The Z.V. Davis-McPeek Site, an Early Caddoan Mound Site in the Little Cypress Creek Valley, Upshur County, Texas

Abstract

The Z.V. Davis-McPeek site (41UR4/99) is an Early Caddoan period mound and habitation area located in northwest Upshur County. The mound is on a broad terrace along Little Cypress Creek, in the western portion of the Cypress Basin. Since the initial recording of the site some 60 years ago, there have been several different but limited investigations there, but none have been published. These limited investigations, coupled with the uncertainty of the site's exact location (see below), prompted the authors (with the able assistance of Mike Turner) to relocate the site, assemble known information about it, evaluate the current condition and integrity of the site's archeological deposits, and gather additional data on the location of any Caddoan habitation areas (no investigations were conducted on the mound itself). This effort is part of both a long-term systematic survey and testing program to gain a better understanding of Early Caddoan occupations in the Little Cypress Creek drainage, and the hope to formulate preservation measures for the site with the landowner's assistance.