The persistence of traditional lifeways in central texas

Abstract

Archaeological excavations at the W. Jarvis Henderson site (41BL273), a farmstead occupied between 1916 and 1943 within the rural commu nity of Okay in western Bell County, Texas, dis closed evidence that may be representative of a transitional period from traditional to modern life ways (Carlson 1984). Interviews with family members confirmed that traditional practices such as barter, meat clubs, and subsistence farming were, indeed, being continued. An in-depth cul tural study of Bell County in the mid-1940s further documented these findings (Lewis 1948). For the purposes of this essay, traditional lifeways for cen tral Texas are considered to be coincident with non-mechanized farm equipment, structures made from natural wood or stone, wood-burning stoves or fireplaces, kerosene lanterns or Aladdin lamps, outdoor toilets, root cellars, hand-dug water sources, and somewhat indiscriminate trash dis posal. Archaeologically, these elements are recog nized by the presence of horse gear and wagon hardware, few subsurface foundations, ash depos its, lantern and lamp parts, privy and root cellar depressions, wells or cisterns, and sheet refuse middens. In contrast, modern 20th-century sites should reflect the increased availability of manu factured products including farm machinery, con crete-slab structures with asbestos shingles and siding, electricity, plumbing, and discrete trash disposal. These sites should be recognized archae ologically by the abundance of manufactured ma terials, in situ continuous or slab foundations, syn thetic products, public utilities, and trash dumping in unconspicuous areas such as ditches or ravines. The latter is also a traditional deterrent to erosion.