Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

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.

Prehistoric Artifact Assemblages From Sites Along Hickory Creek In The Davy Crockett National Forest, Houston County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson

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—varying in extent—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 HC-2.

We learned of the PIT projects at the sites in April 2007, when John Ippolitto, then Heritage Program Manager for the NFGT, mentioned the project to Perttula at the Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology held in Austin, …

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 …

Prehistoric Caddo Ceramics From The Henry Lake Site (41ce324), Cherokee County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Tom Middlebrook

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

This article discusses the character of the Caddo ceramics from a single component Frankston phase (ca. A.D. 1400-1650) occupation at the Henry Lake site (41CE324) in northwestern Cherokee County, Texas. This follows a brief discussion of the history of the site, and we conclude this article with a consideration of the temporal and cultural place of the site's Caddo ceramic assemblage within the upper Neches River basin.

The Ceramics From A Late Caddo Site On Mud Creek In Cherokee County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

This article discusses the character of a large assemblage of prehistoric Caddo vessel sherds from a Late Caddo site (41CE309) on Mud Creek in Cherokee County, Texas, not far from the creek's confluence with the Angelina River. The site was discovered by Bill Young, an avocational archaeologist and Texas Archeological Steward, on a terrace of Mud Creek, just west of the city of Reklaw, Texas.

During the course of a number of visits to the site in the 1980s, more than 2300 ceramic sherds were collected by Young, most of the sherds being found in the central part of the …

History Of The East Texas Caddoan/Caddo Research Group, 1996-2008, Timothy K. Perttula, Tom Middlebrook

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

Recently, the senior author of this article has been working with Hester Davis (Arkansas Archeological Survey) regarding the editing of her manuscript on the history of the Caddo Conference, which had its 50th meeting in March 2008. In her manuscript she laments the fact that there is very little time being spent by its participants in keeping track of its history: either in the form of transcripts of the meetings, notes on each conference, saving photographs and images, or actively maintaining an archive of materials resulting from each Conference. Davis pointed out that it was important to maintain a record …

Caddo Ceramics From An Early 18th Century Spanish Mission In East Texas: Mission San Jose De Los Nasonis (41rk200), Timothy K. Perttula, Bill Young, P. Shawn Marceaux

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

Mission San Jose de los Nasonis (4JRK200) and two contemporaneous Nasoni Caddo sites (41RK191 and 41RK197) were located by Mr. Bill Young more than 25 years ago in the southern part of Rusk County, Texas after the general area of the site had been cleared of timber. The mission site covers ca. 6.6 acres of an upland ridge along a small tributary to the Angelina River; the ridge projects into the Angelina River floodplain. The topographic setting of Mission San Jose conforms in all particulars to the settings of other known mission sites established among the Caddo: small hills adjacent …

Late Caddo Ceramics From 41he337 In Henderson County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Site 41HE337 is a Late Caddo settlement located on the north side of Caddo Creek, an eastward-flowing tributary to the Neches River, and just west of the city of Poynor, in Henderson County, Texas. Bill Young, an avocational archaeologist living in Corsicana, Texas, has a substantial collection of Caddo ceramic vessel sherds from the site. He gave his permission to study and document these materials as part of a broader study I am engaged in of post-A.D. 1300 Caddo ceramic traditions in the upper Neches River basin of East Texas.

Caddo Sherds From The Hudnall-Pirtle Site (41rk4) In The Buddy Jones Collection At The Gregg County Historical Museum, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Buddy Calvin Jones, a resident of Longview, Texas, conducted excavations in 1958 and 1959 of an unknown extent at the Hudnall-Pirtle site (41RK4), a well-known and significant Early Caddo (ca. A.D. 900-1200) multiple mound center on a Sabine River alluvial terrace in Rusk County, Texas. The site is now owned by The Archaeological Conservancy as a Caddo archaeological preserve. Caddo sherds from the site are in the Jones collection curated at the Gregg County Historical Museum, and recently I had an opportunity to examine this collection. This paper puts the findings of that examination on record.

Towards The Concerted Study Of Caddo Origins, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The study of the origins of any people from an archaeological perspective is a considerable undertaking, one that may task the efforts and thoughts of a multitude of people, probably from several disciplines. After the talking and discussion in the 2008 East Texas Caddo Research Group (ETCRG) meeting about Caddo origins, how do we proceed from here on out to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of Caddo origins? For the purposes of discussion, I am assuming that the ETCRG participants agree that the concerted study of Caddo origins is an issue and research problem worth undertaking.

I recently had …

A 19th Century Caddo Component At The Gatlin Site (41rk1) In The Angelina River Basin Of East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

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

The Gatlin site (41RK1) is located ca. 1 mile to the southeast of the small community of Mount Enterprise in Rusk County in the headwaters of the Angelina River basin in the East Texas Pineywoods. The site was first investigated by the landowner in about 1895 (Records on file at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory [TARL], The University of Texas at Austin). At that time, the landowner exposed a single burial with preserved skeletal remains and two extra skulls in the burial pit; each of the skulls supposedly had a hole (bullet hole?) on one side of the head. Among …

Issues Regarding The Early Development Of Caddo Culture Discussion Topics For The East Texas Caddo Research Group, December 2008, Jeffery S. Girard

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

Is there a consensus regarding which archaeological traits are diagnostic of Caddo culture? What are the necessary and sufficient traits for designating a context as “Caddo” as opposed to, for example, “pre-Caddo” or “Coles Creek?”

Caddo Origins, A Smith County Perspective, Mark Walters

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

Attempting to trace Caddo Origins in Smith County and surrounding counties depends a lot on what we end up defining as Caddo. Separating the Caddo culture from previous cultures in East Texas becomes tedious when trying to fit the available archaeological record to existing models of Woodland cultures. Krieger stated that there was no evidence in East Texas of a Woodland (or Hopewellian) culture, with Mississippian culture beginning as early as 500 B.C. I mention this partly for the sake of argument, but also to point out that in this area there is not such a clearcut difference between the …

Comments On Caddo Origins In Northwest Louisiana, Jeffery S. Girard

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

This paper presents some of my thoughts on the issue of Caddo origins from the perspective of the Red River drainage in northwest Louisiana. These ideas were assembled prior to the Caddo discussion group meeting held in December 2008 and have been only slightly modified here. The paper was not given as a formal presentation, but I attempted to introduce the main points during the group discussion.

Development of better chronological controls is crucial for addressing problems of Caddo origins, and I discuss this issue first. Although much has been settled since the early Krieger-Ford discussions, a finer-grained chronology is …

Lake Naconiche Archaeology And Caddo Origins Issues, Timothy K. Perttula

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

Sometime around ca. A.D. 800, Lake Naconiche sites were no longer occupied by Woodland period groups of the Mossy Grove culture solely making sandy paste pottery or living as mobile hunting-gathering foragers. At this time, from ca. A.D. 750-800 to around A.D. 900, colder and drier conditions began to dominate the local weather. After ca. A.D. 800, were the aboriginal groups Caddo peoples or acculturated Mossy Grove folks? Some findings from the Lake Naconiche archaeological investigations at the Boyette site (41NA285) are relevant to this issue of ethnic affiliations and local, but nevertheless regional momentous, cultural changes.

Putting that in …