The Spread of a Late Prehistoric Bison Hunting Complex: Evidence from the South-Central Coastal Prairie of Texas

Abstract

An artifact assemblage representing the Toyah Phase or Horizon makes a relatively sudden appearance in Central and Southern Texas between ca. A.D. 1250 and A.D. 1400, quickly replacing earlier assemblages. Two models have been suggested to explain this phenomenon. One view posits a rapid migration of people(s) possessing elements of Plains-like material culture, who followed southward-expanding bison herds. The other stresses the possibility of non-migrational spread through widespread adoption of an adaptively advantageous lithic tool kit. While both perspectives interpret the Toyah assemblage as a correlate of southward movement of bison during the Late Prehistoric Period, each emphasizes different processes, with fundamentally different interpretive implications. The present paper presents evidence from the Late Prehistoric Rockport Phase of Texas’ central coastal prairie that best fits the model of rapid adoption of new technology rather than migration. The basic Toyah lithic assemblage appears quite abruptly within the Rockport Phase, as it does elsewhere, and this comlates with the emergence of significant bison hunting by ca. A.D. 1300. Since the Rockport Phase has in situ regional antecedents, and largely represents the linguistically and socioethnically distinct Karankawan groups of the Gulf coastal zone, a rapid spread of the Toyah lithic technology assemblage across a major prehistoric cultural boundary is strongly suggested. This example of technological borrowing indicates that migration need not necessarily be invoked as an explanatory mechanism for rapid technological change during the Late Prehistoric Period.