Abstract
Archeological testing at the Lang Pasture site (41AN38) and nearby Site 41AN159, was carried out in 2004 by a team of archeologists from Coastal Environments, Inc. and Archeological & Environmental Consultants, LLC, working under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3333. Based on these efforts, it was determined that the Lang Pasture site had considerable research potential, as it contained remains of prehistoric Caddo domestic habitation and associated burial features. 41AN159 was found to have been seriously disturbed by historic agricultural activities, and to thus have no significant research potential. Data recovery investigations were recommended for the Lang Pasture Site in anticipation of planned widening of State Highway 155, within the right-of-way of which a significant portion of the site was located. The data recovery work sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation and completed in 2006 by a team from Coastal Environments, Inc. and Archeological & Environmental Consultants, LLC at the Lang Pasture site (41AN38) was carried out under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 4040. This work obtained a wealth of new archeological, bioarchaeological, and paleoenvironmental information about the lives and practices of prehistoric ancestors of the Caddo Indian peoples. This multidisciplinary work has cast a new light on the character and pace of native history of the Caddo in the East Texas region. The data recovery investigations have been particularly important in advancing the field of Caddo archeology in several different respects: (1) work completed in 14th to early 15th century A.D. domestic habitation contexts resulted in the identification of a well-defined series of features from prehistoric Caddo houses, specialized structures (i.e., granaries or ramadas/arbors), and ancillary outdoor activity areas, such that the character of a rural domestic Caddo household in much of East Texas (or at least the Neches-Angelina River basins) has come into better focus; (2) the exposure and excavation of a Caddo family cemetery— and the attempt to determine the regional context for changes in Caddo diet and health—has contributed to an understanding of the bioarcheological character of the Caddo people in the upper Neches River basin that is unparalleled anywhere in the larger Caddo archeological area. The bioarcheological information on diet, health, and pathologies obtained during the course of the Lang Pasture site work provides a sweeping view of more than 800 years of Caddo life that will be relevant to understanding different Caddo peoples and groups in other parts of the Caddo world; (3) the Lang
Highlights
The primary focus of the research is on prehistoric Caddo households and settlement systems in this part of the upper Neches River basin
A.D. 1400 Caddo sites in the upper Neches River basin to provide a window on the extent and direction of exchange that may have existed at that time, so we focused on assembling a proposed instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) sample from the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) collections that have both engraved fine wares as well as incised, brushed, pinched, tool punctated, brushed-punctated, brushed-appliqued, brushed-incised, and neckbanded utility wares
We proposed to develop a bioarcheological understanding of the prehistoric Caddo human remains from the Lang Pasture site
Summary
The primary focus of the research is on prehistoric Caddo households and settlement systems in this part of the upper Neches River basin. The examination of the complexity and character of mortuary behaviors (i.e., the placement and orientation of the deceased; the energy invested in the mortuary rituals; the amounts of grave goods placed with the dead; the kinds of grave goods placed with the dead; and the locale where the dead were buried) can contribute new information on the mortuary treatment of postA.D. 1300 Caddo agricultural communities, beginning with the community of which the Caddo residents of the Lang Pasture site were a part This examination can be made more compelling by turning our attention to the size and organization of other generally contemporaneous Caddo cemeteries in the upper Neches River basin (see Story and Creel 1982:33) as well as elsewhere in the middle Neches and Angelina river basins (Good 1982; Creel et al 2005), and building on the basic conclusions from current mortuary information that Caddo groups in these locales lived in “habitation sites [that] were usually not occupied for long periods of time...the population associated with any one settlement was relatively small...and most statuses were not ranked” (Story and Creel 1982:33).
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