University of Texas visited the site in April 1957, took notes on the burial …

The L. L. Winterbauer Site (41wd6), Wood County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The L. L. Winterbauer site (41WD6) is an ancestral Caddo habitation site in the Lake Fork Creek basin in the Post Oak Savannah of East Texas (Figure 1). It is situated along a small tributary stream that flows west into Lake Fork Creek, itself a tributary to the Sabine River, about 1.5 miles west of Quitman, the county seat of Wood County. The recovered artifacts from the investigations of the Winterbauer site indicate that the site was occupied during the Late Caddo period Titus phase, dated generally between ca. A.D. 1430-1680.

The Lafitte Mound Site (41sy15) In The Middle Sabine River Basin, Shelby County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Lafitte site (41SY15) is an ancestral Caddo mound center in the middle Sabine River basin in the East Texas Pineywoods. It was identified and recorded in the early 1960s during the course of archaeological surveys of then proposed Toledo Bend Reservoir.

The Temporal And Spatial Distribution Of Catlinite And Redstone Pipes On Caddo Sites, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Catlinite and redstone pipes are widely distributed on post-A.D 1450 native American sites across eastern North America, including the Caddo area of the far Southeast. As Rodning indicates, however, catlinite pipes are much more widespread from the late seventeenth century to the early eighteenth century, where the smoking of catlinite pipes is associated with calumet ceremonialism, and the spread of calumet ceremonialism associated with the “spread of European colonists and colonialism.”

In this article, I discuss the temporal and spatial distribution of catlinite and redstone pipes on Caddo sites across the northern and southern Caddo areas. These pipes occur in …

The A. C. Gibson Site (41wd1), A Middle Caddo Period Component On The Sabine River In Wood County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The A. C. Gibson site (41WD1) is an ancestral Caddo site of probable Middle Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1200-1400) age in the Sabine River basin in the Post Oak Savannah of East Texas (Figure 1). The site is on a natural alluvial knoll in the floodplain of the Sabine River and Cottonwood Creek, just north of Cedar Lake, an old channel of the river. The site has been known since the early 1930s by collectors and site looters, early University of Texas (UT) archeologists, and then by later archaeologists from UT and Southern Methodist University, but it has heretofore not …

The Peterson Ranch Site (41hs253), A Late 17th To Early 18th Century Ancestral Caddo Cemetery In The Little Cypress Creek Basin, Harrison County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Peterson Ranch site (41HS253) is a late 17th to early 18th century Caddo cemetery in the Little Cypress Creek basin in the East Texas Pineywoods. The cemetery, on Gray’s Creek, was found and excavated in 1962 by a number of collectors from the Marshall, Texas, area. In 1963 the cemetery area was destroyed by the construction of an oil well pad.

Most of the collectors kept cursory notes on their excavations at the site, which consisted of plan maps showing the orientation of the burial pits, the human remains in the graves, and the location and kinds of some …

41hs144, A Middle Caddo Period Settlement And Cemetery In The Sabine River Basin Of East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Site 41HS144 is a Middle Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1200-1450) settlement and cemetery in the Sabine River basin in the East Texas Pineywoods. The site was excavated by collectors, including Mr. Red McFarland, a well-known collector and looter of Caddo burials, in the mid-1970s. McFarland provided to the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL) basic information on the site and the cultural features that he and other collectors found there, and he also donated to TARL a collection of recovered artifacts. This article is an analysis of the available records and collectors from 41HS144.

Two Caddo Sites In The Attoyac Bayou Basin In The East Texas Pineywoods, San Augustine County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

This article concerns two ancestral Caddo sites in San Augustine County on tributaries to Attoyac Bayou in the East Texas Pineywoods: 41SA7 and 41SA13. Both sites were recorded in April and May 1940 by G. E. Arnold of The University of Texas in Austin as part of a larger archaeological survey of East Texas.

The Keasler Site (41hs235), A Titus Phase Cemetery In The Little Cypress Creek Basin, Harrison County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Keasler site (41HS235) is a Late Caddo period, Titus phase (ca. A.D. 1430-1680) cemetery in the East Texas Pineywoods. The site was excavated by collectors in the late 1970s, including Red McFarland, one of the more active looters of Caddo burials in East Texas. Minimal records on the burials at the site, and their contents, were provided by McFarland 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 in East Texas, in …

Caddo Archaeological Sites On San Pedro Creek In Houston County, Texas: San Pedro De Los Nabedaches, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Nabedache Caddo that lived on San Pedro Creek in Houston County in the East Texas Pineywoods were a prominent nation during the early years of European contact, from ca. A.D. 1687-1730. Their villages, hamlets, and farmsteads sat astride an aboriginal trail that came to be known as El Camino Real de los Tejas, and thus their community was a principal gateway to Europeans and other Native American tribes who came from the west in Spanish Texas to meet with the Tejas or Hasinai Caddo peoples. The first Spanish mission in East Texas was established amidst the Nabedache Caddo community. …

41ho70 On Stowe Creek In The Upper San Pedro Creek Basin, Houston County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Site 41HO70 in the East Texas Pineywoods is an ancestral Caddo settlement that was extensively looted by a well-known East Texas looter in 1985. The available information about the site discussed in this article is gleaned from the records and a 1986 artifact collection held by the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL).

Upper Sabine River Basin Caddo Mound Sites: The Seaton Bros. (41ra38) And Fruitvale (41vn35) Sites In Rains And Van Zandt Counties, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

There are a number of ancestral Caddo-constructed earthen mounds on sites in the upper Sabine River Basin in East Texas. Perhaps the best known are the multiple mound centers at the Early Caddo period Boxed Springs site (41UR30) and the Middle Caddo period Jamestown site (41SM54). The Seaton Bros. and Fruitvale sites are two of the least known ancestral Caddo mound sites in the upper Sabine River basin.

Both sites were recorded by Malone during the archaeological survey of the proposed Mineola Reservoir, but because the reservoir was not constructed, these mound sites were only investigated during cursory survey efforts. …

Caddo Sites On Patroon, Palo Gaucho, And Housen Bayous In Sabine County In The Sabine River Basin Of East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The 13 ancestral Caddo sites and collections discussed in this article were recorded by G. E. Arnold of The University of Texas at Austin between January and April 1940 as part of a WPA-funded archaeological survey of East Texas. The sites are located along the lower reaches of Patroon, Palo Gaucho, and Housen bayous in Sabine County, Texas. These bayous are eastward-flowing tributaries to the Sabine River in the Toledo Bend Reservoir area, but only 41SB30 is located below the current Toledo Bend Reservoir flood pool. This is an area where the temporal, spatial, and social character of the Caddo …

Armstrong Landing Site (41cs37): An Ancestral Caddo Site On The Sulphur River, Cass County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Armstrong Landing site (41CS37) is an ancestral Caddo site on an alluvial terrace of the Sulphur River at Lake Wright Patman. It was formally recorded by Briggs and Malone (1970) prior to a planned enlargement of Lake Wright Patman. According to records on file at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin (TARL), collectors from the Texarkana area had worked the site in the early 1960s, digging four burials there and noting extensive midden deposits. The site remains above the normal conservation flood pool of the lake at present, but is subject to erosion from …