bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Another Look at the Urbankte Site (41CV26) in Coryell County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , Shafer Harry J.
Published: May 2019

Perttula (2016) had analyzed ceramic sherds and other material culture remains curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL) from four sites in the Brazos River basin in the Central Texas prairie that had been identified as Prairie Caddo sites by Shafer; one of the sites was the Urbankte site (41CV26). The Urbankte site is on the Leon River in Coryell County, at Belton Reservoir; the Leon River is a southward-flowing tributary to the Brazos River. The term “Prairie Caddo” used by Shafer refers to Caddo groups affiliated with Caddo communities in East Texas, most likely affiliated with the George C. Davis site in the Neches River valley, that occupied portions of the Central Texas prairies in Late Prehistoric times, from ca. A.D. 1000-1300.

Each of the four assemblages in the Brazos River basin have sherds that stylistically compare closely to decorated Caddo vessels from East Texas Caddo sites, and the distinctive character of these decorated sherds suggested that the four sites were occupied between ca. A.D. 1000-1200 or to post-ca. A.D. 1200-1300 times in the case of the Urbankte site. Where these ceramic assemblages seemed to differ from East Texas Caddo ceramics, however, was in their manufacture: the grog and bone temper inclusions added to the paste of the ceramic vessel sherds from these sites had numerous, large, and coarse-grained temper inclusions, while East Texas Caddo ceramics tend to have more fine-grained temper inclusions, even in the manufacture of utility ware jars.

The Urbankte site ceramics (n=118 sherds) I examined at TARL were heavily bone-tempered (88 percent) and had a considerable proportion of brushed sherds (46 percent of the decorated sherds). Both characteristics were consistent with a post A.D. 1200-1300 Prairie Caddo occupation, as was the fact that eight of the nine arrow points in the TARL collections from the Urbankte site are Perdiz arrow points. The common occurrence of both Perdiz points and brushed ceramic sherds suggested then that this Prairie Caddo occupation at the Urbankte site took place sometime after ca. A.D. 1200-1300.

As Dr. Shafer mentions below, the artifacts from the Urbankte site that he had discussed in the Prairie Caddo module were from a different part of the site than the TARL collection I had documented, and were from a different and earlier cultural component. We will return to those artifacts shortly.
41SM91: A Frankston Phase Settlement on the Neches River at Lake Palestine, Smith County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

Site 41SM91 is an ancestral Caddo habitation site on an upland landform east of the Neches River, in the area of Lake Palestine, a large reservoir constructed on the Neches River in the East Texas Pineywoods; the dam is located about 11 km south of the site. The site was found and recorded during a 1957 survey of the proposed reservoir flood pool, and Johnson described it as “a large Frankston Focus habitation site located in a cultivated field on the slope of a large hill to the east of the Neches floodplain”. A large assemblage of ceramic vessel sherds were collected from the surface of the site during the archaeological survey, and these sherds are in the collections of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin.
Ouachita Mountains Foodways: Preliminary Results from 2013-2014 Excavations at 3MN298
Authors: Trubitt Mary Beth D. , Bush Leslie L. , Kelly Lucretia S. , Leslie Katie
Published: May 2019

New excavations in the Ouachita National Forest in west-central Arkansas, co-directed by Meeks Etchieson and Mary Beth Trubitt, are resulting in significant information about foodways of ancestral Caddo Indians living in the Ouachita Mountains region. This work has focused on the Dragover site (3MN298), located on a floodplain of the upper Ouachita River. Artifacts from this extensive archeological site indicate use from about 6000 B.C. to the A.D. 1900s, but it was its potential for well-preserved organic material – animal bone, mussel shell, and charred plant seeds – that drew our research attention. Initial site testing in the 1980s uncovered several pit features with pottery sherds, chipped stone, animal bone, and mussel shells. Later analysis of ceramics from those features indicated a Buckville phase Caddo occupation estimated to fall in the sixteenth century A.D. Planting pine trees caused some damage to the site; one motivation for this project was the need for a current site evaluation so the Ouachita National Forest could better manage this historical location.
The Caddo Ceramic Sherd Assemblage from the Hawkins Site (41SM144) on the Sabine River in Smith County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Hawkins site is an ancestral Caddo habitation site on a Sabine River bluff about 1.7 km southwest of the confluence of Little White Oak Creek with the river, in the Pineywoods of Smith County. The site was located and investigated in the 1950s by Sam Whiteside of Tyler, Texas. This article is concerned with the analysis of the Caddo ceramic wares from the site, as well as an assessment of the probable age and cultural affiliation of the Caddo occupation.
New Archaeological Investigations at the M. S. Roberts Site (41HE8) in the Caddo Creek Valley in Henderson County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , McKee Arlo , Walters Mark , Nelson Bo
Published: May 2019

In this article, we discuss new archaeological investigations at the M. S. Roberts site (41HE8), likely a 14th to early 15th century A.D. Caddo period mound center along Caddo Creek in the upper Neches River basin in Henderson County in East Texas. With the permission and cooperation of the landowners, we completed an aerial survey of the site to produce a detailed topographic map as well as assess the plan and profile of the mound and its associated borrow pit, and we also excavated a number of shovel tests around the mound to locate habitation deposits. Finally, a few auger holes were excavated to determine the internal structure of the M. S. Roberts site mound.
Historic Caddo Archaeological Sites in Cherokee County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , Stingley Kevin , Walters Mark
Published: May 2019

The historic archaeology of the Caddo Indian peoples in East Texas has been the subject of considerable interest by Caddo archaeologists for a number of years. Much of that interest has been focused on the investigation of the effects of European contact on Caddo cultural traditions and practices, particularly the impact of introduced European epidemic diseases, and the impact of Spanish, French, and American colonization efforts.

In recent years, another focus of Historic Caddo archaeological investigations has been on characterizing the material culture record of the different clusters of Caddo Indian sites in East Texas, most notably the study of the diversity in the decorative styles and technologies of their hand-made ceramic vessels as clues to identifying clusters of ethnically and socially related communities in the Angelina and Neches River basins that were living in the region after the mid-17th century A.D. Herein, we discuss the archaeological findings from four Historic Caddo sites in the Bowles Creek basin in Cherokee County, Texas, that have ceramic assemblages that help to better characterize the nature of what has been defined as Neche cluster sites; “a cluster is strictly a group of possibly related sites in close geographic proximity to each other” suggests that certain sites in the middle Neches River basin (and the Bowles Creek valley) are affiliated with the Neche Caddo groups, and the sites described in this article may well belong to the Neche cluster.
Caddo Ceramic Vessels from the Fred Yarbrough Site (41VN6) in the Upper Sabine River Basin, Van Zandt County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

Excavations in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) at the Fred Yarbrough site (41VN6) in the upper Sabine River basin recovered a number of ceramic vessels from Area B of the site. Johnson provided an initial description of the vessels as well as drawings of a number of the reconstructed vessels. In this article, I reexamine the nine vessels from the Fred Yarbrough site held in the collections of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin (TARL), employing the vessel documentation protocol used in recent years to document ancestral Caddo vessels from sites in East Texas, and I also provide photographs of each of the vessels.
Caddo Ceramic Vessels from the W. J. Barnett Site (41SM2), Smith County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

Ancestral Caddo ceramic vessels were found along the bank of an eroded ditch in the early 1930s at the W. J. Barnett site (41SM2). They were purchased by The University of Texas about 1935. The site is in the uplands about 6 km south of the Sabine River floodplain and ca. 2 km east of the Jamestown (41SM54) mound center.
Early Caddo Period Ceramic Vessels from the Roger D. Simmos Site (41TT321), Titus County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Roger D. Simmons site (41TT321) is in the Sulphur River basin in East Texas. A single ancestral Caddo burial was exposed in 1984 during the removal of sand from the site for the construction of a school in Talco, Texas. Associated with the burial were three ceramic vessels—documented herein—as well as a large (ca. 18 cm in length) chipped stone bifacial tool made from non-local chert (identified as Edwards formation chert on the site form), an adze, and a celt.
Possible Engraved Canebrake Rattlesnake Motifs on Sherds from the Etoile Site (41NA11) in the Angelina River Basin in East Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , Walters Mark
Published: May 2019

Engraved canebrake rattlesnake motifs on bottles has been found in ceramic assemblages in at least 18 Middle (ca. A.D. 1200–1400) and Late Caddo (ca. A.D. 1400–1680) period sites in the Big and Little Cypress Creek, mid–Sabine, Red River, and Angelina River basins in East Texas. The motif consists of “representational images of snakes with entwined or interlocking tails."
Caddo Ceramic Vessels from the E. B. Minter (41HP2) and Roger Attaway (41HP15) Sites in Hopkins County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , Walters Mark
Published: May 2019

A number of ancestral Caddo ceramic vessels are in the collections at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin from the E. B. Minter (41HP2, n=4 vessels) and Roger Attaway (41HP15, n=5 vessels) in Hopkins County, Texas. We recently had the opportunity to fully document these vessels as part of our long-term efforts to characterize ancestral East Texas Caddo vessel forms, temper usage, and stylistic/decorative elements.

The University of Texas conducted excavations at the E. B. Minter site, in the upper White Oak Creek and Sulphur River basin, in May 1931. A 60 x 35 ft. area was excavated on a sandy knoll at that time based on a report that ceramic vessels and ceramic pipes had been found there in years past, but no features were found. A second area by a county road exposed Burial 1 at a depth of ca. 77 cm bs; Jackson noted that ceramic vessels had been found in this area months earlier by road grading work along the road. Burial 1 was laid out in an east-west orientation.

The Roger Attaway Farm site (41HP15) was located in the Spring of 1929 when heavy rains exposed a Caddo burial with five ceramic vessels and two arrow points. This site was 2 miles northwest of Black Oak, in the upper Caney Creek valley in the upper Sabine River basin. Mr. Attaway collected the exposed funerary objects, and then gave them to a Mr. George E. Cowan. Cowan sold four of the vessels to the University of Texas shortly thereafter.
Bird Bone Flageolet from the Walter Bell Site (41SB50) at Lake Sam Rayburn, Sabine County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Walter Bell site (41SB50) at Lake Sam Rayburn in the Neches–Angelina river basins in the deep East Texas Pineywoods was excavated by an National Park Service team in 1957. This was a small prehistoric Caddo farmstead or hamlet with two circular houses, a portion of a third house in the area of House 2, midden deposits, and six burials. Based on the kinds of artifacts found at the site (i.e., clay elbow pipes, a high proportion of brushed utility ware sherds from Broaddus Brushed vessels, and lower proportions of Pineland Punctated–Incised vessel sherds), the Walter Bell site was apparently occupied after ca. A.D. 1450–1500, in the Late Caddo period.

Four of the burials (Burials 1–3 and 6) were in close association (either inside the house and underneath the house floor) with House 1, one (Burial 4) was inside House 2, and Burial 5 was in an open area, possibly a courtyard or work area between the two Caddo houses. Funerary offerings placed with the deceased included ceramic vessels, Perdiz arrow points, conch shell beads, deer ulna tools and deer food offerings, mussel shells, and engraved bird bone flageolets.
Incised–Punctated Utility Ware Sherds from Lake Sam Rayburn Ancestral Caddo Sites
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , Walters Mark
Published: May 2019

One of the more distinctive of the decorative methods represented in the ancestral Caddo ceramic assemblages from Lake Sam Rayburn sites is sherds and vessels with incised–punctated decorative elements. This diversity in the range and character of sherds and vessels with incised–punctated decorative elements is also the case in ancestral Caddo sites on the Sabine River and tributaries in the Toledo Bend Reservoir area of East Texas and Northwest Louisiana.

Jelks included the incised–punctated vessels and sherds from the Lake Sam Rayburn sites in a newly defined type: Pineland Punctated–Incised. Pineland Punctated– Incised is a grog and/or bone–tempered utility ware, and occurs primarily as beaker–shaped jars as well as ollas and deep bowls. The vessels have concentric, triangular, rectangular, and curvilinear incised zones on the rim filled with tool punctation. Ollas and bowls have design elements on the vessel bodies.

At Lake Sam Rayburn sites, Pineland Punctated–Incised sherds and vessels occur in both Middle Caddo (ca. A.D. 1200–1400/1450) and Late Caddo (ca. A.D. 1400/1450–1680) contexts. Based on the analyses discussed below, incised–punctated utility wares are most abundant in later Middle Caddo period components estimated to date from ca. A.D. 1300–1400/1450, and least common in post–A.D. 1400/1450 Late Caddo period components.
Copper Artifacts from Caddo Sites in the Southern Caddo Area
Authors: Girard Jeffery S. , Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

Copper artifacts have been found at only 18 Caddo sites in the southern Caddo area of Southwest Arkansas, Northwest Louisiana, southeastern Oklahoma, and East Texas. Most of these exotic copper artifacts are found in burial mound context in important civic-ceremonial centers, or in burials in non-mound cemeteries. About 80 percent of the known copper artifacts occur in contexts in sites that date to the Early Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1000-1200). These copper items likely are linked to the Cahokia exchange system, and represent prestige goods with ritual status acquired and displayed by leaders in different Caddo communities. By Late Caddo period times (ca. A.D. 1400-1680), copper items tend to be ear spools, especially copper-covered stone ear spools. Copper continued to be used as personal ornaments linked to specific Caddo individuals, but they no longer served for objects that may have been involved in public ritual, as there are no effigies, sheet copper hand cutouts, or maskettes from Late Caddo contexts as there were in Early or Middle Caddo period contexts.
The E. Williams Site on Martin Creek in Panola County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The E. Williams site is an ancestral Caddo site on the north side of Martin Creek, an eastward–flowing tributary to the Sabine River, in Panola County in the East Texas Pineywoods. The site is just a few miles west of the confluence of Martin Creek and the Sabine River. Buddy Calvin Jones located the site (which he labeled as Panola–2) and obtained a small collection of ceramic vessel sherds, probably from surface contexts. This collection is among the holdings of the Gregg County Historical Museum.
The Oil Road Site in Rusk County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Oil Road site (D–2) in Rusk County is along Tiawichi Creek in northern Rusk County in the East Texas Pineywoods, about 1 mile east of the small town of Monroe, Texas. Tiawichi Creek is a tributary to Cherokee Bayou, which is in turn a northeastern–flowing tributary to the Sabine River. The Early Caddo period Hudnall–Pirtle mound site (41RK4) is on the Sabine River just east of its confluence with Cherokee Bayou.

The site was located by Buddy Calvin Jones, probably in the 1950s; it has not been formally recorded or received a site trinomial. The recovered artifacts discussed in this article are probably from a surface collection obtained by Jones from the Oil Road site.
An Ancestral Caddo Site on Mill Creek in Rusk County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

Site RC–15 (the 15th site recorded in Rusk County by Jones) in Rusk County, Texas, in the Pineywoods, was identified by Buddy Calvin Jones during his wide–ranging survey investigations in East Texas in the 1950s–1960s. This ancestral Caddo site is on Mill Creek, a tributary stream in the mid–Sabine River basin, a few miles south of its confluence with Tiawichi Creek. The Oak Hill Village site (41RK214), a large ancestral Caddo settlement that was occupied between ca. A.D. 1150–1450, is on Mill Creek not far south of Site RC–15.
An Artifact Assemblage from Area B at the Grace Creek Site (41GG33), Gregg County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Grace Creek #1 site (41GG33, GC–1) was situated on a natural alluvial rise on the east side of Grace Creek, about 0.4 km north of its confluence with the Sabine River. On the north side of the site was an abandoned Sabine River lake bed, while to the south was an old channel, as well as a channel lake (Muddy Lake), of the Sabine River. Jones divided the site into three areas (A, B, and C); a midden deposit was apparently located in Area B on the central part of the rise.

Buddy Calvin Jones identified and worked at the Grace Creek #1 site between 1954 and 1956, while the site was being destroyed for the construction of an earthen dike along Grace Creek and the Sabine River. In addition to the extensive surface collection of projectile points, lithic tools, and ceramic sherds he found there, in areas A–C, Jones also conducted limited excavations in areas where apparently organically–stained soil and possible feature stains were noted on the scraped surface of the site. In these excavations, he documented midden deposits, a flexed burial in the midden deposits in Area B, two pit features in this area, and several small (ca. 10 cm in diameter) post holes in Area C. Jones' map of the site did not indicate the location of the excavations in Area C, but Jones suggested that aboriginal houses were likely present here.

The ceramic artifacts discussed in this article are from a fire pit in Area B that was excavated by Buddy Jones in October 1956. There are also a number of arrow points in the collections from the site, as well as a large ceramic elbow pipe. These materials are in the collections of the Gregg County Historical Museum in Longview, Texas.
Comparing Caddo and Coles Creek Pottery Using Petrographic Analysis
Authors: Girard Jeffery S. , Cecil Leslie G.
Published: May 2019

Pottery classified as “Coles Creek Incised” is common both to the earliest Caddo sites along the Red River and to contemporary sites in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Although it often is suggested that Coles Creek pottery from the two regions can be distinguished by differences in paste, no detailed comparative studies have been carried out. An initial attempt to identify variation through the use of petrographic analysis was carried out by comparing 50 samples drawn from sites in northwest and central Louisiana. Although no sharp dichotomy was noted between the regions, the study identified distinctions that support the notion that most Coles Creek pottery was made locally and different technological traditions may be represented.
Eagle Burials on Red River Caddo Sites
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

A wide variety of birds are found in faunal assemblages from Caddo sites in southwest Arkansas, northwest Louisiana, eastern Oklahoma, and East Texas, particularly turkey as well as ducks and geese. One of the rarest avifauna recovered on Caddo sites of any age is that of the eagle, including bald eagles and golden eagles.
Recent Artifact Surface Collections from the M. S. Roberts (41HE8) Mound Site in the Upper Neches River Basin in East Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , Walters Mark
Published: May 2019

In January 2015, the junior author obtained, with the assistance of the landowners, a surface collection of artifacts from the M. S. Roberts site (41HE8), a long-forgotten ancestral Caddo mound center and settlement in the upper Neches River basin in Henderson County, Texas. This collection of artifacts is discussed in this article, and comparisons are made to the larger assemblage of Caddo ceramic vessel sherds obtained during 1931 investigations at the site by Pearce and Jackson.
Two Radiocarbon Dates from the Salt Lick Site (16SA37a) at Toledo Bend Reservoir, Sabine Parish, Louisiana
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Salt Lick site (16SA37) is an ancestral Caddo site at Toledo Bend Reservoir in Sabine Parish, Louisiana. Before the creation of the reservoir, archaeological investigations on the Sabine River and tributaries in both Louisiana and Texas took place primarily took during the 1960s, with survey and excavations, sometimes of a very limited nature by the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University. The Salt Lick site was investigated by McClurkan in the Fall of 1964.

The Salt Lick site (16SA37a) was a Caddo habitation site (with midden deposits) on a natural rise south of La Nana bayou, a westward-flowing tributary to the Sabine River. Hand and backhoe trench excavations uncovered 10 burials, six that may have been flexed and four that were extended burials with the deceased placed in an extended supine position on the floor of the grave.

Only two of the flexed burials had funerary offerings: a Pease Brushed-Incised jar and an engraved carinated bowl with a poorly executed design (Burial 1), and two engraved bowls (Burial 4). The engraved bowls resemble varieties of Womack Engraved and Patton Engraved. The extended burials, on the other hand, had a number of funerary offerings, including ceramic vessels (n=25), a clay elbow pipe (n=1), a quiver of Perdiz arrow points (n=12), a sandstone ear spool, mussel shells (n=2), and turtle shells (n=3).
Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Vessels from the J. B. Sparkman Site (41HP26), Hopkins County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

Two ancestral Caddo vessels were excavated by a J. B. Sparkman from a burial that had been exposed by erosion. The burial was found on the site in the Caney Creek valley in the upper Sabine River basin near the community of Black Oak in southeastern Hopkins County, Texas. The University of Texas purchased the two vessels from Mr. Sparkman in May 1931.
The Wollard #2 Site (41HE22) in the Upper Neches River Basin, Henderson County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Wollard #2 site (41HE22) was first identified by Leroy Johnson, Jr. and Edward B. Jelks in August 1957 during their survey of then proposed Blackburn Crossing Reservoir, now Lake Palestine, in Henderson County, Texas. The site was described by Johnson as located in an old cultivated field on the high ground directly to the west of Caney Creek and the Neches River floodplain, is one of the most prolific sites located in the reservoir area…The midden soil at the site extends to a depth of 16 inches and is rich in animal and shell remains as well as stone flakes and artifact fragments.

When Southern Methodist University (SMU) returned to the proposed Lake Palestine area in 1969 to complete data recovery investigations at sites to be inundated by the lake, they chose to work at the Wollard #2 site, which they renamed the Mitchell site (X41HE17). X is the SMU designation used for site numbering. Review of project area maps by Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) staff indicated that the Mitchell site was plotted in the same area as the Wollard #2 site, and thus the Mitchell site also has the 41HE22 trinomial.

However, an examination of Anderson and a comparison to Johnson’s site map indicates that the SMU investigations at the Wollard #2/Mitchell site—which consisted primarily of systematic surface collections and the excavation of scattered 1 x 3 m units—unfortunately did not encompass any of the well preserved Caddo midden deposits described by Johnson. Rather, the SMU work was located uphill on the landform from the midden, in areas with sparse Caddo deposits. The SMU work recovered only 73 sherds in extensive surface collections on the landform and only another 361 sherds from the excavation of 36 1 x 3 m units in several areas of the Mitchell site. The brief work by Johnson and Jelks recovered almost as many sherds as did the entire SMU investigations at the site. Furthermore, no midden deposits were identified in the SMU work and only four pieces of animal bone were recovered; hardly evidence of a midden “rich in animal” bones as described by Johnson.
A Report and Request toward Building a Canine Burial Corpus
Authors: McKinnon Duncan P.
Published: May 2019

Both the affectionate and mutually adaptive relationships that contemporary humans share with the dog (Canis familiaris) are the result of a long history of domestication. Because of this long partnership, an analysis of dog burials can shed light on certain integrated components associated with mortuary practices, symbolic expression, and oral traditions in humans. There is an enormous amount of archeological and ethnological literature describing the role of the domesticated dog around the world. These sources describe the variable roles of dogs as human partners, friends, companions in hunting and herding, as pack animals, as guard, fighting, and war dogs, as active participants in ritual, and as meat for consumption in lean times or reserved as offerings in ceremonial feasting.
Documentation of Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Vessels from the Harold Williams Site (41CP10), Camp County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Harold Williams site (41CP10) is a large ancestral Caddo community cemetery on Dry Creek in the Big Cypress Creek basin in Camp County, Texas. Caddo burials and associated ceramic vessel funerary offerings have been discovered and dug at the Harold Williams site since the 1940s, and in 1967 the Texas Archeological Society (TAS) held their annual field school at the site.

During the course of the 1967 TAS excavations in Area A and B, several burial features were encountered and excavated, and these had associated ceramic vessels and other grave goods. These vessels were illustrated and cursorily described by Turner and Smith, and they were from Late Caddo period Titus phase graves. Recently two boxes of TAS Field School materials from the Harold Williams site were re-examined at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, and a number of whole and partial Caddo ceramic vessels from the TAS work were re-discovered. I took the opportunity to examine and document these vessels in detail, and the results of these analyses are presented in this article.
Late Caddo Titus Phase Ceramics from the McKay Site (41TT730), Titus County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The McKay site (41TT730) is a multi-component site on an upland landform about 100 m east of Hart Creek, a southward-flowing tributary of Big Cypress Creek. During house construction in 1990, archaeological deposits covering about 5 acres of the landform were exposed, and these deposits include occupations that date from as early as the Paleoindian and Archaic periods to as late as Early to Late Caddo period times (ca. A.D. 900-1680).

The principal ancestral Caddo component at the McKay site belongs to the Late Caddo period Titus phase, dating generally from ca. A.D. 1430-1680. This component included both habitation deposits as well as burial features in the area of house pad construction; the habitation area is at least 50 m northwest of the cemetery. At least 17 burials were excavated there by local workers after the cemetery had been exposed by land leveling, and these burials included ceramic vessels as funerary offerings, along with Talco arrow points, two ground stone celts, and a ceramic elbow pipe. The workers removed an unknown number of exposed and complete vessels, although portions of a few of these vessels were documented. Broken vessels were scattered and mixed into the fill of the house pad.
The Robert Richey Site in Northern Van Zandt County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , Richey Robert
Published: May 2019

This article discusses a collection of ancestral Caddo ceramic and lithic artifacts found at the Robert Richey site in northern Van Zandt County in East Texas. The site is in a pasture on an upland landform facing year-round flowing Caney Creek about 130-180 m to the east, a northern-flowing tributary that merges with the Sabine River about 2.2 miles to the north. The site lies within the flood pool of the long-defunct Mineola Reservoir, but the Robert Richey site was not recorded at the time of the early 1970s archaeological survey of the reservoir. Sites 41VN53-56, prehistoric sites of either uncertain age (41VN53), Woodland period age (41VN54, 41VN55, and 41VN56), as well as ancestral Caddo (41VN55), likely Early or Middle Caddo period in age. were recorded on alluvial terraces on both sides of Caney Creek not far from the Robert Richey site.

For years, Mr. Richey’s father had been advised by one of the old-timers who owned the adjoining ranch about a rise in his field “that particular mound in the pasture was an Indian mound.” Richey’s father identified the structure to him years ago. So, it was a known and identifiable rise in their land that had (tongue-in-cheek) been called an Indian mound for many years.

Richey’s investigation into the rise was prompted by the fact that he had found a ceramic vessel sherd along the banks of a dam of a recently constructed pond. That sherd was discovered approximately 180 m south of the Robert Richey site, on a landform with tan sandy loam sediments; this place may be 41VN55 recorded by Malone. Malone indicated the site had plain sherds, scrapers, lithic debris, Gary points, as well as an ancestral Caddo sherd with a cross-hatched incised rim and rows of fingernail impressed punctations on the vessel body.

From there, Mr. Richey took that rumor a step further last year and dug four test trenches about 3 feet deep and 10 feet long in the rise and waited for rain. Frankly, he did not expect to discover anything as he has not found much in the way of artifacts on the place. After digging the trenches he waited for rain. After a rain, the artifacts discussed in this article were found over an area about 15 m in diameter; they represent about 50 percent of what had been noted there. He did not note any charcoal in the trenches.

The soil on the Robert Richey site appears to be a reddish-brown loam, and not the black lands characteristic of the soils in the Sabine River floodplain. There is an old and majestic Oak tree growing along the edge of the rise. Generally speaking, this is pasture land.
A Caddo Ceramic Vessel from the Atkinson Farm Site (41RR1), Red River County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Atkinson Farm site (41RR1) is an ancestral Caddo settlement on the Mound Prairie area of the Red River alluvial valley, about midway between the Wright Plantation site (41RR7) to the west and the Sam Kaufman site (41RR16) to the east. The site was investigated by B. B. Gardner of The University of Texas in 1930. At that time, he exposed and investigated the remains of three burials, one of which had five ceramic vessels placed with it as funerary offerings; the vessels had been damaged and broken by previous plowing. One of the vessels from this burial remains in the collections at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas.
Correspondence between George T. Wright and A. T. Jackson Regarding Late 1930s-Early 1940s Excavations at the Sam Kaufman Site (41RR16)
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

In the 1930s and 1940s George T. Wright was a landowner (Kiomatia Plantation) and Vice-President of the Kiomitia Mercantile Company: General Merchandise in Kiomatia and Paris, Texas. He was also an avid Indian artifact collector at sites along the Red River in Red River, Texas, and also dug at sites he knew in the area, including the Wright Plantation site (41RR7), which he owned, and the Sam Coffman site (now known as Sam Kaufman, 41RR16, and for a short time known as the Arnold Roitsch site), a few miles downstream along the Red River. Both sites are large ancestral Caddo mound and village sites. Little professional archaeological work has ever been conducted at the Wright Plantation site, but there have been a number of archaeological investigations in mound (East and West mounds), habitation, and burial features at Sam Kaufman since the 1950s. The site was occupied by Caddo peoples as early as ca. A.D. 1000 to as late as the early 18th century.

Between 1941-1942, Wright was engaged in considerable correspondence with Alvin T. Jackson (1895-1974), a newspaperman turned archaeologist for The University of Texas at Austin (UT). Jackson worked for UT from 1929-1942, after which he spent about 13 years working for the Austin Railway System. Jackson apparently met Wright in 1931 when UT was investigating the Sanders site (41LR2) in Lamar County, Texas.

The correspondence on file at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas (TARL) between Jackson and Wright concerned investigations Wright and friends had recently been involved in at the Sam Coffman site. This work has not been previously discussed in the archaeological literature regarding the Sam Kaufman site, but is presented herein because it sheds new light on the archaeology of the site, especially the archaeology of the East Mound.
41VN63: A Late Archaic-Woodland Period Site in the Upper Sabine River Basin, Van Zandt County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , Skiles Bob D. , Sitters Julian A.
Published: May 2019

Site 41VN63 is a multiple component Late Archaic (circa [ca.] 5000-2500 years B.P.) and Woodland period (ca. 2500-1150 years B.P.) site on an upland landform in the upper Sabine River basin. The site was recorded by James Malone (1972) during the archaeological survey of then-proposed Mineola Reservoir on the Sabine River; the reservoir has not been built.

Malone described the site in 1971 as being located on an upland ridge on the southeast side of Caney Creek, and covered a 20 x 50 m area. He noted and/or collected from the site surface chert, quartzite, and petrified wood lithic debris (n=28) and cores (n=11) . Malone also mentioned finding flake tools as well as plain pottery sherds at the site, but no such artifacts were mentioned in Malone’s tabulations. This collection has yet to be examined at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin.

Shortly thereafter, Bob D. Skiles learned of the site and, with the permission of the landowner, conducted surface collections there on several occasions over the next two years, and recorded the site as GS-1 in his site recording system. In the late 1980s, Skiles loaned Perttula the artifacts he had collected from the site, and they were studied and documented at that time. Now, this many years later, the results of those analyses are provided in this article.
Comments on Aboriginal Ceramic Sherds from Sites at the Proposed Lower Bois d’Arc Creek Reservoir, Fannin County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

Twelve of the 28 prehistoric archaeological sites recorded by Davis at the proposed Lower Bois d’Arc Creek Reservoir in Fannin County have aboriginal ceramic sherds; the reservoir is on Bois d’Arc Creek, a northward-flowing tributary to the Red River. Aboriginal ceramic sherds are not at all common in these sites, as only 123 sherds were recovered from all 12 of the survey sites. The ceramics are found on both Woodland and ancestral Caddo sites, but because the majority of the sherds are undecorated, only general chronological or cultural affiliation information on the ceramics were provided by Davis. I offer comments on the character of the ceramics, based on the descriptions of temper, thickness, and decoration in Davis.
Another Look at the Snipes Site (41CS8) on the Sulphur River, Cass County, Texas
Authors: Sitters Julian A. , Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

The Snipes site (41CS8) was excavated by Jelks in 1952 as part of the River Basins Surveys (RBS) program administered by the Smithsonian Institution in cooperation with the National Park Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bureau of Reclamation. Snipes was one of three sites excavated by the RBS prior to the inundation of a large part of the lower Sulphur River valley by Texarkana Reservoir, now Lake Wright Patman. The Snipes site was apparently occupied during at least some part of the Woodland period (ca. 500 B.C.- A.D. 800), mainly during the latter part of the period, and can be considered a component of the Fourche Maline Culture on the basis of the artifacts recovered from both habitation archaeological deposits and burial features. Other artifacts in the collection attest to the use of the Snipes site during Late Archaic and post-A.D. 900 ancestral Caddo times, as we will discuss below.

The site was estimated to cover ca. 6-7 acres of an upland landform about 1.6 km south of the Sulphur River, and was marked by a scatter of lithic artifacts, mussel shell, animal bones, charcoal, pottery sherds, etc. Excavations were done in a series of 5-ft. squares dispersed across a 300 x 200 ft. area; according to Jelks, “additional squares were opened adjacent to the most productive test squares.” The archaeological deposits ranged from ca. 8-38 cm in thickness from the surface, and had been well disturbed by plowing. Apparent midden deposits marked by “a great deal of carbon and grease” were identified in several parts of the excavations.

During the work at the site by Jelks, nine prehistoric burials were excavated there, including three (Burials 7-9) that were discovered an unknown distance northeast of Burials 1-6 during the last round of work at the site. Jelks reported that traces of human remains from adults of unknown sex were present in Burials 6 and 7, but failed to mention if such was the case for Burials 8 and 9. However, since Burial 8 was reported to have contained two individuals, and the orientation of the heads was recorded, human remains (again, probably from adults, although not noted) were obviously preserved in this burial as well, but apparently not recovered. For Burial 9, Jelks simply noted that preservation “was poor.”

Burials 6, 7, and 8 contained individuals that were placed in graves in an extended supine (i.e., on their back) position. Burial 8 had two individuals in extended supine position. The position of the deceased individual in Burial 9 was not recorded. Burial 6 had a Coles Creek Incised, var. Stoner bowl by the right shoulder of the deceased, and one small bowl each had been placed as a funerary offering in Burials 7-9; in two instances, the small bowls were by the left shoulder of the deceased. Two other vessels were funerary offerings in Burial 1 and a separate burial feature excavated by I. B. (Bogey) Price after the main RBS investigations.
Archaeological Investigations at the Mike Myers Site (41CE481) on Bowles Creek in Cherokee County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K. , Stingley Kevin
Published: May 2019

The Mike Myers site is a multiple component prehistoric site in the Bowles Creek valley in the Neches River basin in East Texas. The site is on an upland landform (400 ft. amsl), now a pasture with low surface visibility, between Bowles Creek to the east ca. 100 m and a spring-fed branch to the west. The confluence of Bowles Creek with Jackson Branch lies ca. 600 m to the south. Soils on the site are classified as Nacogdoches fine sandy loam. Based on the archaeological investigations conducted at the site to date, the known site area covers a ca. 150 x 60 m area (north-south and east-west) or approximately 2 acres, but the site may well extend to the south onto a lower upland ridge slope (390 ft. amsl) some distance; hopefully shovel tests can be excavated in this area in the near future to determine the full site boundaries.

This article discusses the archaeological findings obtained to date from 2016 archaeological investigations at the Mike Myers site, much of it consisting of shovel tests across the site area, focusing particularly on the archaeological remains recovered in the work that date from Woodland and Caddo periods. Most notably, the shovel test work at the site recovered two sherds of non-tempered early Woodland period Tchefuncte pottery. As far as we are aware, this is only the second site in East Texas where Tchefuncte pottery has been found; the other site is the well-known Resch site (41HS16) in the Sabine River basin in Harrison County, Texas. Tchefuncte culture pottery has been recovered from the Louisiana Gulf Coast, in the Ouachita and Mississippi river basins in Mississippi, Louisiana, and southeast Arkansas, and in the Sabine Lake area of coastal Texas and Louisiana, more than 250 km east and southeast of the Mike Myers site.
Artifacts from 41SA38 in the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory Collections
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

Site 41SA38 (ET-692) was recorded in February 1940 by Gus Arnold of the University of Texas as part of the WPA-sponsored archaeological survey of East Texas. The site was identified on a natural alluvial rise in a freshly plowed floodplain on the west side of Ayish Bayou, about 1 km southwest of the city of San Augustine, Texas.
New Radiocarbon Dates from the Sanders Site (41LR2), Lamar County, Texas
Authors: Perttula Timothy K.
Published: May 2019

Recent archaeological investigations at the West Mound at the Sanders site (41lR2), on the Red River in Lamar County, Texas, disclosed substantial archaeological deposits associated with a burned clay floor to an ancestral Caddo structure in the mound. A significant part of the archaeological deposit were unburned animal bones of turtle, deer, and bison, along with Middle Caddo period, Sanders phase, fine and utility ware ceramic sherds; Sanders is one of 26 known Caddo sites in East Texas with bison bones and/or tools. In this article, I discuss the results of the radiocarbon dating of two samples of animal bone—deer and bison—from the West Mound at the Sanders site.
Feature-Scale Analysis Using Ground-Penetrating Radar and Low Altitude Prospection at the Collins Mounds Site, Northwest Arkansas
Authors: Sullivan Stephanie M. , Attore Tiago
Published: May 2019

Geophysical survey and other non-invasive methods are, in some cases, the only options available for archaeological investigation. This is exemplified at the Collins site, a possible Late Woodland to Middle Mississippian period, multi-mound, civic ceremonial center in Northwest Arkansas. The site is located on private property and although excavation is not allowed, non-invasive survey methods are permitted on its northern section. This paper presents the results of a ground-penetrating radar survey over Mounds B, C, and D. The results reveal a number of features that are interpreted as mortuary structures as well as evidence of multiple building episodes over time within distinct layers of Mound C. A high-resolution DEM generated with aerial imagery is used in interpreting the GPR data as well as to provide an updated map of mound size and distribution. By integrating the GPR data with the DEM, orthoimagery, and magnetic gradiometry data from a previously documented survey, and comparing the results to ethnohistoric accounts, interpretation of the geophysical data is enhanced. Geophysical survey is often used to assess an archaeological site on a landscape scale. By narrowing the scope to individual mounds, this article demonstrates how multiple, complementary technologies, when used in concert, can inform on the feature level.
Current Research: Current Research in the Upper McGee Creek Drainage, Oklahoma
Authors: Briscoe James
Published: May 2019

In recent years the Choctaw Nation has acquired a roughly 80 square mile ranch in the western edge of the Winding Stair Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma. The land is currently a working ranch and timber management area. Choctaw Forestry manages timber activities and range management with the intention of returning the land to an oak savanna setting. Active logging of pine and selected hardwoods and on-going controlled surface burns are included in Forestry activity on the ranch. The project is supported by the Choctaw Nation Historic Preservation Department, which is responsible for the inventory and protection of the cultural resources found on the property.

Archeological surveys were conducted in the McGee Creek Reservoir area in the 1970s and 1980s and a wide range of significant cultural resources were located in the reservoir area, less than 10 miles south of the ranch. Only one previous survey was conducted on the ranch property, by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission in the 1980s ahead of construction of an upland flood control reservoir. Significant archeological resources were recorded. Since very little was known about the ranch property itself, it was presumed that this portion of the McGee Creek drainage would also have a similar archeological importance.