Marine Shell Ear Disks from Protohistoric Caddo Sites on Stoots Creek, Hopkins County, Texas

Abstract

In this article, we discuss three engraved marine shell ear disks from two protohistoric (ca. A.D. 1670-1700) Caddo sites on Stouts Creek in Hopkins County, Texas. These rather unique engraved marine shell disks have only been reported from three other archaeological sites in the entire southern Caddo area. Stouts Creek is a tributary to White Oak Creek. The drainage is situated in the modern Post Oak Savanna, at the far western edge of the distribution of Late Caddo Titus phase sites in Northeast Texas. The Stouts Creek marine shell ear disks we report on have been recovered from two different sites in the Stouts Creek valley. One came from a Caddo midden near the Culpepper site (41HP1), a protohistoric Caddo site excavated by The University of Texas in 1931. This particular marine shell disk has a central perforation and a 13.7 mm diameter engraved circle on its outer surface.