Ceramic Sherd Assemblage Research Articles

Aboriginal Ceramic Wares from Sites in the Yegua Creek Drainage of the Brazos River Basin, East Central Texas

Sherds from aboriginally-made ceramic vessels have been recovered on sites dating after ca. 2000 years B.P. in the Yegua Creek drainage of the Brazos River basin in the Post Oak Savannah of Burleson, Lee, and Washington counties in east central Texas (Figure 1). These sherds are from several different wares, including sandy paste Goose Creek Plain sherds made by Mossy Grove peoples, ancestral Caddo tempered and decorated wares made in East Texas, bone-tempered sandy paste wares that may be representative of a local ceramic tradition, and bone-tempered sherds from Leon Plain vessels made by Central Texas Toyah phase peoples. None of the ceramic sherd assemblages from the 18 sites discussed herein are substantial, ranging only from 1-72 sherds per site (with an average of only 13.3 sherds per site), indicating that the use (much less their manufacture) of ceramic vessels by Post Oak Savannah aboriginal peoples was not of much significance in their way of life, but may signify interaction, trade, and exchange between them and other cultures, such as the Caddo, inland and coastal Mossy Grove, and Toyah phase peoples that relied on ceramic vessel manufacture and use as key parts of their subsistence pursuits. It is likely that the benefits of trade (ceramics being just one of the items that was being traded) between these different peoples was to help establish cooperative alliances, and reduce competition and violence in the region, and such alliances were established and maintained by aboriginal peoples over a long period of time in the region.

Current Archeological Research in East Texas: Documentation of WPS-Gus Arnold Archeological Survey Collections

Gus Arnold identified and recorded many ancestral Caddo sites during his 1939-1940 Works Progress Administration (WPA)-sponsored archeological survey of East Texas. Currently, I have been engaged in studying the artifact collections from 51 WPA sites in Angelina, Cherokee, Gregg, Jasper, Nacogdoches, Sabine, and San Augustine counties, especially the ceramic sherd assemblages, held by the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas. The sites are located in the Sabine River, Neches River, Angelina River, and Attoyac Bayou stream basins.

1939-1940 WPA Archaeological Collections from Ancestral Caddo Sites in Nacogdoches County, Texas

Gus Arnold identified and recorded a number of ancestral Caddo sites during his 1939-1940 WPAsponsored archaeological survey of East Texas (Im 1975). The artifact collections at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL), especially the ceramic sherd assemblages since Arnold typically collected substantial sherd samples from plowed fields, have been recently documented from 10 sites in the Attoyac, Ayish, and Palo Gaucho bayou basins in San Augustine County (Perttula 2015a, 2016), sherds from the Jonas Short mound site (41SA101) in San Augustine County (Perttula and Walters 2016), and 13 Caddo sites in the Patroon, Palo Gaucho, and Housen bayous in Sabine County (Perttula 2015b). In this article, I continue with the ceramic sherd documentation effort, but I am concerned with the analysis of sherd collections from three Caddo sites in the Bayou La Nana, King Creek, and Bayou Loco drainages in Nacogdoches County, namely Hill Place (41NA5), J. B. Dorsey (41NA6), and Deshazo (41NA13) (Figure 1).

Documentation of Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Vessels from Sites in Red River County, Texas

The vessel collections at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas (TARL) have ancestral Caddo vessels from a number of sites along the Red River in the Mound Prairie area. Vessels are documented in this article from four such sites, including Wright Plantation (41RR7), Howard Hampton Farm (41RR10), Sam Kaufman (41RR16), and the Abe Cox Place (with no trinomial), in the vicinity of the Rowland Clark site (41RR77). I also discuss a small ceramic sherd assemblage at TARL from the Wright Plantation site.

Ceramic Sherd Assemblage from the Cherokee Lake Site (41RK132), Rusk County, Texas

The Cherokee Lake site (41RK132), also called the Tiawichi Creek Burial site, was discovered by Buddy Calvin Jones in 1956, on a terrace area along Tiawichi Creek at its confluence with Mill Creek, inundated by the construction of Lake Cherokee in 1947, that had been graded for the construction of fish hatcheries there. Tiawichi Creek is a tributary stream in the mid–Sabine River basin. Jones identified a single burial and a large storage pit in Area A at the southern end of the terrace, where there was a shallow (0–30 cm bs) midden deposit. The burial in Area A is an Historic Nadaco Caddo grave that probably dates to the early 18th century based on the recovery of 15 blue glass beads. This strand of beads was placed near the legs of the deceased individual. The Caddo person had been placed in an extended supine position in a pit that was 1.83 m long and 0.76 cm in width, with the head facing towards the west. The estimated depth of the grave was 0.76 m, and its fill was a dark charcoal–stained midden. In addition to the strand of glass beads, three ceramic vessels had been placed as funerary offerings in the grave along with a Fresno arrow point by the upper left leg. One Simms Engraved vessel was on the left side of the body, near the foot of the grave, while a second Simms Engraved vessel had been placed by the individual’s right foot, along with a Maydelle Incised jar. A plain clay elbow pipe had been placed inside the jar. A storage pit excavated by Jones in Area A at the Cherokee Lake site appears to have been primarily associated with a pre–A.D. 1200 Caddo occupation, based on the recovery of Hickory Engraved and Dunkin Incised pottery sherds, long–stemmed Red River clay pipe sherds, and Catahoula, Alba, and Bonham arrow points. This occupation probably created the midden deposits found in Area A. In this article, I discuss ceramic sherds collected by Jones from Area A at the Cherokee Lake site. Some of the sherds were surface collected in March 1956 from the midden deposits, but it is not clear if this ceramic sherd assemblage is part of the sample of 300 sherds discussed by Jones from an Area A surface collection. The present ceramic sherd assemblage is curated at the Gregg County Historical Museum (GCHM).

A Ceramic Sherd Assemblage from a Caddo Site in the Upper Neches River Basin, Henderson County, Texas

This article reports on a collection of ancestral Caddo artifacts from an unrecorded site in the upper Neches River basin in northeastern Henderson County in East Texas. The collection had been found by landowners on an unreported Caddo site in this locale—which appears to be in the Caddo Creek valley west of the Neches River—and the collection was recently relocated by Debbie Shelley of Frankston, Texas. Mrs. Shelley brought the collection to the 2015 East Texas Archeological Conference, and provided the opportunity to fully document the ceramic and lithic artifacts in the collection.

Ceramic Sherd Assemblages from the Hawkins Bluff (41CS2), Snipes (41CS8), and 41CS44 Sites on the lower Sulphur River at Lake Wright Patman, Cass County, Texas

Many documented sites on the lower Sulphur River in the East Texas Pineywoods were occupied by Caddo peoples, and there are a number of such sites at Lake Wright Patman, including better known sites such as Knight’s Bluff (41CS14) and Sherwin (41CS26). These sites appear to have been small villages with family cemeteries, occupied between ca. A.D. 1200-1400. In this article, I discuss the ceramic sherd assemblages from three less well-known Middle Caddo period occupations at other sites at Lake Wright Patman.

The Ceramic Sherd Assemblage from the C. D. Marsh Site (41HS269) in Harrison County, Texas

The C. D. Marsh site (41HS269) is an ancestral Caddo settlement and cemetery on Eight Mile Creek, a southwestward–flowing tributary to the Sabine River in southeastern Harrison County, Texas. It is on an alluvial terrace about 1.6 km from the confluence of Eight Mile Creek and the Sabine River. Buddy Calvin Jones discovered the site in January 1958, and he estimated that the habitation area covered ca. 1–2 acres, with substantial midden deposits. Jones collected a substantial sample of plain and decorated ceramic vessel sherds (n=1736) from the habitation deposits (Jones 1968:96), in addition to a number of ceramic vessels and other funerary offerings from Caddo burial features. A subset of this reported sherd assemblage has been identified in the collections of the Gregg County Historical Museum, and the 2015 analysis of that sherd sample is the subject of this article.

The Caddo Ceramic Sherd Assemblage from the W. T. Robinson Farm (41AN4), Anderson County, Texas

The W. T. Robinson Farm site (41AN4) is one of a number of ancestral Caddo sites known in the Caddo Creek valley in the upper Neches River basin in East Texas. The site, about 2.5 miles northwest of Frankston, Texas, was investigated by archaeologists from the University of Texas (UT) in 1931 in an area where locals had reportedly excavated 15 Caddo vessels some 20 years earlier. The UT investigations found no Caddo burials or vessels, and recovered only a small assemblage of ceramic vessel sherds.

Caddo Ceramic Sherd Assemblage from a Hearth Feature at the Cherokee Lake Site (41RK132) in Rusk County, Texas

There is a collection of plain and decorated ceramic sherds in the Gregg County Historical Museum from a feature, described as either a fire pit or a hearth, excavated by Buddy Calvin Jones in March 1956 at the Cherokee Lake site (41RK132) on Toawichi Creek in northern Rusk County, Texas. This assemblage is discussed in this article. The Cherokee Lake site is best known for its early 18th century Nadaco Caddo component, but it also has a Middle Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1200–1400) component. In Jones’ discussion of work he conducted at the Cherokee Lake site, he mentions the excavation of an Historic Caddo burial as well as a large “refuse pit” of prehistoric age, both in Area A of the site. The excavation of a fire pit or hearth in any area at the site is not mentioned by Jones, but it seems likely that the “fire pit/hearth” may be the same feature as the aforementioned refuse pit. In any case, this “fire pit/hearth” feature at the Cherokee Lake site contained a considerable number of plain and decorated ceramic sherds, as did the “refuse pit.” According to Jones, the refuse pit had “Hickory Engraved, Dunkin Incised, variant types, unidentified types of punctated and incised wares,” as well as a small Bullard Brushed jar, a fragment of a second Bullard Brushed jar, both from the upper part of the pit, and fragments of a plain bowl from the floor of the pit.

The Caddo Ceramic Sherd Assemblage from the Hawkins Site (41SM144) on the Sabine River in Smith County, Texas

The Hawkins site is an ancestral Caddo habitation site on a Sabine River bluff about 1.7 km southwest of the confluence of Little White Oak Creek with the river, in the Pineywoods of Smith County. The site was located and investigated in the 1950s by Sam Whiteside of Tyler, Texas. This article is concerned with the analysis of the Caddo ceramic wares from the site, as well as an assessment of the probable age and cultural affiliation of the Caddo occupation.

The Ceramic Sherd Assemblage from the Boatstone Site in Gregg County, Texas

The Boatstone site (GC-50 in Buddy Jones' site numbering system) is one of many Caddo sites that Buddy Jones investigated along the Sabine River and its tributaries in the Longview, Texas, area. In most cases, his investigations at the sites consisted of the surface collection of ceramic and lithic artifacts, and only in rare cases did Jones complete analyses or publications on his investigations. This article discusses the ancestral Caddo ceramic assemblage from the Boatstone site, which is situated near the confluence of Iron Bridge Creek and the Sabine River in southeastern Gregg County in the East Texas Pineywoods. This collection is curated at the Gregg County Historical Museum.

A Woodland Period Ceramic Assemblage from Rabbit Creek in the Sabine River Basin, Gregg County, Texas

The GC-123 site was located and investigated by Buddy C. Jones during his years of archaeological work and surface collecting at numerous aboriginal sites in the mid-Sabine River basin in East Texas. The site is in south-central Gregg County, on Rabbit Creek (a northern-flowing tributary to the Sabine River), but only a few miles from the Sabine River valley. The site is notable for its ceramic sherd assemblage. Based on characteristics of Woodland period ceramics from the mid-Sabine River basin, including sites such as 41HS231 and 41RK562 (see Dockall and Fields 2011; Dockall et al. 2008), Hawkwind (41HS915), Folly (41RK26), Herman Ballew (41RK222), and Resch (41HS16, the GC-123 site appears to be a single component Woodland period occupation.

Analysis of Ceramic Sherds from the Mid-18th Century Gilbert Site on Lake Fork Creek, Rains County, Texas

The Gilbert site (41RA13) is an important mid-18th century American Indian site on an alluvial terrace along Lake Fork Creek, adjacent to the upper part of Lake Fork Reservoir in Rains County, Texas. The site was first investigated in 1962 by the Dallas Archeological Society, and based on the findings from that work, the Texas Archeological Society (TAS) had a field school at the site in June and July 1962. There are several notable features of the Gilbert site. First, it contains 21 midden mounds about 6-9 m in diameter and ca. 1 m in height spread out over ca. 50 aces of the alluvial terrace landform. The middens do not represent habitation features, as the “only occupational features discovered besides the middens were two pits that were evidently used for storing grain or other products. No house floors, post-mold patterns, burials, hearths, or other such structural remains were found." Further investigation by Blaine identified other midden features (discussed further below, and the source of the ceramic sherds discussed in this article) and a well-preserved bell-shaped storage pit in Feature 20. The newly-discovered midden features were not mounded or had a clay cap, and neither contained any evidence of structural remains or features. Structural features are considered more likely to be found in inter-midden areas than in the middens themselves. A second notable feature of the Gilbert site is the abundance of mid-18th century European trade goods in the archeological deposits, much of it likely obtained from French traders. These goods include metal tools (knives, axes, wedges, hatchets, hoes, scrapers, awls, chisels, scissors, arrow points, and a Spanish sword hilt), gun parts, ornaments (especially glass trade beads), brass kettles, horse trappings, fl at and bottle glass, and chipped glass pieces. Third, there was a substantial aboriginal ceramic sherd assemblage from the Gilbert site. The analysis of the sherds suggested that they are from vessels “too stylistically and technologically diverse to represent only one locally-produced ceramic complex." Furthermore, “the majority, and perhaps even all, of the decorated ceramics [at the site] are derived ultimately from the Caddoan [sic], particularly Fulton Aspect [Late Caddo period], tradition. Many close parallels exist in the modes and styles of decoration, paste characteristics, and vessel forms." And lastly, the various results of the investigations suggested that the site was a village occupied by southern Wichita groups, possibly the Tawakoni, Kichai, or Yscani Indians. This conclusion is far from uniformly accepted, a point I will return to in the final section of this article. In the remainder of this article, I discuss the analysis of a small collection of previously unstudied ceramic sherds from two midden features (F-B3 and F-B4) excavated by Jay and Jerrylee Blaine from the Gilbert site. The focus of the analysis is to characterize the principal stylistic and technological characteristics of the ceramic sherd assemblages from these two middens, compare this assemblage in those aspects with the larger assemblage from numerous middens studied by Story, and then offer my own interpretation of the cultural affiliations of the Gilbert site occupants based on the ceramic sherd assemblage data.

Specialization of ceramic production: A sherd assemblage based analytic perspective

One expectation of emergent complexity is that as ceramic craft specialization increases it is reflected by increasingly homogeneous products due to the modified organization of craft production by specialists. This question has most often been addressed by analysis of sub-sets of larger ceramic assemblages consisting of intact vessels from idiosyncratic contexts. However, excavations often do not yield appropriate whole vessel sub-sets. In order to evaluate the changing context of the organization of ceramic production, we engage a robust methodological approach to the analysis of ceramic sherd assemblages, rather than intact vessels, rooted in cluster analysis but which we rigorously evaluate by other means. We successfully employ this method to assess changes in the organization of ceramic production through a 1000 year sequence leading to the emergence of the Tarascan state, and conclude in this case that no significant reorganization of ceramic production occurred with Tarascan state formation.