The Classification of Late Caddo Period Utility Ware Jars from Sites in the Big Cypress Creek Basin of East Texas

Abstract

Much of the decorated utility wares found in Titus phase mortuary vessel assemblages in the Big Cypress Creek basin of East Texas has been typologically identified over the years as "Miscellaneous Fulton Aspect [Late Caddo] Utility Pottery," which has hindered the full appreciation of the stylistic, temporal, and stylistic diversity that exists among theses sites in the region, or to the extra-local region. The diversity apparent in the decorated utility wares from Titus phase sites has a considerable potential to she light on the existence and spatial distribution of communities of Caddo potters sharing or not sharing utility ware decorative practices and traditions from both short-term and long-term temporal scales, if only more useful classification of the decorative elements found on these wares can be devised.